@proceedings {JRN55366, title = {Beef supply chains of the Southwestern United States: Inputs to marketing to consumption}, year = {2022}, month = {02/10/2022}, abstract = {Consumers and producers worldwide are paying attention to the environmental and social impacts of the beef industry, demonstrating preferences for beef produced with high standards of animal welfare, environmental quality, and well-being of agricultural communities. At the same time, major pressures such as climate change impacts, market variation, and disease complicate prospects for achieving the environmental, social, and economic targets that result in sustainable beef production systems. Climate impacts are especially pronounced in the Southwestern US: as temperatures rise and rainfall becomes more erratic, forage production is decreasing and ranching input costs are increasing. Also, this region is dependent on other regions for finishing its ranch-raised cattle {\textendash} and ultimately for marketing the beef from the cattle originating in the Southwest. A team of 25 organizations led by New Mexico State University and funded by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture is exploring the performance of three management strategies with promise to improve sustainability outcomes in these conditions: heritage cattle genetics, digital ranching, and alternative finishing options include grass-finishing on southwestern rangeland and recycling the feedlot manure produced by cattle that originate on southwestern ranches. We will introduce our integrated research/extension/education approach and describe how we are using a supply chain perspective to understand and communicate the tradeoffs of the three strategies under investigation, from pasture to plate. We will also provide context for the other talks and discussions in the the symposium and make sure the attendees are well prepared to enjoy and learn with the SRM community in the session.}, keywords = {beef supply chains, consumption, Inputs, marketing, southwestern United States}, author = {S. Spiegal and G. Duff and Andr{\'e}s F. Cibils and Jean Steiner and Matthew M. McIntosh and Skye Aney and Emile H. Elias and Brandon T Bestelmeyer and Stephanie Bestelmeyer and Richard E. Estell} } @proceedings {JRN55364, title = {From desert pasture to dinner plate: Evaluating the sustainability of supply chains for beef cattle coming from ranches of the Southwest}, year = {2022}, month = {2/10/2022}, abstract = {Consumers and producers worldwide are paying attention to the environmental and social outcomes of beef production. The Society for Range Management knows that rangeland cattle production can impart a light environmental footprint, and sometimes even improve ecosystem services from rangelands, while being central to rural livelihoods. However, the environmental and social outcomes of beef that originates on grazinglands is integrally tied with processing, distribution, and consumption beyond ranch gates. In this symposium we will explore the connections among the links of the supply chains originating on ranches of the southwestern US and evaluate strategies for sustainability from pasture to plate, even in the face of a warming and drying climate. To encourage audience participation, we will provide a whiteboard or sticky note activity after each presentation to solicit feedback from the audience about applicability of the topic to their work, as well as suggestions for improving applicability more broadly.}, keywords = {beef cattle, desert, dinner plate, evaluating, pasture, ranches, Southwest, supply chains, sustainability}, author = {S. Spiegal and Jean Steiner and Skye Aney and Matthew M. McIntosh} } @article {JRN55380, title = {Measuring the social and ecological performance of agricultural innovations on rangelands: Progress and plans for an indicator framework in the LTAR network}, journal = {Rangelands}, year = {2022}, month = {1/7/2022}, pages = {1-11}, abstract = {On the Ground {\textbullet} The Long-Term Agroecosystem Research Network launched the LTAR Agricultural Performance Indicator Framework to evaluate how agricultural innovations perform relative to sustainable intensification goals in five domains: Environment, Productivity, Economic, Human Condition, and Social. {\textbullet} Here we describe our progress and plans for measuring the performance of agricultural innovations on rangelands. {\textbullet} We present a method for measuring outcomes of management innovations against site-specific benchmarks, which can be applied in grazinglands worldwide. {\textbullet} LTAR typically studies management on fine scales (ecological site, ranch); how to measure effects on broad scales (landscape, community) remains a persistent question. {\textbullet} LTAR{\textquoteright}s Agricultural Performance Indicator Framework will evolve with stakeholder engagement.}, keywords = {Agricultural performance indicators, Benchmarks, Collaborative approaches, Coupled human-natural systems, Long-Term Agroecosystem Research Network (LTAR), Sustainable intensification}, doi = {10.1016/j.rala.2021.12.005}, url = {files/bibliography/22-011.pdf}, author = {S. Spiegal and Nicholas Webb and Elizabeth H. Boughton and Raoul K. Boughton and Amanda Bentley Brymer and Patrick E. Clark and Chandra D. Holifield Collins and David L. Hoover and N. E. Kaplan and Sarah McCord and Meredith Gwendwr and Lauren M. Porensky and David P. Toledo and Hailey Wilmer and J. D. Wulfhorst and Brandon T Bestelmeyer} } @proceedings {JRN55371, title = {Nutrient circularity for sustainability in beef supply chains: Comparing the performance of three manureshed approaches}, year = {2022}, month = {4/4/2022}, abstract = {Expectations of the beef industry are multiplying as communities seek to build sustainable agri-food systems for the long term. Nutrient circularity {\textendash} recovering nutrients from manures and post-harvest byproducts and reusing them for agricultural production {\textendash} is a promising yet complex strategy for achieving sustainability goals from grazing pasture to dinner plate. In the United States and Canada, flows of cattle from land-based systems to feedlots in the built environment provide opportunities for circular management, in which concentrated feedlot manure is cycled back onto either corn fed to cattle in the feedlot phase or the hay fed to grazing cattle in {\textquotedblleft}earlier{\textquotedblright} links of the cattle supply chain. However, such flows can span great distances because feedlots that produce large volumes of manure tend to be concentrated in particular regions, but the Corn Belt that could use much of their nutrient loads is in the Upper Midwest and the hay-grazing systems that send cattle to feedlots are widely distributed. Systematically recycling manure from concentrated feedlots back to the land-based systems where cattle originated can help the US and Canadian beef industries meet their goals, but such efforts would require initial investments to transform management practices, trade structures, and social networks. With these major societal investments at stake, a reliable understanding of the tradeoffs of various approaches is needed. In turn understanding tradeoffs requires reliable data about geographically-specific flows coupled with expertise from multiple disciplines to interpret the data. Yet this sort of knowledge is rare. We sought to help fill this knowledge gap by comparing three manure recycling strategies using the conceptual framework of the {\textquotedblright}manureshed{\textquotedblright} {\textendash} the lands where surplus manure nutrients from concentrated animal feeding sites can be recycled to meet production, environmental, and socio-economic goals.}, keywords = {beef supply chains, manureshed, Nutrient circularity, sustainability}, author = {S. Spiegal and Meredith Gwendwr and S. Bittman and Maria Silveira and Jo{\~a}o M.B. Vendramini and C. A. Rotz and Colton K Flynn and Mark Boggess and Peter J. A. Kleinman} } @article {JRN55383, title = {Recycling nutrients in the beef supply chain through circular manuresheds: Data to assess tradeoffs}, journal = {Journal of Environmental Quality}, year = {2022}, month = {5/14/2022}, abstract = {Nutrient circularity can help supply chain managers meet sustainability goals. Across the segmented beef supply chain, opportunity exists to reinforce and introduce nutrient circularity by recycling surplus manure nutrients from feedlots to feed-producing lands. We describe four datasets developed to evaluate options in U.S. and Canadian beef systems. The datasets delineate three {\textquotedblleft}circular manuresheds{\textquotedblright}, each encompassing a hay-grazing landscape where beef cattle are raised on grazingland with hay grown nearby, and the distant feedlots where those cattle produce manure nutrients for potential import back to the hayfields. We selected the hay-grazing landscapes of New Mexico, USA; Florida, USA; and western Canada (the assemblage of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia) because of their significant grazingland production and potential to substitute feedlot manure for commercial fertilizer on hayfields. In each circular manureshed, the manure nutrients from major feedlot destinations could supply a considerable proportion of the P used by hay for grazing cattle: 34\% of the P requirements in New Mexico; 36\% in Florida, and 6\% in western Canada. The average distance to return the resource was 647 km for New Mexico, 1884 km for Florida, and 1587 km for western Canada. These magnitudes and distances suggest that the New Mexico circular manureshed may be the most economically viable in the current agri-food system, but this reflects only part of a greater assessment of tradeoffs. The circular manureshed concept provides a platform for simultaneous consideration of competing factors for sustainability via circularity.}, keywords = {beef supply chains, Manuresheds, Nutrient circularity, Recycling, Supply chain management}, doi = {10.1002/jeq2.20365}, url = {files/bibliography/22-012.pdf}, author = {S. Spiegal and Jo{\~a}o M.B. Vendramini and S. Bittman and Maria Silveira and Craig Gifford and C. A. Rotz and John P Ragosta and Peter J. A. Kleinman} } @proceedings {JRN55362, title = {Sustainable Southwest Beef: Evaluating innovations from pasture to plate}, year = {2022}, month = {2/8/2022}, abstract = {Consumers and producers worldwide are paying attention to the environmental and social impacts of the beef industry, demonstrating preferences for beef produced with high standards of animal welfare, environmental quality, and well-being of agricultural communities. At the same time, major pressures such as climate change impacts, market variation, and disease complicate prospects for achieving the environmental, social, and economic targets that result in sustainable beef production systems. Climate impacts are especially pronounced in the Southwestern US: as temperatures rise and rainfall becomes more erratic, forage production is decreasing and ranching input costs are increasing. Also, this region is dependent on other regions for finishing its ranch-raised cattle {\textendash} and ultimately for marketing the beef from the cattle originating in the Southwest. A team of 25 organizations led by New Mexico State University and funded by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture is exploring the performance of three management strategies with promise to improve sustainability outcomes in these conditions: heritage cattle genetics, digital ranching, and alternative finishing options include grassfinishing on southwestern rangeland and recycling the feedlot manure produced by cattle that originate on southwestern ranches. We will introduce our integrated research/extension/education approach and describe how we are using a supply chain perspective to understand and communicate the tradeoffs of the three strategies under investigation, from pasture to plate. We will also provide context for the other talks and discussions in the symposium and make sure the attendees are well prepared to enjoy and learn with the SRM community in the session.}, author = {S. Spiegal and Andr{\'e}s F. Cibils and Jean Steiner and Richard E. Estell and Brandon T Bestelmeyer and Matthew M. McIntosh and Stephanie Bestelmeyer and Skye Aney and Emile H. Elias and G. Duff} } @article {JRN55339, title = {Data to explore circular manureshed management in beef supply chains of the United States and western Canada}, year = {2021}, publisher = {EDI Data Portal}, abstract = {Circular management of beef supply chains holds great promise for improving sustainability from grazing agroecosystem to dinner plate. In the United States and Canada, one approach to circularity entails transporting manure nutrients from cattle produced in feedlots back to the grazing agroecosystems where they originated to enrich haylands for further grazing cattle production. We provide data to assess this strategy centered around three grazing agroecosystems: Florida, New Mexico, and the provincial assemblage of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia. We describe four datasets that can be used to estimate the potential nutrient utilization of hay fed to grazing cattle in the three grazing agroecosystems and the magnitudes of feedlot manure nutrients available for transport back to them. We found that although biogeography and management differ among the three grazing agroecosystems, the hay allocated for grazing cattle represented approximately 65\% of the total harvested hay produced per agroecosystem after accounting for harvest losses, and that on average all three areas exported about 450,000 cattle annually for feedlot, pasture, and slaughter to states across the US. Although we highlight only three grazingland settings, our approach relies on methods that could ultimately be scaled nationally and internationally, with applicability to other animal industries for which circular management is an aspiration for sustainability outcomes. }, keywords = {beef supply chains, circular, data, explore, management, manureshed, United States, western Canada}, doi = {10.6073/pasta/8b73fec5b84eb0313a1891e4ee77cba2}, author = {S. Spiegal and Jo{\~a}o M.B. Vendramini and S. Bittman and Maria Silveira and Craig Gifford and C. A. Rotz and John P Ragosta and Peter J. A. Kleinman} } @article {JRN55388, title = {Land use change and collaborative manureshed management in New Mexico}, journal = {Journal of Environmental Quality}, year = {2021}, month = {8/11/2021}, pages = {1-12}, abstract = {Agricultural communities of New Mexico regularly redistribute manure nutrients from dairies to nearby croplands to fulfill agronomic nutrient needs and protect water quality. Yet competition for water resources can result in land use change that affects these cooperative manure transfers. Focusing on three clusters of New Mexico dairy farms and their surrounding lands (three manuresheds), we calculated the magnitude of land use changes in 2008{\textendash}2019 and the balance between manure nutrient supply and crop demand in 2019 to assess how past change may predict future prospects for sustainable management. The overall magnitude of change was small, with each manureshed experiencing a different complement: an exchange of cropland and rangeland in the Roosevelt manureshed (7,975 ha rangeland to cropland; 7,624 ha cropland to rangeland), a 464-ha gain in cropland but a 1,187-ha loss of {\textquotedblleft}spreadable{\textquotedblright} land (cropland, rangeland, fallow) to developed land in the Do{\~n}a Ana manureshed, and relatively minor changes in the Chaves manureshed. Nutrient supply and demand were mainly in balance, but a surplus of manure phosphorus (P) in the Chaves manureshed and a thin margin of P assimilation by croplands in the Roosevelt manureshed point to the need for preserving existing croplands and understanding of effects of dairy manure on shortgrass rangeland. Our assessment suggests that an ideal scenario would entail manure being generated in landscapes with portfolios of productive lands that can sustainably use the manure nutrients to minimize environmental quality concerns and agronomic tradeoffs. Coordinated, participatory, and interdisciplinary research and planning are needed.