Title: Economic returns and the perceived obstacles to adopting active management in the forest-grassland transition ecoregion in south-central USA. Authors: Bijesh Mishra, Omkar Joshi, Ronald E. Masters, Caleb McKinney, Arjun Adhikari, Chris B. Zou, Rodney E. Will Highlights: Abstract: Forest-grassland ecotones are a mosaic of grassland, savanna, and upland forest. As such, landowners may have opportunities to choose to manage their lands for multiple objectives. We estimated the economic returns from managing forest and rangeland in southeastern Oklahoma, USA to produce different combinations of timber, cattle forage, and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimmermann) browse for a 40-year period. We further conducted…
Title: Forage quantity and protein concentration changes across a forest-savanna gradient with management implications for white-tailed deer Authors: Caleb M. McKinney, Ronald E. Masters, Arjun Adhikari, Bijesh Mishra, Omkar Joshi, Chris B. Zou, Rodney E. Will Abstract: White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) hunting is an important economic activity associated with the management of forests and rangelands in the USA, with over $12.9 billion dollars of related annual expenditures. Reducing tree cover through thinning and prescribed fire both have the potential to increase the quantity and quality of deer forage. We evaluated the long-term impacts of eight different combinations of fire return intervals and tree harvest on forage productivity and protein content of the forage.…
Title: Intentions of Landowners towards Active Management of Ecosystem for Deer Habitat Authors: Bijesh Mishra, Omkar Joshi, Binod P. Chapagain, Lixia He Lambert & Rodney E. Will Abstract Active management such as prescribed fire and thinning can restore savanna and prairie ecosystem to maintain a full suite of ecosystem services and create suitable habitat for wildlife species such as white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Active management comes with the cost of management and acceptance of management tools. The south-central transitional ecoregion of the USA, which otherwise was a mixture of forest, savanna, and tallgrass prairie, is increasing in woody plant dominance due to the exclusion…
Title: Exploring Opinions for Using Prescribed Fire to Control Eastern Redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) Encroachment in the Southern Great Plains, United States Authors: Katelyn Jeffries, Bijesh Mishra, Aaron Russell, & Omkar Joshi ABSTRACT Eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) is rapidly encroaching on grasslands in the southern Great Plains. This has several adverse effects on the landscape including increased wildfire risk, decreased water runoff, and reduced forage available for cattle production. Several best management practices have been identified to reduce the spread of eastern redcedar, including the use of prescribed fire. However, numerous barriers exist against the use of prescribed fire such as societal acceptance or liability concerns. The purpose of this study was…
Bijesh Mishra, Omkar Joshi, Rodney E. Will Ph.D. Student, Assistant Professor, Professor Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State University Abstract The forest-grassland ecotone in the southcentral US is the tension zone between two major biomes and provides a number of important ecosystem services. Active management in the region using prescribed fire, forest thinning/harvesting, grazing, and herbicides can optimize desired benefits for landowners with a variety of management objectives. However, periodic severe droughts that plague this area and increasing climate variability have profoundly affected the productivity, resilience, and stability of ecosystems. We aim to facilitate sustainable management…
