An adventure in rangeland transition models. LANDSCAPE: An adventure in rangeland transition models.

START We begin our adventure on a bare landscape where annual plants are just starting to emerge… Follow the prompts to guide yourself through the transitions of the landscape. You will need a coin. Once you have reached one “Ending” – Answer the question. Then, try the game again until you reach a different ending. This will give you two transition model scenario prompts from which you will answer questions for each.

Fire!!! A “moonscape” fire rages over your landscape. Most of the plant community, including grasses, shrubs, and even the maturing intermediate species are burned completely. Will it ever recover? Flip a coin to find out HEADS FLIP a COIN click or inciweb.nwcg.gov TAILS

3 or 4 years later… As annual plants die, their organic material begins to form an “O” layer, and the soil deepens. Soon grasses and perennials establish and emerge. These, as well as the annual plants, are known as pioneer species, the first to colonize a landscape. But what happens next? Flip a coin to find out. HEADS NPS.gov FLIP a COIN click or TAILS

Oh, drat. Overgrazing has wiped out your pioneer species. Will the landscape begin to grow back? Flip a coin to find out. HEADS FLIP a COIN click or TAILS Dan Hottle/USFWS

New neighbors. A bare landscape can be vulnerable. Invasive, early-emergent species have overtaken your landscape. Perhaps there is still hope? Flip a coin to find out. HEADS Andrey Zharkikh (Flickr) FLIP a COIN click or TAILS

Darn weeds! Try though they may, the native pioneer species are outcompeted by the early- emergent invasives, which sprout, dominate the canopy and establish their seed bank before the native species even have time to grow! Now it is late summer, the invasives are dying off and looking rather crispy… Flip a coin to see what is next. HEADS Jaepil Cho - USDA FLIP a COIN click or TAILS

Hmm, this could get expensive. It seems that the biotic threshold to use exclusively vegetation management was missed. The landscape damage has been so extensive that managers will have to use physical management as well as vegetation management to restore the landscapes. Question CROSSING THRESHOLDS - What might have been a reason that the biotic threshold was crossed? What management techniques might be employed employ for manage or restore the ecosystem? Answer question – then CLICK to START AGAIN until you have answered at least 2 questions

Don’t look now… Those dead, dry invasive grasses make quite the fire hazard. In late summer, another moonscape fire burns the landscape and virtually wipes out the plant community. Will it ever recover? Flip a coin to find out. HEADS Michael Pellant- BLM FLIP a COIN click or TAILS

We’d like to speak to the manager. It is decided that fuels management with targeted grazing should begin on the landscape. But will it be too late? Flip a coin to find out. HEADS FLIP a COIN click or TAILS

Another fire?! This is getting tedious. Every few years, the invasives burn and whatever native community has managed to scratch out a living. Looks like you’re caught in an annual grass dominated state. Question ANNUAL GRASS - Is this kind of transition a common problem in the West? What are the implications for management? Answer question – then CLICK to START AGAIN until you have answered at least 2 questions

For the next 5 to 150 years… Intermediate species begin to colonize the established landscape. These include perennial bunchgrasses and some shrubs like rabbitbrush and sagebrush. Still, these plants have a long lifespan, and have many years to go before they reach maturity… Flip a coin to see what is next. HEADS FLIP a COIN click or TAILS

150 years later… The landscape now boasts a climax community. Mature, long-living plants are living out entire lifecycles on the landscape. Question CLIMAX COMMUNITY - It seems that everything has gone perfectly! Perhaps too perfect. How realistic is this scenario of arriving to a late seral community with little to no disturbance? Besides disturbance, what might happen next to this community? Answer question – then CLICK to START AGAIN until you have answered at least 2 questions

Ahh, a brand-new start. Native annual plants begin to populate the landscape. Continue

Get out the blue-bunch wheatgrass! Managers work quickly to employ vegetation manipulation techniques, like reseeding, to restore the landscape to a healthy state. When should managers step in to begin restoration efforts, and when should they monitor? Is this always cut-and-dry? Who decides/ what defines a “healthy state” for a landscape? Answer question – then CLICK to START AGAIN until you have answered at least 2 questions