Ģ����ý

This study tackles the question of “What can be done to better prepare rangeland managers for future drought events?” by testing the roles of the drought hazard and the social-ecological context on drought impacts and response.

The study was conducted with ranchers in western and central South Dakota and Nebraska following the drought that began in 2012. Ranchers were surveyed regarding the effects of the drought and their responses. Multimodel analysis is used to explore the relationships among measures of drought preparedness, drought response, and drought impacts.

Findings show that

1. drought severity was the primary predictor of all impacts, but specific types of impacts were varied depending on the operation’s enterprise mix, resources, and management.
2. The socioecological characteristics of the ranch system predicted drought response actions taken, by either providing the necessary resources and capacity to take action or creating sensitivity in the system that required action to be taken.