}, keywords = {CDL, Cropland Data Layer; CRP, USDA{\textquoteright}s Conservation Reserve Program.}, doi = {10.1002/jeq2.20280}, url = {files/bibliography/21-061.pdf}, author = {S. Spiegal and Jebediah C. Williamson and Colton K Flynn and Anthony R. Buda and C. A. Rotz and Peter J. A. Kleinman} } @article {JRN55273, title = {Beef Production in the southwestern United States: Strategies toward sustainability}, journal = {Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems}, volume = {4}, year = {2020}, month = {08/19/2020}, pages = {1-8}, abstract = {From grazing lands to meat packing, beef production systems in the United States are striving to meet global demands without compromising environmental quality or local profitability. These challenges and opportunities are manifest in four US regions connected ecologically and socially through beef production: the American Southwest, the Ogallala Aquifer region, the Northern Plains, and the Upper Midwestern Corn Belt. Most calves raised on extensive, arid Southwestern ranches are exported to the Ogallala Aquifer region for finishing on grains that are grown either locally on Ogallala Aquifer water or imported from the Upper Midwest. Changes in climate, vegetation, and human demographics threaten the sustainability of the regionally-interconnected system. Heritage cattle genetics, precision ranching, and alternative supply chain options are three strategies that show promise for addressing these sustainability threats, but major knowledge gaps exist. For instance, while environmentally-friendly landscape use by Raramuri Criollo, a heritage cattle type, has been identified in several arid rangeland settings, little is known about their performance in conventional feed yards. While precision agriculture is already prevalent in croplands, less is known about how such technologies can be cost effective in arid rangelands. Moreover, many perceive grass-finishing on rangeland as environmentally friendly and beneficial for local agricultural communities, but tradeoffs involving greenhouse gas emissions, increased rangeland use, and disruption of cattle feeding systems of the Ogallala Aquifer region must be assessed. Here we introduce a USDA-NIFA Coordinated Agricultural Project designed to fill these knowledge gaps and advance sustainability of beef production linked to the US Southwest. With a boundary-spanning approach of education, participatory research, and extension, the project is identifying tradeoffs of the three strategies with explicit attention to pericoupling (i.e., socioeconomic and environmental interactions) of regions connected by beef production and full consideration of the coupled ecological and social systems within those regions.}, keywords = {Coordinated Agricultural Project, pericoupling framework, rangelands, southwestern United States, sustainable agricultural systems}, doi = {10.3389/fsufs.2020.00114}, url = {files/bibliography/20-034.pdf}, author = {S. Spiegal and Andr{\'e}s F. Cibils and Brandon T Bestelmeyer and Jean Steiner and Richard E. Estell and D W Archer and BW Auvermann and Stephanie Bestelmeyer and LE Boucheron and Huiping Cao and Andrew Cox and Devlin, D and G. Duff and Ehlers, KK and Emile H. Elias and Craig Gifford and Amy L. Gonzalez and J P Holland and Jennings, JS and Marshall, AM and McCracken, DI and Matthew M. McIntosh and Richard E. Miller and Musumba, M and Robert Paulin and Place, SE and Matthew Redd and C. A. Rotz and C. Tolle and Tony Waterhouse} } @conference {JRN55201, title = {Ecosystem service tradeoffs associated with agricultural intensification of grazinglands}, booktitle = {Society for Range Management}, year = {2020}, month = {02/2020}, address = {Denver, CO}, abstract = {The Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network is a team of 18 long-term research sites working to sustainably intensify agricultural production in the croplands, grazinglands, and integrated crop-livestock systems of the United States. The LTAR network seeks not only to increase agricultural production, but also to improve the well-being of agricultural producers and the communities where they live, bolster the profitability of agricultural production, and protect the nation{\textquoteright}s ecosystems and natural resources. The Common Experiment is LTAR{\textquoteright}s central method for investigating how the diverse goals of sustainable intensification could be achieved. Through the Common Experiment, each network site is testing a locally-appropriate {\textquotedblleft}aspirational{\textquotedblright} production system hypothesized to advance sustainable intensification in locally appropriate ways. Sustainable intensification requires action at multiple scales {\textendash} fields, farms, regions, and national and international supply chains - but the common experiment focuses mainly on the scale of the farm or ranch. Recognizing that achieving all goals of sustainable intensification at the same time in the same place is unlikely, the network is investigating the trade-offs of adopting aspirational approaches over {\textquotedblleft}business as usual{\textquotedblright} locally and networkwide. To this end, the LTAR Common Experiment Trade-offs Project team is building a framework to monitor a common set of indicators, so that the 18 sites can track the outcomes of the experimental treatments, and ultimately evaluate the pro{\textquoteright}s and con{\textquoteright}s of adopting the aspirational approaches under investigation nationwide.}, author = {S. Spiegal} } @article {JRN55264, title = {Manureshed delineation via analysis of county-level data from IPNI-NuGIS and USDA-NASS(2012)}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Nutrient recycling is fundamental to sustainable agricultural systems, but few mechanisms exist to ensure that surplus manure nutrients from animal feeding operations are transported for use on nutrient-deficient croplands. As a result, manure nutrients concentrate in locations where they can threaten environmental health and devalue manure as a fertilizer resource. This data set is from a study advances the concept of the {\textquotedblleft}manureshed{\textquotedblright} {\textendash} the lands surrounding animal feeding operations onto which manure nutrients can be redistributed to meet environmental, production, and economic goals. Manuresheds can be managed at multiple scales, for example, on farms with both animals and crops, among animal farms and crop farms within a county, or even among animal farms and crop farms in distant counties. With a focus on redistribution among counties, we classified the 3109 counties of the contiguous United States by their capacity to either supply manure phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) from confined livestock production ({\textquotedblleft}sources{\textquotedblright}) or to assimilate and remove excess P and N via crops ({\textquotedblleft}sinks{\textquotedblright}) [see data for N tonnes, P tonnes, N kg/ha, P kg/ha]. Manure nutrient source counties were identified in 40 of the 48 states, with a substantial concentration in the southern US. Source counties for manure P greatly outnumbered source counties for manure N (390 vs. 100), and 99 of the 100 manure N source counties were also source counties for manure P. Conversely, sink counties for manure N outnumbered sink counties for manure P (2766 vs. 2317). We used the P balances of the source and sink counties to delineate four manuresheds dominated by various combinations of confined hog, poultry, dairy, and beef industries [see data for Manuresheds (tonnes)]. The four manuresheds differed in the transport distances needed to assimilate excess manure P from their respective source areas (from 147 {\textpm} 51 km for a beef dominated manureshed to 368 {\textpm} 140 km for a poultry dominated manureshed), highlighting the need for systems-level strategies to promote manure nutrient recycling that operate across local, county, regional, and national scales.}, keywords = {Agrosystems \& Environment, Animals \& Livestock, Biogeeochemistry, GIS Data and Images, Land cover/use, management, Maps \& Multimedia, nutrients, Organic Matt, Plants \& Crops, soil}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.15482/USDA.ADC/1518435}, author = {S. Spiegal and Peter J. A. Kleinman and Dinku Endale and Ray Bryant and Curtis Dell and Sarah Goslee and Meinen, Robert J and Colton K Flynn and J. M. Baker and Dawn M. Browning and Gregory McCarty and S. Bittman and Jennifer Carter and Michael Cavigelli and Emily Duncan and Prasanna Gowda and Xia Li and G.E. Ponce and Raj, Cibin and Maria Silveira and Douglas Smith and Dan Arthur and Yang, Qichun and Nezat, Caryn and Bruce Vandenberg} } @article {JRN55208, title = {Manuresheds: Advancing nutrient recycling in US agriculture}, journal = {Agricultural Systems}, volume = {182}, year = {2020}, month = {05/2020}, chapter = {102813}, abstract = {Nutrient recycling is fundamental to sustainable agricultural systems, but few mechanisms exist to ensure that surplus manure nutrients from confined animal feeding operations are transported for use in nutrient-deficient croplands. As a result, surplus manure nutrients concentrate in locations where they can threaten environmental health and devalue manure as a fertilizer resource. This study advances the concept of the {\textquotedblleft}manureshed{\textquotedblright} {\textendash} the lands surrounding animal production operations where manure nutrients can be redistributed to meet environmental, production and economic goals. Manuresheds can be managed at multiple scales, for example, on farms with both animals and crops where manure is applied to the farm{\textquoteright}{\textquoteright}s croplands, among animal farms and crop farms within a county, or even among animal and crop farms in neighboring or distant counties. With a focus on redistribution among counties, we classified the 3109 counties of the contiguous United States by their capacity to either supply manure phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) from confined livestock production ({\textquotedblleft}sources{\textquotedblright}) or to assimilate and remove excess P and N via crops ({\textquotedblleft}sinks{\textquotedblright}). Manure nutrient source counties were identified in 40 of the 48 states, with a substantial concentration in southern states. Source counties of manure P greatly outnumbered source counties of manure N (390 vs. 100), and all but one manure N source counties were also manure P source counties. Conversely, sink counties for manure N (2766 counties) outnumbered sink counties for manure P (2317 counties). We used the P balances of the source and sink counties to delineate four manuresheds with source areas dominated by various combinations of confined hog, poultry, dairy, and beef industries. The four manuresheds differed in the transport distances needed to assimilate excess manure P from their respective source areas (from 147 {\textpm} 51 km for a beef dominated manureshed to 368 {\textpm} 140 km for a poultry dominated manureshed), highlighting the need for systems-level strategies to promote manure nutrient recycling that operate across local, county, regional and national scales. }, keywords = {Livestock manure, Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network, nitrogen, nutrients, phosphorus}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102813}, url = {files/bibliography/20-016.pdf}, author = {S. Spiegal and Peter J. A. Kleinman and Dinku Endale and Ray Bryant and Curtis Dell and Sarah Goslee and Meinen, Robert J and Colton K Flynn and J. M. Baker and Dawn M. Browning and Gregory McCarty and S. Bittman and Jennifer Carter and Michael Cavigelli and Emily Duncan and Prasanna Gowda and Xia Li and G.E. Ponce and Raj, Cibin and Maria Silveira and Douglas Smith and Dan Arthur and Yang, Qichun} } @conference {JRN55301, title = {Using manureshed management to connect distant links of the beef supply chain}, booktitle = {ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts}, year = {2020}, month = {11/09/2020}, abstract = {Manure management in US beef is complex, complicated by the diffuse and diverse nature of the industry, but also offering numerous points of opportunity as beef cattle progress from calf to background to finishing stages. In support of the manureshed vision, we review the networks that must be engaged to systematically coordinate manure management. Through case studies and original analysis, we point to the realities of today{\textquoteright}s industry and the opportunities to implement strategic manure management that ensures the sustainable management of manure resources.}, author = {S. Spiegal and Meredith Gwendwr and Maria Silveira and Colton K Flynn and Jo{\~a}o M.B. Vendramini and Peter J. A. Kleinman} } @conference {JRN55048, title = {Manuresheds: Redesigning crop-livestock agriculture for sustainable intensification}, booktitle = {2019 Annual Meeting of the US Regional Association of the ​International Association for Landscape Ecology}, year = {2019}, month = {04/2019}, address = {Fort Collins, CO}, abstract = {

