Transforming Grassland Conservation: Challenges and Opportunities Across Law, Policy, and Human Dimensions

Authors

Conor D. Barnes, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

First Advisor

Dirac Twidwell

Second Advisor

Craig Allen

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Department

Natural Resource Sciences

Date of this Version

8-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Citation

A dissertation presented to the faculty of the Graduate College of the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Major: Natural Resources Sciences

Under the supervision of Professors Dirac Twidwell and Craig Allen

Lincoln, Nebraska, August 2024

Comments

Copyright 2024, Conor D. Barnes. Used by permission

Abstract

Great Plains social-ecological systems are facing growing pressure from complex, ‘wicked’ problems. Addressing these problems will require integrating ecological resilience and complex systems thinking concepts into our legal framework in order to better reflect the changing ecological reality of the Great Plains and promote flexibility and adaptability in the face of that change. In this dissertation, I examine how past and present policy priorities have affected social-ecological systems on the Great Plains, and how ecological resilience and complex systems thinking might be applied to grassland management policy. In Chapter 2, I examine the rapid progress made in the adoption of a complex systems approach to grasslands management on the Great Plains. I find that rapid progress has been made in the past 10 years to shift to complex systems thinking, including greater attention to identifying and resolving scale mismatch between ecosystem management and the relevant ecosystem, a shift from reactive to proactive policy approaches, and the creation of more consistent policy guidance for complex grassland systems. In the next two chapters, I describe how past decisions about what to prioritize in grassland management continues to influence management decisions in the present, to the detriment of desirable ecosystem services. In the last chapter, I analyze a survey of landowners in a Great Plains region for their attitudes toward the management of eastern redcedar, a native invasive species, and the use of prescribed fire in grassland management. I find that landowners were more likely to initially manage for eastern redcedar as the amount of redcedar on their property increased. Furthermore, landowners were significantly more likely to follow-up initial restoration only after re-encroachment increased again, and were unlikely to manage encroachment at the immature or low-density stages. Landowner attitudes toward prescribed fire as a brush management tool also remain mixed. These results have significant implications for grassland management, as encroachment prevention and prescribed fire are key tools to address woody plant encroachment.

Advisors: Dirac Twidwell and Craig Allen

Recommended Citation

Barnes, Conor D., "Transforming Grassland Conservation: Challenges and Opportunities Across Law, Policy, and Human Dimensions" (2024). Dissertations and Doctoral Documents from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–. 162.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissunl/162