How Can Science Be General, Yet Specific? The Conundrum of Rangeland Science in the 21st Century

• Published in: Rangeland ecology & management Vol. 65; no. 6; pp. 613 - 622
• Main Authors: Peters, Debra P. C., Belnap, Jayne, Ludwig, John A., Collins, Scott L., Paruelo, José, Hoffman, M. Timm, Havstad, Kris M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lawrence the Society for Range Management 01.11.2012; Elsevier Inc; Allen Press Publishing Services; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: approaches; Big Questions Emerging from a Century of Rangeland Science and Management; climate; Desert soils; downscaling; Ecology; Ecosystems; extrapolation; global ecology; Human influences; humans; Integrated approach; integration; land cover; Land management; Management decisions; nonstationarity; Range management; Rangeland ecology; Rangeland soils; Rangelands; Remote sensing; Science; scientists; society; spatial heterogeneity; Studies; Urban ecology; Vegetation; integration; downscaling; extrapolation; global ecology; spatial heterogeneity; nonstationarity

A critical challenge for range scientists is to provide input to management decisions for land units where little or no data exist. The disciplines of range science, basic ecology, and global ecology use different perspectives and approaches with different levels of detail to extrapolate information...