Meeting the dietary demands of humans while protecting Earth{\textquoteright}s ecosystems is among the greatest challenges of the Anthropocene. Sustainable intensification is expanding as a response to this grand challenge, but success will require an improved understanding of regional, national, and international agricultural systems, including spatial relationships among system components, land use changes that influence the spatial relationships, and optimal approaches to distributing resources. Agricultural specialization and intensification of the 19th and 20th centuries are central considerations, as these advancements led to monumental increases in production and efficiency, but also resulted in uneven geographic distribution of agriculture types and an uncoupling of nutrient biogeochemical cycles. Now, concentrations of animals in certain regions produce manure nutrient accumulations that contribute to air and water pollution, while concentrations of crops in other regions result in nutrient deficits typically filled by intensive fertilizer use. Great potential exists to create new nutrient cycles through strategic consideration of manure sources and crop requirements. This recoupling requires creative solutions. To that end, the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network is exploring the concept of the {\textquotedblleft}manureshed,{\textquotedblright} the manure-spreadable land in the geographic, environmental, and social radius of a confined livestock operation. To better understand opportunities for expanding manuresheds in the United States, we identified the nationwide, county-level pattern of livestock distribution, manure excess, and crop assimilation of manure nutrients. Manure phosphorus and nitrogen leftover after crop removal were calculated assuming all manure produced in the county was applied to all croplands in the county. We then classified counties with manure in excess of cropland assimilative capacity into types distinguished by barriers to, and possibilities for, expanding manuresheds within and between counties. We expect that manureshed research can guide the redesign of crop-livestock agriculture to advance sustainable intensification in the United States and other nations.

