Local Cultural Knowledge and Water Resource Management: The Wind River Indian Reservation

Ecology and culture comprise interacting components of landscapes. Understanding the integrative nature of the landscape is essential to establish methods for sustainable management. This research takes as a unifying theme the idea that ecological and cultural issues can be incorporated through management. As a first step in developing integrative management strategies, information must be collected that compares and contrasts ecological and cultural issues to identify their areas of intersection. Specifically how can local cultural knowledge enable water resource management that reflects cultural and ecological values? This research examines Native American cultural knowledge for setting water resource management priorities in the Wind River Indian Reservation in central Wyoming. A cross-cultural approach is adopted to assess the relationship between indigenous cultural knowledge and Euro-American perspectives through a comparative examination of the Wind River Water Code and Wyoming Water Law. This research indicates that cultural perspectives provide a rich arena in which to examine management issues. Understanding and identifying cultural practices may be an important first step in collaborative resource management between different cultural groups to prevent conflict and lengthy resolution in court.     

Botanical composition, soil and forage quality under different management regimes in Russian grasslands

Little is known on how management of Russian native grasslands affects botanical composition, soil and forage properties. Three fields were sampled in the V.V. Alekhin Central-Chernozem Biosphere State Reserve in the Kursk region of Russia: a native grassland (not cultivated for at least 300 years), a grazed/hay field with 4 years of annual harvest followed by 1 year of rest (periodically-cut grazed/hay field), and a yearly-cut grazed/hay field. Soil samples were collected from the top 10 cm and analyzed. Plant species were identified at the sampling sites and this plant material was used to determine total elemental analysis of forage, crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), in vitro true digestibility (IVTD) and lignin concentrations. Above-ground live and dead plant material and roots were analyzed for C, N and lignin. Soil sample analysis showed that fields were comparable in terms of soil chemical and physical properties. SOC and N contents were not statistically different in the native and yearly grazed/hay fields. Soil bulk density significantly increased as a result of utilization, from 0.80±0.09 Mg m⁻³ for the native grassland to 0.97±0.06 Mg m⁻³ for the yearly grazed/hay field. A total of 107 different plant species were recorded at the three fields. There were changes in plant composition among the fields. The native grassland field had the least number of plant species (41) followed by the yearly-cut grazed/hay field (68), and the periodically-cut grazed/hay field (87). There was a greater proportion of grass species (20%) in the native grassland field. Dead plant biomass and roots from the grazed/hay fields were higher in N and lignin concentrations. Forage mineral concentration was highest in the periodically-cut hay field. No significant differences were observed in terms of forage properties.