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SEMI-ARID RANGELANDS ARE PRINCIPALLY MANAGED FOR FORAGE, WHILE PROVIDING ECOSYSTEM SERVICES SUCH AS PLANT DIVERSITY AND SOIL CARBON SEQUESTRATION. THERE IS GROWING POLITICAL SUPPORT IN CALIFORNIA TO COMPENSATE RANCHERS FOR MANAGING FOR SOIL CARBON. COMPOST AMENDMENTS TO SOIL HAVE BEEN PROPOSED AS A TOOL TO INCREASE SOIL CARBON AS WELL AS FORAGE PRODUCTION. OUR PRELIMINARY RESEARCH HAS INDICATED THAT AMENDMENTS CAN ELEVATE BOTH SERVICES FOR YEARS TO DECADES FOLLOWING APPLICATION. COMPOST AMENDMENTS CONTAIN NITROGEN, HOWEVER, WHICH HAS BEEN LINKED TO THE LOSS OF NATIVE AND STRESS-TOLERANT SPECIES. A LOSS OF STRESS-TOLERANT SPECIES COULD REDUCE THE RESILIENCE OF FORAGE PRODUCTION AND OTHER ECOSYSTEM SERVICES TO STRESSFUL LOW-RESOURCE CONDITIONS SUCH AS DROUGHT. THE NITROGEN IN COMPOST IS IN A CHEMICAL FORM THAT IS NOT READILY ACCESSIBLE TO PLANTS, WHICH MAY LESSEN THESE POTENTIAL DRAWBACKS, BUT TESTING THE LIKELIHOOD AND LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES OF SPECIES LOSS DUE TO COMPOST AMENDMENTS ISESSENTIAL TO DETERMINE THE VIABILITY OF THE PRACTICE.AS COMPOST AMENDMENTS BECOME A MORE COMMON PRACTICE IN CALIFORNIA AND THROUGHOUT THE US, IT IS CRITICAL TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE NITROGEN AND WATER DYNAMICS OF COMPOST AMENDMENTS, AND HOW THESE FEED BACK ON PLANT COMMUNITY COMPOSITION, AS WELL AS FORAGE PRODUCTION AND SOIL CARBON STORAGE. OUR GOAL IS TO BUILD THIS UNDERSTANDING TO BETTER INFORM RANGELAND MANAGEMENT PRACTICES. OUR PROPOSED RESEARCH FIRST TESTS THE EFFECT OF MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR SOIL CARBON ON FORAGE AND BIODIVERSITY ACROSS RAINFALL CONDITIONS, AND SECONDLY TESTS WHETHER THESE PROCESSES INTERACT TO AFFECT THE RESILIENCE OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES OVER TIME. WE DO SO USING A LARGE-SCALE FIELD EXPERIMENT IN WHICH WE CROSS SOIL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (COMPOST, NITROGEN FERTILIZER, CONTROL) WITH RAINFALL MANIPULATIONS (DROUGHT VIA SHELTERS, WET VIA IRRIGATION, CONTROL) AND ASSESS THE EFFECTS ON SPECIES COMPOSITION, FORAGE PRODUCTION AND SOIL CARBON OVER TIME. OUR RESEARCH ISBASED AT A RESEARCH STATION THAT OPERATES AS A WORKING RANCH AND CONDUCTS OUTREACH EVENTS TO THE RANCHING COMMUNITY. WE WILL SHARE OUR RESULTS WITH RANCHERS, TO HELP THEM DECIDE WHETHER AND WHERE TO APPLY COMPOST AMENDMENTS, AND WITH POLICYMAKERS, TO HELP THEM SHAPE GOVERNMENT INCENTIVE PROGRAMS FOR SOIL MANAGEMENT.

$496,864FY2018National Institute of Food and AgricultureUSDA

University Of Oregon, Eugene OR

Investigators

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SEMI-ARID RANGELANDS ARE PRINCIPALLY MANAGED FOR FORAGE, WHILE PROVIDING ECOSYSTEM SERVICES SUCH AS PLANT DIVERSITY AND SOIL CARBON SEQUESTRATION. THERE IS GROWING POLITICAL SUPPORT IN CALIFORNIA TO COMPENSATE RANCHERS FOR MANAGING FOR SOIL CARBON. COMPOST AMENDMENTS TO SOIL HAVE BEEN PROPOSED AS A TOOL TO INCREASE SOIL CARBON AS WELL AS FORAGE PRODUCTION. OUR PRELIMINARY RESEARCH HAS INDICATED THAT AMENDMENTS CAN ELEVATE BOTH SERVICES FOR YEARS TO DECADES FOLLOWING APPLICATION. COMPOST AMENDMENTS CONTAIN NITROGEN, HOWEVER, WHICH HAS BEEN LINKED TO THE LOSS OF NATIVE AND STRESS-TOLERANT SPECIES. A LOSS OF STRESS-TOLERANT SPECIES COULD REDUCE THE RESILIENCE OF FORAGE PRODUCTION AND OTHER ECOSYSTEM SERVICES TO STRESSFUL LOW-RESOURCE CONDITIONS SUCH AS DROUGHT. THE NITROGEN IN COMPOST IS IN A CHEMICAL FORM THAT IS NOT READILY ACCESSIBLE TO PLANTS, WHICH MAY LESSEN THESE POTENTIAL DRAWBACKS, BUT TESTING THE LIKELIHOOD AND LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES OF SPECIES LOSS DUE TO COMPOST AMENDMENTS ISESSENTIAL TO DETERMINE THE VIABILITY OF THE PRACTICE.AS COMPOST AMENDMENTS BECOME A MORE COMMON PRACTICE IN CALIFORNIA AND THROUGHOUT THE US, IT IS CRITICAL TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE NITROGEN AND WATER DYNAMICS OF COMPOST AMENDMENTS, AND HOW THESE FEED BACK ON PLANT COMMUNITY COMPOSITION, AS WELL AS FORAGE PRODUCTION AND SOIL CARBON STORAGE. OUR GOAL IS TO BUILD THIS UNDERSTANDING TO BETTER INFORM RANGELAND MANAGEMENT PRACTICES. OUR PROPOSED RESEARCH FIRST TESTS THE EFFECT OF MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR SOIL CARBON ON FORAGE AND BIODIVERSITY ACROSS RAINFALL CONDITIONS, AND SECONDLY TESTS WHETHER THESE PROCESSES INTERACT TO AFFECT THE RESILIENCE OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES OVER TIME. WE DO SO USING A LARGE-SCALE FIELD EXPERIMENT IN WHICH WE CROSS SOIL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (COMPOST, NITROGEN FERTILIZER, CONTROL) WITH RAINFALL MANIPULATIONS (DROUGHT VIA SHELTERS, WET VIA IRRIGATION, CONTROL) AND ASSESS THE EFFECTS ON SPECIES COMPOSITION, FORAGE PRODUCTION AND SOIL CARBON OVER TIME. OUR RESEARCH ISBASED AT A RESEARCH STATION THAT OPERATES AS A WORKING RANCH AND CONDUCTS OUTREACH EVENTS TO THE RANCHING COMMUNITY. WE WILL SHARE OUR RESULTS WITH RANCHERS, TO HELP THEM DECIDE WHETHER AND WHERE TO APPLY COMPOST AMENDMENTS, AND WITH POLICYMAKERS, TO HELP THEM SHAPE GOVERNMENT INCENTIVE PROGRAMS FOR SOIL MANAGEMENT. · GrantIndex