}, author = {S. Spiegal and Peter J. A. Kleinman and Ray Bryant and Dinku Endale and Curtis Dell and Yang, Qichun and Colton K Flynn and Prasanna Gowda and Emily Duncan and Jennifer Carter and Dawn M. Browning} } @inbook {JRN55148, title = {Rangeland Livestock Production in North America}, booktitle = {Livestock Production, Management, Strategies and Challnges}, year = {2019}, publisher = {Nova Science Publishers}, organization = {Nova Science Publishers}, chapter = {6}, address = {Hauppauge, NY}, abstract = {

Rangelands of North America vary greatly across their one billion hectares, but a cultural legacy of livestock and their tenders unifies the realm. From the cowhand in Canada to the buckaroo of the United States to the charro or vaquero of Mexico, land-based livestock producers hold a place in the hearts and minds of North Americans. As of 2014, the continent supported some 134 million cows, 15 million sheep, and 11 million goats. Considerable numbers are produced solely on grains, hay, silage, irrigated pasture, and agricultural by-products, but rangelands also play an important role in North American livestock production, with their use varying regionally, temporally, and with the operator{\textquoteright}s level in the livestock production chain. For each country, we summarize livestock inventories, production approaches, and land tenure, along with the major problems faced by producers and the innovative solutions they are exploring. We close with a brief discussion of how the three nations are linked through imports and exports.

