Agent-Based Modeling as a Tool for Ecological Comanagement of Grazing Lands
March 1, 2025 - Monlezun, Anna Clare; Boone, Randall B.; Wagner, Gianna; Trainor, Nick; Lynn, Stacy J.
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EmailJournal or Book Title: RANGELAND ECOLOGY & MANAGEMENT
DOI:10.1016/j.rama.2025.01.003
Abstract: Rangeland management necessitates addressing complex and dynamic social-ecological challenges and opportunities at scales appropriate to target landscapes. We combine geospatial and climate data in an agent-based system dynamics model to simulate temporally and spatially scalable rangeland human- environment-animal-forage relationships. Modeling highly variable grazing system elements requires both adaptability and mathematical realism. Agent-based modeling makes it possible to test alternative approaches to real-world scenarios without taking risks associated with actual experimentation on working operations. Our agent-based model, Ecological Comanagement of Rangelands, or ECo-Range, allows managers to simulate cattle grazing scenarios by setting environmental conditions and management decisions that affect simulation outcomes. In this sense, ECo-Range is not just a product of scientific inquiry, but a tool to be used for collaborative discovery, as it illuminates relationships among environmental conditions, management decisions, and ecological and livestock outcomes for modeled landscapes. ECo-Range explores the complexities of grazing management, embracing rather than excluding variability and heterogeneity inherent in rangeland social-ecological systems. We first present ECo-Range, explaining the model's relevance to the fields of simulation modeling and rangeland management. We then present a case study on the Colorado Front Range as proof of concept to test the utility, validity, and applicability of ECo-Range as a learning tool to explore scenarios related to government-owned landscapes that necessitate comanagement approaches to cattle grazing. (c) 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of The Society for Range Management. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Type of Publication: Article