文章基本信息

标题：The Role of Rangelands in Diversified Farming Systems: Innovations, Obstacles, and Opportunities in the USA
本地全文：下载
作者：Nathan F Sayre ; Liz Carlisle ; Lynn Huntsinger 等
期刊名称：Ecology and Society
印刷版ISSN：1708-3087
电子版ISSN：1708-3087
出版年度：2012
卷号：17
期号：4
出版社：The Resilience Alliance
摘要：Discussions of diversified farming systems (DFS) rarely mention rangelands: the grasslands, shrublands, andsavannas that make up roughly one-third of Earth's ice-free terrestrial area, including some 312 million ha of the United States.Although ranching has been criticized by environmentalists for decades, it is probably the most ecologically sustainable segmentof the U.S. meat industry, and it exemplifies many of the defining characteristics of DFS: it relies on the functional diversity ofnatural ecological processes of plant and animal (re)production at multiple scales, based on ecosystem services generated andregenerated on site rather than imported, often nonrenewable, inputs. Rangelands also provide other ecosystem services, includingwatershed, wildlife habitat, recreation, and tourism. Even where non-native or invasive plants have encroached on or replacednative species, rangelands retain unusually high levels of plant diversity compared with croplands or plantation forests.Innovations in management, marketing, incentives, and easement programs that augment ranch income, creative land tenurearrangements, and collaborations among ranchers all support diversification. Some obstacles include rapid landownershipturnover, lack of accessible U.S. Department of Agriculture certified processing facilities, tenure uncertainty, fragmentation ofrangelands, and low and variable income, especially relative to land costs. Taking advantage of rancher knowledge andstewardship, and aligning incentives with production of diverse goods and services, will support the sustainability of ranchingand its associated public benefits. The creation of positive feedbacks between economic and ecological diversity should be theultimate goal
关键词：diversification; ecosystem services; ranching; rangelands