}, author = {S. Spiegal and Lynn Huntsinger and Paul F. Starrs and Tracy Hruska and Michael P. Schellenberg and Matthew M. McIntosh} } @article {JRN55140, title = {Seasonal divergence of landscape use by heritage and conventional cattle on desert rangeland}, journal = {Rangeland Ecology \& Management}, volume = {72}, year = {2019}, month = {07/2019}, pages = {590-601}, chapter = {590}, abstract = {

Adopting livestock with heritage genetics may improve chances for achieving both agriculture and conservation goals on rangelands with harsh, challenging conditions. In the Chihuahuan Desert, preliminary evidence suggests that heritage Raramuri Criollo exploit a greater variety of range resources than conventional cattle. Accordingly, adopting Raramuri Criollo may help sustain vegetation and soils as well as agricultural production. We used GPS collars to track Angus x Hereford and Raramuri Criollo cows in a 1535-ha pasture in southern New Mexico in June - December 2008. As predicted based on past research, home range sizes of Raramuri Criollo exceeded those of Angus x Hereford during seasons with low forage availability - by 31.4 {\textpm} 6.5 ha during Pregreenup and 17.2 {\textpm} 6.5 ha during Drydown - but sizes converged during more productive seasons (Greenup 1, Greenup 2). Angus x Hereford allotted more daily time to resting, with the difference most pronounced during Drydown (71.1 {\textpm} 21.1 min day-1). Angus x Hereford had twice as many hotspots of use (locations with multiple visits of long duration), with seasonal timing and location corresponding with distribution patterns known to impact desirable natural resources. Raramuri Criollo more strongly preferred the Bare/Forbs ecological state and avoided the Shrubland ecological state - with timing that possibly signals an ability to utilize nutritious forbs on open ground despite summer heat. Results are consistent with predictions that compared with conventional cattle, Raramuri Criollo have greater daily mobility and wider spatial distribution during dry seasons. Although not directly measured, results also suggest that the heritage breed has superior heat tolerance and lower impact on desirable natural resources. These findings provide evidence that Raramuri Criollo can support sustainable livestock production in the Chihuahuan Desert, but direct measurements of profitability and environmental effects are needed before adoption can be recommended widely.

}, keywords = {GPS monitoring, grazing distribution, Heritage genetics, phenology, Raramuri Criollo, state-and-transition models}, doi = {10.1016/j.rama.2019.02.008}, url = {files/bibliography/19-015.pdf}, author = {S. Spiegal and Richard E. Estell and Andr{\'e}s F. Cibils and D. K. James and H. Raul Peinetti and Dawn M. Browning and Kirsten B. Romig and Amy L. Gonzalez and Andrew Lyons and Brandon T Bestelmeyer} } @proceedings {JRN55391, title = {Sustainability is in the eye of the stakeholder and other lessons learned through boundary-spanning research on arid rangelands}, year = {2019}, month = {8/8/2019}, abstract = {Arid rangelands have undergone well-documented social and ecological changes over the past century in the United States. Ongoing shrub encroachment, soil erosion, and biodiversity loss have affected a variety of ecosystem services, from forage provision to air quality to hunting and other recreational opportunities. In light of these changes, the USDA Jornada Experimental Range and its partners are investing in three complementary lines of research aimed toward improving sustainability in arid rangelands: a) understanding change in the environment and ecosystem services, b) evaluating strategies to increase income in altered rangelands, and c) identifying the effects of restoration management. Our research program is designed to span outmoded boundaries among scientists, managers, and other community members so that science can effectively inform policy and practice. Through interviews and questionnaires, we are investigating how stakeholders perceive and interact with the landscape, to illuminate how long-term change affects the community and its support for different land management approaches. Concurrently, we are comparing a heritage cattle type (Raramuri Criollo) with breeds used conventionally, in terms of profitability, environmental impacts, and barriers to adoption, on scales ranging from pasture to region to planet. Boundary-spanning cattle research is underway at five ranches across the western U.S., and although the program is relatively young, we have already learned a few key lessons to share with ESA participants focused on workinglands. We have found that structuring experiments within existing agricultural operations is imperative, but doing so can affect the questions that can be reasonably asked. We have also learned that even if evidence is overwhelmingly positive about a particular type of cattle and its probable effects on sustainability outcomes, messaging about results must match data collected (this can be a challenge). Another big lesson is that it is generally a bad idea to proclaim the sustainability virtues of one livestock breed at the expense of another, as both sustainability and livestock virtues differ with the eye of the stakeholder. We will describe how these lessons were learned, discuss some of the risks and rewards of boundary-spanning research, and outline our vision for how such efforts can improve sustainability of agriculture in arid rangelands in the U.S. and worldwide.}, author = {S. Spiegal and Brandon T Bestelmeyer and Andr{\'e}s F. Cibils and Andrew Cox and Bethany Cutts and Maude Dinan and Richard E. Estell and Amy L. Gonzalez and Leticia Lister and Robert Paulin and Matthew Redd and Robert L. Schooley and C. Tolle} } @conference {JRN54994, title = {Trials and tribulations of quantifying hotspots of cattle use in large desert pastures}, booktitle = {72nd Society for Range Management International Meeting}, year = {2019}, month = {02/2019}, publisher = {Society for Range Management Meeting Abstracts}, organization = {Society for Range Management Meeting Abstracts}, address = {Minneapolis, Minnesota}, abstract = {

Overuse of particular locations by cattle in arid environments is associated with perennial grass loss, lateral soil redistribution, dust emissions, and suboptimal forage utilization. We sought to identify the abundance and distribution of hotspots (i.e., locations with multiple visits of long duration) for two types of cattle (Raramuri Criollo, Angus x Hereford) alternating use of a large desert pasture during four phenologically-defined seasons in 2008. We used Gridded Time-Use Maps in the Time Local Convex Hulls (T-LoCoH) package in R to quantify the distribution of both types during the four seasons. This entailed creating a map for each of 32 cows (4 collared cows x 8 trials), and then creating 8 maps {\textendash} one per trial {\textendash} illustrating, per cell, the average number of visits and average duration of those visits. Most hotspots were adjacent to watering points, and they were least abundant during the season with the greatest pasture-level forage production. These results were expected in a general sense, but there were several decision points during the analysis, and had we decided differently, different counts and locations of hotspots would have been identified. For instance, we used expert knowledge to a) select the size of the cells (150 x 150 m), b) define a {\textquotedblleft}visit{\textquotedblright} (at least one occurrence in a cell separated by at least 12 hours from the previous occurrence in that cell), and c) designate cells as hotspots (cells visited on average \> 4 times for \> 2 hours). Most analytical methods entail some decision-making, and we found T-LoCoH to be highly useful for our research questions. We seek to discuss the utility of T-LoCoH, and our choices for it, with the SRM livestock tracking community to identify whether there might be guiding principles for all when using the tool to quantify cattle use hotspots.

