The Prairie Potholes Region of the northern Great Plains is under threat from the combined effects of introduced perennial grasses and climate change, which are driving plant community shifts and biodiversity loss. We synthesized current knowledge on how climate change drivers (i.e., precipitation variability, elevated atmospheric CO2, and warming) and other local and regional biotic and abiotic factors, like soil nutrients and community diversity, impact grassland vegetation through their effects on Smooth Brome and Kentucky Bluegrass. Based on this synthesis, we provide a qualitative assessment of potential responses of Smooth Brome and Kentucky Bluegrass to different scenarios of seasonal water availability, warming climate, and elevated atmospheric CO2 to inform future grassland management.

The goal of this project was to support efforts by the Blackfeet Nation in Montana to manage their lands  in ways that promote climate and cultural resilience and improve grassland and soil health. One strategy for building such resilience is to utilize strategic management of grasslands and grazing activities as a  “natural climate solution”. This includes the restoration of free-ranging bison to grassland landscapes and the management of livestock in ways that approximate wild bison grazing behavior, as well as other practices that can support revitalized and resilient grassland ecosystems. To support strategic grassland and grazing management decisions on Blackfeet lands, we synthesized information on bison and cattle grazing as tools for climate mitigation (via soil carbon sequestration and storage) and adaptation (by supporting healthy grassland ecosystems better able to tolerate warmer temperatures and changing precipitation dynamics). Communications activities shared results from the synthesis and on-going climate adaptation work led by the Piikani Lodge Health Institute with Blackfeet land managers and others in the region. Alongside these synthesis and communications activities, we laid the groundwork for the development of an Indigenous Scholars Hub to support the integration of Indigenous science and cultural practice with western science perspectives, to address timely natural and cultural resource management issues on Tribal lands. Key deliverables from this project included a Masters Thesis chapter (by Indigenous scholar Latrice Tatsey), the development and presentation of communications products (infographics, presentations, and video storyboards), and the piloting of key elements of the Indigenous Scholars Hub via a summer internship program. Overall, this project successfully contributed to and shared knowledge about the role of bison and cattle grazing management and other Indigenous biocultural regenerative agricultural practices at supporting healthy and resilient grassland ecosystems in the face of a changing climate. 

These data were compiled to evaluate pinyon-juniper regeneration dynamics following stand-replacing wildfire and thinning treatments. Objectives of our study were to investigate vegetation community composition and tree recruitment in post-fire and post-thinning environments. These data represent plant and biological soil crust community composition and climatological records among intact, thinned, and burned pinyon–juniper woodlands. These data were collected in Mesa Verde National Park and Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park from 6/1/2021 to 6/10/2021 and from 03/1/2022 to 11/30/2022 at two burned and two intact pinyon-juniper ecosystems in Mesa Verde National Park only. These data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey, National Park Service, and Northern Arizona University through field observation and sensor arrays. These data can be used to interpret community composition and climatological differences among intact, thinned, and burned pinyon–juniper woodlands.