Assessing, Restoring, and Centering Social-Ecological Relationships for Advancing Social-Ecological Resilience in the Northern Great Plains Grasslands

Authors

Katia Pilar Carranza Bernal, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

First Advisor

Craig R. Allen

Second Advisor

Gwendŵr Meredith

Date of this Version

8-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Citation

A thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate College at the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Science

Major: Natural Resource Sciences

Under the supervision of Professors Craig R. Allen and Gwendŵr Meredith

Lincoln, Nebraska, August 2024

Comments

Copyright 2024, Katia Pilar Carranza Bernal. Used by permission

Abstract

The Northern Great Plains grasslands are social-ecological systems that were shaped by evolutionary and Indigenous social-ecological relationships. European colonization disrupted many of these interactions, including the coupling of fire and grazing, and degraded social-ecological resilience, shifting these grasslands to a new state. For those reasons, my research focused on assessing, restoring, and centering evolutionary and Indigenous social-ecological relationships for advancing social-ecological resilience in the Northern Great Plains grasslands. I first performed a study in the Nebraska Sandhillls assessing the potential of patch-burn grazing to support grassland resilience by comparing its effects to those of rotational grazing. Through vegetation and bird surveys, I examined the impacts of the practices on vegetation structure, diversity, and heterogeneity and bird functional groups and diversity. Patch-burn grazing caused higher forb and vegetation diversity while rotational grazing facilitated more plot-level heterogeneity and possibly more biomass, and both treatments contributed to patch-level heterogeneity. The bird analysis results further indicated that the management practices did not generally impact functional groups or diversity in the short timeframe analyzed. Rotational grazing only increased invertivore abundances, but sub-treatments provided information about how disturbance impacts functional groups. Because both practices contributed to grassland resilience with differing impacts, the study indicates the potential of patch-burn grazing to replace rotational grazing. Furthermore, I collaborated with Indigenous leaders to advance a study that used interviews to assess and center the social-ecological relationships, resilience, and priorities of Indigenous people in Eastern Nebraska. Participant responses indicated that it is important to challenge ongoing settler colonialism that continues to impose Western systems that harm Indigenous people and grasslands through oppression, pollution, and exploitation. Participants prioritize improving social-ecological resilience for all people by supporting Indigenous sovereignty and leadership and restoring their ancestral social-ecological relationships with their communities, cultures, and grasslands. Overall, this study has the potential to inform and interconnect efforts working on managing grasslands for resilience and efforts supporting Indigenous priorities and resilience.

Advisors: Craig R. Allen and Gwendŵr Meredith