}, author = {S. Spiegal and Richard E. Estell and Andr{\'e}s F. Cibils and D. K. James and H. Raul Peinetti and Dawn M. Browning and Kirsten B. Romig and Amy L. Gonzalez and Andrew Lyons and Brandon T Bestelmeyer} } @conference {JRN54914, title = {Can heritage cattle protect ecosystems and economies in the changing rangelands of the western United States?}, booktitle = {Ecological Society of America}, year = {2018}, month = {08/2018}, publisher = {Ecological Society of America}, organization = {Ecological Society of America}, address = {New Orleans, LA}, abstract = {

Pastoralism may be our best bet for preserving biodiversity and soil carbon in the rangelands of the western United States. Early grazing practices triggered persistent ecological transitions in many US rangelands, but going forward, maintaining these lands as semi-natural systems with opportunities for restoration ultimately relies on sustainable ranching that serves as a bulwark against development to more intensive uses. Yet for ranching to be sustainable, it must simultaneously achieve multiple targets: economic profitability, environmental quality, and social connectivity. Climate change complicates chances for achieving these sustainability targets. For instance, rangelands in the southwestern United States are projected to become hotter and drier with greater variability in annual precipitation and later onset of monsoon rains, and the sustainability of desert ranching will depend on its ability to adapt to these emerging conditions. An adaptation strategy gaining momentum entails raising drought-adapted, low-input beef cattle biotypes. In the Chihuahuan Desert of Texas-New Mexico-Mexico, a number of studies are underway to assess whether ranching with Raramuri Criollo, a heritage biotype with 500 years of evolution in nearby harsh desert environments, may provide viable options for pastoral communities as conditions change. Evidence from four independent studies suggests that heritage Raramuri Criollo differ from conventional breeds (i.e., Angus crossbreds) with regard to use of large desert pastures. When vegetation is greener and more abundant, the two types exhibit similar spatial distribution and landscape use patterns. Conversely, when forage is scarce, the heritage cattle traverse greater distances, and farther from water, to access forage. These different seasonal use patterns have different implications for ranch economics as well as for desert soils and vegetation. Further, hourly movement patterns suggest that the heritage breed has a higher tolerance for hot summer temperatures, which could translate into expanded opportunities for pastoralism in a warming climate. Importantly, one option for producing the heritage cattle entails grass finishing, with economics and environmental footprint differing from that of conventional production, which involves grain-finishing hundreds of kilometers away. Improved estimates of environmental and economic outcomes of the conventional and alternative production systems would enhance understanding of ecosystem service flows under the two systems, which could ultimately inform policies that incentivize adoption of the heritage breed. This talk will review preliminary findings of the research program and implications for sustainable ranching in the changing rangelands of the western United States.

}, author = {S. Spiegal and Richard E. Estell and Andr{\'e}s F. Cibils and Amy L. Gonzalez and McIntosh, William C. and S. Nyamuryekung{\textquoteright}e and Brandon T Bestelmeyer} } @proceedings {JRN54867, title = {Developing regionally specific grazing practices to promote production, profitability, and environmental quality}, volume = {January 28-February 2, 2018}, year = {2018}, month = {01/28/2018}, publisher = {Society for Range Management Meeting Proceedings}, address = {Sparks, Nevada}, abstract = {

Rangelands are valued for their capacity to provide diverse suites of ecosystem services, from food production to carbon storage to biological diversity. Although rangelands worldwide share common characteristics, differences among biogeographic regions result in differences in the types of opportunities for ranchers and other rangeland managers to preserve and enhance multiple services. For instance, opportunities to use grazing to promote biodiversity while meeting growing global demand for beef vary among the rangelands of Mediterranean California, the Chihuahuan Desert, and the Great Plains, USA. The drivers of these regional differences are biophysical, social, and economic. Understanding the drivers and their interactions can improve planning for regionally specific grazing practices, land uses, funding programs, and scientific research that optimize the provision of multiple services from U.S. rangelands. We present a model identifying the drivers that differentiate regional opportunities, and use it to compare grazing management options in Mediterranean California with those in other rangeland regions across the United States.

}, author = {S. Spiegal and Brandon T Bestelmeyer and Joel R. Brown} } @article {JRN54887, title = {Evaluating strategies for sustainable intensification of U.S. agriculture through the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research network}, journal = {Environmental Research Letters}, volume = {13(3):034031}, year = {2018}, month = {03/2018}, abstract = {

Sustainable intensification is an emerging model for agriculture designed to reconcile accelerating global demand for agricultural products with long-term environmental stewardship. Defined here as increasing agricultural production while maintaining or improving environmental quality, sustainable intensification hinges upon decision-making by agricultural producers, consumers, and policy-makers. The Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network was established to inform these decisions. Here we introduce the LTAR Common Experiment, through which scientists and partnering producers in US croplands, rangelands, and pasturelands are conducting 21 independent but coordinated experiments. Each local effort compares the outcomes of a predominant, conventional production system in the region ({\textquoteright}business as usual{\textquoteright}) with a system hypothesized to advance sustainable intensification ({\textquoteright}aspirational{\textquoteright}). Following the logic of a conceptual model of interactions between agriculture, economics, society, and the environment, we identified commonalities among the 21 experiments in terms of (a) concerns about business-as-usual production, (b) {\textquoteright}aspirational outcomes{\textquoteright} motivating research into alternatives, (c) strategies for achieving the outcomes, (d) practices that support the strategies, and (e) relationships between practice outreach and adoption. Network-wide, concerns about business as usual include the costs of inputs, opportunities lost to uniform management approaches, and vulnerability to accelerating environmental changes. Motivated by environmental, economic, and societal outcomes, scientists and partnering producers are investigating 15 practices in aspirational treatments to sustainably intensify agriculture, from crop diversification to ecological restoration. Collectively, the aspirational treatments reveal four general strategies for sustainable intensification: (1) reducing reliance on inputs through ecological intensification, (2) diversifying management to match land and economic potential, (3) building adaptive capacity to accelerating environmental changes, and (4) managing agricultural landscapes for multiple ecosystem services. Key to understanding the potential of these practices and strategies are informational, economic, and social factors{\textemdash}and trade-offs among them{\textemdash}that limit their adoption. LTAR is evaluating several actions for overcoming these barriers, including finding financial mechanisms to make aspirational production systems more profitable, resolving uncertainties about trade-offs, and building collaborative capacity among agricultural producers, stakeholders, and scientists from a broad range of disciplines.

}, keywords = {agroecosystem management, long-term research network, social-ecological systems, sustainable intensification of agriculture}, doi = {10.1088/1748-9326/aaa779}, url = {files/bibliography/18-003.pdf}, author = {S. Spiegal and Brandon T Bestelmeyer and D W Archer and D.J. Augustine and Elizabeth H. Boughton and Raoul K. Boughton and Patrick E. Clark and J. D. Derner and Emily Duncan and Michael Cavigelli and Hapeman, Cathleen and Harmel, Robert D. and Phil Heilman and Holly, Michael A. and David Huggins and K.W. King and Peter J. A. Kleinman and M. A. Liebig and Martin Locke and Gregory McCarty and Millar, Neville and Steven Mirsky and Thomas Moorman and Frederick B. Pierson and James Rigby JR and Robertson, G. Phillip and Jean Steiner and Timothy Strickland and Hilary Swain and Brian Wienhold and J. D. Wulfhorst and Yost, Matthew and C. Walthall} } @proceedings {JRN54894, title = {Long-Term Agroecosystem Research Advancing Sustainable Intensification in Fields, Farms, and Regions Across the United States}, volume = {S12}, year = {2018}, month = {04/2018}, abstract = {

The Long-Term Agroecosystem Research network is building a road map for the sustainable intensification of U.S. agriculture by designing strategies that are locally appropriate and applicable to multiple scales of agricultural organization. The 18 sites in the LTAR network represent a diversity of land use types and environmental, economic, and social opportunities for sustainable intensification, yet commonalities among strategies for sustainable intensification are evident across the sites. Explicit attention to spatial pattern and process are interwoven into these common sustainable intensification strategies, and that conceptualization is allowing for useful qualitative and quantitative comparisons among rangelands, croplands, and pasturelands at field, farm, and regional scales. For instance, at the field scale, GPS technologies are allowing western rangeland scientists and eastern pastureland scientists to compare the use of pasture resources by cattle, and to exchange ideas about management approaches that can help improve grazing distribution for improved economic and environmental outcomes in both types of systems. In this talk we illustrate the connection between LTAR{\textquoteright}s research and various scales of agricultural organization and showcase one LTAR network initiative that integrates field, farm, region, and industry scales. With a focus on tightening resource cycles, this approach has the potential to advance sustainable intensification within and among the biogeographically diverse agroecosystems of the United States.

