It’s Our Nature to Know Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute A Geographically- Broad Assessment of Rangeland Ecosystem Services Shannon White, [email protected].

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A Geographically-Broad Assessment of Rangeland Ecosystem Services Shannon White,[email protected] J. Habib, and Dan FarrAlberta Biodiversity Monitoring InstituteUniversity of Alberta

Its Our Nature to KnowAlberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute1

A Geographically-Broad Assessment of Rangeland Ecosystem Services Shannon White,[email protected] J. Habib, and Dan FarrAlberta Biodiversity Monitoring InstituteUniversity of Alberta

Its Our Nature to KnowAlberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute2Ecosystem services

Dont forget little intro. 3Rangelands provide all these services (and more)

Forage productionCarbon storagePollinationWater filtration & storageSpecies at riskBiodiversity ES in AB RangelandsAB has twice the remaining untilled prairie than the US Conversion continuesCurrent market doesnt account for ESNew markets for ranchers

Great oppurtunity to provide and capiitilze from ES. Say that this extends to SK too 5Status of RangelandLess than half of rangeland in good condition (Prairie Agricultural Landscapes, AAFC)Potential to better manage rangelandsEspecially if there is incentive

Easy to talk about ES in abstract terms, harder in quantiative terms6Status of RangelandLess than half of rangeland in good condition (Prairie Agricultural Landscapes, AAFC)Potential to better manage rangelandsEspecially if there is incentive

Easy to talk about ES in abstract terms, harder in quantiative terms7Ecosystem Services Assessment ProjectDevelop detailed, spatially-explicit models to measure and map these focal ES across Alberta, as well as how they change with land management activitiesPart of a province-wide initiative led by AIBio, the Ecosystem Services Research and Innovation RoadmapWill further incorporate this knowledge into market-based instruments

Quantifying ESWater purificationPollinationBiodiversityCarbon storageForage productionTimber production

Quantifying ESWater purificationPollinationBiodiversityCarbon storageForage productionTimber productionBeta release March 2014Open source; open data

Water purification

Track water flow using DEMWater picks up sediment based on landcover/ land-useTrack sediment depositionDetermine important upslope source areas for points of interest (e.g. cities, recreational lakes)

Water flow model, based on digital elevation model. Water rains down based on precipitation data, flows downhill.Sediment generation (erosion) is based on universal soil loss equation, influenced by landcover (i.e. ABMI HF and veg maps)Sediment is deposited as water continues to move downstream (|total suspended solids N and P)Pick points of interest (in this case, Edmonton) and you can trace the upslope areas where sediment came from (i.e. where you want to target management). In the zoomed-in map, darker red = places supplying Edmonton with more sediment.

11Pollination

Map canola fields

Pollination

Map canola fieldsMap bee habitat

Pollination

Map canola fieldsMap bee habitatUse field studies to understand contribution of bees to canola production

PollinationMap canola fieldsMap bee habitatUse field studies to understand contribution of bees to canola productionDetermine $/ha

Biodiversity (ABMI)Monitor species abundance and habitat across province

Biodiversity

Monitor species abundance and habitat across province Develop detailed maps of land cover & useBiodiversityMonitor species abundance and habitat across province Develop detailed maps of land cover & use Develop statistical relationships between land use and observed species

BiodiversityMonitor species abundance and habitat across province Use detailed map of land useDevelop statistical relationships between land use and observed speciesUse these relationships to predict biodiversity Intactness across province

Forage production & Carbon storageUses CENTURY ecosystem modelSoil Organic MatterPlant ProductionHydrologicalNutrient CyclingManagement and events

Colorado state universitysoil organic matter/ decomposition submodel, a water budget model, a grassland/cropsubmodel, a forest production submodel, and management and events scheduling functions 20Forage production & Carbon storage

Uses CENTURY modelBased on soil, climate & land cover dataAgricultural Region of Alberta Soil Inventory DatabaseClimateWNA: A program to generate high-resolution climate data

21Forage production & Carbon storage

Uses CENTURY modelBased on soil, climate & land cover dataRun model for each Agrasid polygonI century illinois state uni22Forage production & Carbon storageUses CENTURY modelBased on soil, climate & land cover dataRun model for each Agrasid polygonLink results to GIS (native grassland)

Results: Carbon Modelling = 87 tonnes C/ha

Total Soil C (tonnes/ha) 15 per tonne 4785 $ /ha in carbon storage24Results: Carbon Modelling = 87 tonnes C/ha = 319 tonnes CO2/ha

Total Soil C (tonnes/ha) 15 per tonne 4785 $ /ha in carbon storage25Results: Carbon Modelling = 87 tonnes C/ha = 319 tonnes CO2/ha

Total Soil C (tonnes/ha) 15 per tonne 4785 $ /ha in carbon storage26

Results: Forage Modelling

= 2391 kg/ha Available Forage (kg/ha/yr)

Results: Forage Modelling

= 2391 kg/ha Available Forage (kg/ha/yr) Value? $60/tonne?$143/ha/yr3CaveatPreliminary resultsModelling BenefitsDrawbacksCENTURY is well used modelBut need model validation

What questions can we ask?Large spatial extent: what is the value?Effect of land use/managementConversion of prairie to croplandAdjusting grazing intensityTrade-offs between multiple ESHow will climate change affect ES?Scaling down

ScorecardsFor a region, or industryScenario modellingMarket-based instruments i.e. Conservation offsetsPayment for ecosystem services

Applications

marketingCarbon Credits for Grassland

>4X C in soil than atmosphereCarbon Credits for Grassland

Accounting based off CENTURY modelMany more ES

AcknowledgementsFunders:

Collaborators: