BE/CNH: Exploring the Human-Environmental Interactions Causing Bush Encroachment

Oregon State University, Corvallis OR

Investigators

Abstract

The relative importance of human and biophysical factors in vegetation change is often not apparent in the case of slow vegetation degradation processes. One form of vegetation degradation common to rangelands is bush encroachment, which can result from chronic grazing and fire suppression. The investigators in this project have chosen to study an encroached landscape on the Botswana-South Africa border. The PIs will map historic bush encroachment and fires using historical aerial photographs and satellite images, and statistically relate these observations to several human and biophysical factors that vary spatially across the study area. They will then develop a computer model that can simulate the complex interactions between the important human and biophysical factors over time, in a manner the reproduces observed patterns in bush encroachment. This adaptive management model could prove helpful for guiding land management decisions not only in this study area but also similarly degraded rangelands elsewhere.