** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** DESPITE THE EXPECTATION THAT DROUGHTSWILLIMPACT ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN RANGELANDS, ADAPTIVE MEASURES TO GUIDE MANAGEMENT GIVEN THESE PROJECTIONS ARE FAR LESS CLEAR. ONE OVERLOOKED ASPECT OF RANGELANDS IS THAT MANY OF THE EFFECTS RELATED TO CHANGES IN VEGETATION COVER ARE DRIVEN BYTHE SPATIAL ARRANGEMENT OF VEGETATION PATCHES RATHER THAN COVER DIRECTLY. THUS, THE FOCUS ON THE SPATIAL ARRANGEMENT OF VEGETATION IS A KEY CONSIDERATION IN UNDERSTANDING RANGELAND RESILIENCE TO A CHANGING CLIMATE, AND WE MAY BE ABLE TO USE THIS PATTERN TO INDICATE THE STRENGTH OF FEEDBACKS THAT MAINTAIN FUNCTION: CAN PATCH SIZE CAN BE USED TO MANAGE THE RESILIENCE OF RANGELAND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES, RELATING TO BOTH HOW A PLANT CAN GROW AND SURVIVE IN PATCHES AND HOW THIS MIGHT SCALE TO LARGE-SCALE REGIME SHIFTS?TO TACKLE THIS IMPORTANT GAP, WE WILL FOCUS ON SEMI-ARID GRASSLANDS IN BOULDER COUNTY, COLORADO. WE WILL FIRST DETERMINE THE INTERACTION BETWEEN VEGETATION COVER AND VEGETATIVE PATCH SIZE AND HOW IT INFLUENCE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES. THEN WE WILL DETERMINE FUNCTIONS RELATED TO SPATIAL ARRANGEMENT OF VEGETATION AND THEIR RESILIENCE TO DROUGHT UNDER GRAZING REGIMES THAT SHIFT PATCH SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS. THIRD, WE WILL ASSESS HOW VEGETATION PATCH SIZE AFFECT FACILITATION AND POSITIVE FEEDBACKS AT THE PATCH EDGES. OUR METHODS ARE BOTH OBSERVATIONAL, INVOLVING SAMPLING MULTIPLE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN AREAS WITH DIFFERING VEGETATION COVER AND PATCH SIZES, AS WELL AS EXPERIMENTAL MANIPULATIONS OF DROUGHT AND GRAZING.ULTIMATELY, OUR WORK WILL RESULT IN A BETTER UNDERSTANDING ABOUT HOW INCREASINGLY HOT, DRYCONDITIONS MAY PUSH RANGELANDS TOWARDS THRESHOLDS AND A FUNDAMENTAL SHIFT IN THE ORGANIZATION OF STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION. WE WILL DETERMINE HOW LOCAL MANAGEMENT ACTIONS MAY AID RESILIENCE BY MAINTAINING CONDITIONS WHERE PATCH SIZE FEEDBACKS MAINTAIN FUNCTION.