}, author = {S. Spiegal and Peter J. A. Kleinman} } @proceedings {JRN54683, title = {Applying ecological site concepts to adaptive conservation management on an iconic Californian landscape}, year = {2017}, month = {01/2017}, publisher = {2017 Society for Range Management Meeting}, address = {St. George, Utah}, abstract = {
Tejon Ranch is a spectacular landscape valued for its biological diversity, livestock production, and cultural heritage. Situated at the convergence of three of California{\textquoteright}s major biogeographic zones, it is the largest, contiguous private property in the state. Since 2008, the ranch has operated under a conservation agreement tailored toward conservation and economic outcomes. We developed an ecological site group model to inform adaptive conservation-focused grazing on 40,000 ha of grasslands on the ranch. Each ecological site group (ESG) is based on a {\textquotedblleft}geologic landform{\textquotedblright} class: \ a unique combination of biogeographic region, geologic material and age, dominant formative geomorphology, elevation, and slope that supports a distinct set of soils and vegetation dynamics. We randomly established 57 permanent plots within the geologic landform classes. Sampling these plots over several years allowed us to evaluate the spatial and temporal variation within and among geologic landform classes and to build data-driven, quantitative ESGs and state-and-transition models (STMs). Using these models, we developed hypotheses about suitable management practices for conservation goals. We discuss in detail the Holocene Flats ESG, which we identified as having the highest potential for the enhancement of conservation values through altered grazing practices predicted to favor several taxa, including the San Joaquin kit fox, blunt-nosed leopard lizard, and native annual forbs. The predicted responses are currently being tested and monitored, but the ESG/STM conceptual framework has already helped conservation land managers and graziers to better understand how the variation in the Tejon landscape affects the distribution of conservation targets and the specific locations where management can be tailored to enhance biodiversity.
}, author = {S. Spiegal and James Bartolome and White, Michael} } @conference {JRN54780, title = {Comparison of diet selection by Raramuri criollo and Angus crossbreds in the Chihuahuan Desert}, booktitle = {American Society of Animal Science}, year = {2017}, month = {07/2017}, publisher = {American Society of Animal Science}, organization = {American Society of Animal Science}, address = {Baltimore, MD}, abstract = {

Raramuri Criollo (RC) is a cattle biotype that has undergone natural selection for the past 500 years in northern Mexico. No information exists on diet selection for this biotype. The objective of this study was to compare diet selection of RC and Angus x Hereford crossbreds (AH) typically found in the arid southwestern United States. We examined dietary composition of RC and AH cattle using DNA metabarcoding of fecal samples. Ten mature cows of each breed grazed two adjacent pastures (1190 ha, 1165 ha) for 28 days in July-August 2015 and January-February 2016 in a crossover design. Each breed grazed each pasture 14 days per period and cows were then switched to the reciprocal pasture. Fecal samples were collected on day 14 in each pasture in both seasons. Dominant species present in fecal samples included black grama (Bouteloua eriopoda), tobosa (Pleuraphis mutica), plains bristlegrass (Setaria leucopila), hog potato (Hoffmannseggia glauca), and four-wing saltbush (Atriplex canescens). Black grama was present in higher concentration in AH than RC fecal samples (P \< 0.0001) and was greater during winter dormancy than during the summer growing season (P \< 0.0001). Hog potato was not affected by breed (P = 0.137) but was greater in fecal samples during the growing season than during winter dormancy (P \< 0.001). Four-wing saltbush was marginally greater in AH than RC fecal samples (P = 0.053) and greater during dormancy than in the growing season (P \< 0.0001). These results suggest that RC cattle select diets that differ from AH cows and that differences are affected by plant growth phenology.

}, author = {S. Spiegal and S. Nyamuryekung{\textquoteright}e and Richard E. Estell and Andr{\'e}s F. Cibils and Matthew M. McIntosh and Amy L. Gonzalez and D. K. James} } @conference {JRN54793, title = {Landscape distribution of desert cattle: effects of diet and vegetation type}, booktitle = {Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting}, year = {2017}, month = {08/2017}, publisher = {Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting}, organization = {Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting}, address = {Portland, OR}, abstract = {

Livestock with heritage genetics may increase chances for simultaneously achieving conservation and agricultural production goals in the American Southwest. Past research shows that compared with conventional Angus x Hereford crossbreds (AH), heritage Raramuri Criollo (RC) typically distribute themselves more widely across Chihuahuan Desert landscapes. Accordingly, RC genetics may help overcome some of the problems associated with localized overgrazing in the region, but a better understanding of why RC range more widely is needed. Hypotheses under investigation pertain to differences in the breeds{\textquoteright} dietary preferences, heat tolerance, and mothering style. We explored the dietary preferences and heat tolerance of the two breeds during the growing season of 2015. Ten mature cows of each breed grazed two adjacent pastures (1190 ha, 1165 ha) for 28 days in July-August. They were switched between the pastures on the 14th day, and fecal samples were collected on the 14th and 28th days. GPS coordinates recorded at 10-min intervals were overlaid on habitat type maps, and Ivlev{\textquoteright}s electivity index (E) was calculated for each habitat type in each pasture. Fecal samples were examined for dietary composition with DNA metabarcoding, and we used ordination and ANOVA to compare the composition of the breeds{\textquoteright} samples. Selectivity of habitat types (E) and dietary composition differed between the two breeds in each pasture; however, habitat selection and dietary composition were surprisingly incongruent. In one pasture, heritage RC showed a stronger preference for shade-free areas of bare ground (ERC = 0.46; EAH = -1.00; P\<0.01), but the herbaceous species that grow in those areas constituted a lower proportion of their diets than they did in AH diets. In the other pasture, conventional AH showed a stronger preference for shadier mesquite dune areas (ERC = 0.05; EAH = 0.27; P = 0.01), but they consumed less mesquite than RC did. These results suggest that both breeds were moving more in response to thermal variation than to the availability of particular forage species, and that heat tolerance is an important factor driving differences in the spatial distribution of both breeds, at least in the summer months.

