Prairies from California to Washington state are catching the heat not just from wildfires but also from warming temperatures. For ranchers, it all means stress on pastureland.
Prairies from California to Washington state are catching the heat not just from wildfires but also from warming temperatures. For ranchers, it all means stress on pastureland.
Two newly launched University of Oregon projects, funded by separate federal agencies, will help better understand the effects of rising temperatures and changing precipitation patterns on both native plants and forage crops, most of which were brought into the area as ranchers moved west.
In Oregon and Washington, Lucas Silva is subjecting diverse prairies and pastures to conditions expected in the next 50 years to see how they respond and share carbon and nutrients through below-ground networks. Northeast of Sacramento, Lauren Hallett is testing whether compost amendments being added to increase grassland forage and carbon sequestration — an approach being used by ranchers — has different effects depending on rainfall conditions.
Silva and Hallett are assistant professors in the UO’s Environmental Studies Program.
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Image via University of Oregon.
