RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Climate change impacts on wind and water erosion on US rangelands
JF Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
FD Soil and Water Conservation Society
SP 405
OP 418
DO 10.2489/jswc.74.4.405
VO 74
IS 4
A1 B.L. Edwards
A1 N.P. Webb
A1 D.P. Brown
A1 E. Elias
A1 D.E. Peck
A1 F.B. Pierson
A1 C.J. Williams
A1 J.E. Herrick
YR 2019
UL http://www.jswconline.org/content/74/4/405.abstract
AB Soil erosion by water and wind in US rangelands has serious implications for rangeland health and food security and poses significant hazards to human health and communities. Accordingly, understanding how future climate change may impact soil erosion is critical for developing appropriate management strategies that mitigate negative impacts to the extent practical and potentially build resilience. Here, we review potential impacts of climate change on controls of erosion in US rangelands and discuss potential erosion responses. Projected climate changes are expected to have regionally variable effects on important controls of erosion, especially vegetation cover; community composition; frequency, magnitude, and geographical range of fire disturbance; and high intensity, erosive weather events, all of which have the potential to increase rangeland vulnerability to erosion. We identify knowledge gaps relevant to these controls and discuss management considerations to address climate change impacts to soil erosion concerns for US rangelands. In order to improve resilience and the efficacy of climate change adaptation, we recommend that existing monitoring data be used to create assessments of vulnerability, that soil erosion should be explicitly included in management benchmarks and decision support tools, and that no-regrets management options be implemented in anticipation of future impacts.