}, author = {S. Spiegal and Richard E. Estell and Andr{\'e}s F. Cibils and S. Nyamuryekung{\textquoteright}e and McIntosh, William C. and Amy L. Gonzalez} } @conference {JRN54815, title = {Sustainable intensification of U.S. agriculture: Aspirations, barriers, and the role of the LTAR network}, booktitle = {ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting}, year = {2017}, month = {10/2017}, publisher = {ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts}, organization = {ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts}, address = {Tampa, FL}, abstract = {

Sustainable intensification of agriculture in the United States will require profound shifts in land management, consumer markets, and public policies. The Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network was established to facilitate these shifts. Using a common experiment, network sites in 18 biogeographically diverse regions are comparing {\textquotedblleft}business-as-usual{\textquotedblright} with {\textquotedblleft}aspirational{\textquotedblright} production systems that represent options for local sustainable intensification. We used a conceptual model described in a companion talk to elucidate common themes across the regions represented by LTAR. We found that all sites share concerns about business-as-usual production, including the economic and environmental costs of agricultural intensification and specialization, tendencies toward uniform management despite varying soil and rainfall conditions, and mounting environmental change. Though specifics differ among regions, LTAR{\textquoteright}s aspirational production systems reveal four general strategies for sustainable intensification: 1) ecological intensification, 2) matching management strategies with land potential and climatic conditions, 3) mitigating and enhancing resilience to environmental changes, and 4) managing agricultural lands with a landscape perspective. Fifteen field- and enterprise-level practices are under evaluation to advance these four strategies, yet adoption of the practices lags behind outreach in all LTAR regions. Economic, informational, and social factors are ongoing barriers to widespread adoption. Overcoming these barriers will require financial mechanisms that make aspirational production more profitable, better understanding of the trade-offs between profitability and environmental quality, and long-term partnerships among producers, agroecologists, and social scientists.

}, author = {S. Spiegal and Brandon T Bestelmeyer} } @article {JRN54608, title = {Applying ecological site concepts to adaptive conservation management on an iconic Californian landscape}, journal = {Rangelands}, volume = {38}, year = {2016}, month = {12/2016}, chapter = {365}, abstract = {
Tejon Ranch is a spectacular landscape valued for its biological diversity, livestock production, and cultural heritage. Situated at the convergence of three of California{\textquoteright}s major biogeographic zones, it is the largest, contiguous private property in the state. Since 2008, the ranch has operated under a conservation agreement that established adaptive livestock management for conservation and economic outcomes. We developed and applied ecological site concepts to adaptive conservation-focused grazing on 40,000 ha of grasslands on the ranch. Environmental heterogeneity, non-equilibrium system controls, and unpredictable rainfall required novel ecological site descriptions (ESDs) and state-and-transition models (STMs) to understand system history and dynamics, and to predict responses to management. Each ecological site is based on a {\textquotedblleft}geologic landform{\textquotedblright} class: \ a unique combination of biogeographic region, geologic material and age, dominant formative geomorphology, elevation, and slope that supports a distinct set of soils and vegetation dynamics. We randomly established 57 permanent plots within geologic landform classes. Sampling these plots over several years allowed us to evaluate the spatial and temporal variation within and among geologic landform classes and to build data-driven, quantitative ESDs and STMs. Using these models, we developed hypotheses about suitable management practices for conservation goals. We discuss in detail the Holocene Flats ESD, which we identified as having the highest potential for enhancement of conservation values through altered grazing practices predicted to favor several taxa, including the San Joaquin kit fox, blunt-nosed leopard lizard, and native annual forbs. The predicted responses are currently being tested and monitored.
}, doi = {10.1016/j.rala.2016.10.002}, url = {files/bibliography/16-029.pdf}, author = {S. Spiegal and James Bartolome and White, Michael} } @conference {JRN54620, title = {Can foraging behavior of Criollo cattle help increase agricultural production and reduce environmental impacts in the arid Southwest?}, booktitle = {Ecological Society of America}, year = {2016}, month = {08/2016}, publisher = {Ecological Society of America}, organization = {Ecological Society of America}, abstract = {
The Longterm Agroecosystem Research Network (LTAR) was formed to help the nation{\textquoteright}s agricultural systems simultaneously increase production and reduce environmental impacts. Eighteen networked sites are conducting a Common Experiment to understand the environmental and economic problems associated with {\textquotedblleft}business as usual{\textquotedblright} (BAU) agricultural systems and explore hypotheses about how aspirational systems can overcome those problems. In the American Southwest, BAU comprises lightly to moderately stocked cow-calf operations, typically with Angus crossbreds (AX). AX tend to utilize the landscape unevenly. When droughts occur, they may have difficulty accessing sufficient forage, and expensive and resourceintensive supplemental feed is then required. Destocking is a typical coping strategy. We hypothesize that Raramuri Criollo (RC) cattle, which have persisted in arid, rugged conditions in Mexico for ~500 years with minimal husbandry, utilize the landscape more widely {\textendash} and therefore can sustain droughts with little to no supplemental feed. Many questions must be answered about RC production systems. In 2008, we used GPS collars to compare the behavior and landscape utilization of RC and AX in a 1535-ha pasture. We tracked movements across four growing season stages with 5-minute GPS {\textquotedblleft}fix{\textquotedblright} intervals. Using points correlated with foraging, we compared their average daily spatial coverage and resource selection. Preliminary spatial coverage analyses (minimum convex polygon) suggest that in the drier growing season stages, Pregreenup and Drydown, RC foraged over more ground than AX on an average daily basis. Resource selection functions (RSFs) are a general class of functions that predict the probability of use of various resources in a sampling area. Preliminary RSFs estimated using logistic regression suggest that during the drier seasonal stages, the probability that RC will select vegetation types and ecological states with dense honey mesquite is greater than the probability that AX will select those vegetation types and ecological states. Further, in the drier seasonal stages, the likelihood that RC will forage further from permanent watering points is higher than for AX. We did not collect data about direct environmental impacts or agricultural production of the two cattle types during the study; however, a cattle type that forages further from water and selects mesquite patches may help agricultural producers in the arid Southwest weather droughts with less supplemental feed. Many questions remain for the Common Experiment; however, these preliminary results suggest that an agricultural system based on RC may be more likely than "business as usual" to simultaneously increase production and reduce environmental impacts.
}, author = {S. Spiegal and Richard E. Estell and Andr{\'e}s F. Cibils and Dawn M. Browning and H. Raul Peinetti and D. K. James and Kirsten B. Romig and Amy L. Gonzalez} } @inbook {JRN54563, title = {Range Ecosystems}, booktitle = {Ecosystems of California}, year = {2016}, pages = {835-864}, publisher = {University of California Press}, organization = {University of California Press}, address = {Berkeley, CA}, abstract = {

After more than two hundred years, livestock grazing remains California{\textquoteright}s most extensive land use. The {\textquoteleft}Range Ecosystems{\textquoteright} chapter in the {\textquoteleft}Ecosystems of California{\textquoteright} sourcebook provides an integrated picture of the biophysical, social, and economic aspects of lands grazed by livestock in the state. Grazing management differs considerably among the Mediterranean, desert, and montane biogeographical regions of the state. Contemporary models predicting range community responses to grazing emphasize site-specific\ nonequilibrium dynamics and integrated management goals, which include maintaining biodiversity, controlling invasive plants, managing fuels, and protecting soil, water, and air quality. Because forage resources have become limited statewide, management of public range must now consider impacts on private range. Partnerships between ranchers and rangeland landowners are essential to conserving the extensive landscapes cherished in California.

}, url = {http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520278806}, author = {S. Spiegal and Lynn Huntsinger and Hopkinson, Peter and James Bartolome} }