Ruth H. Spaniol Chair in Natural Resources and Lead Principle Investigator for the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest, Michael P. Nelson co-authored this opinion piece with Kathleen Dean Moore, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at OSU. Together they co-edited the anthology “Moral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril.”

Eight researchers in a new report have suggested that climate change is causing additional stress to many western rangelands, and as a result land managers should consider a significant reduction, or in some places elimination of livestock and other large animals from public lands. “People have discussed the impacts of climate change for some time with such topics as forest health or increased fire,” said Robert Beschta, a professor emeritus in the College of Forestry at Oregon State University, and lead author on this study.

Harold Zald, a post-doc researcher in the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, recently published a study documenting climate change in Jefferson Park, a 333 acre meadow in the central Oregon Cascades.

“There are a lot more interesting things to do in ecology than stand around and count birds,” Betts notes. “With that in mind, we came up with the question, ‘Can we automate this process?’” The answer arrived in 2008 following the formation of the OSU Bioacoustics Group. The group comprises a number of scientists, including students, faculty, and outside collaborators, hailing from such disparate fields as ecology, electrical engineering, computer science, and marine resources.