The giant bathtubs off the western and southern coasts of North America contribute large amounts of heat and moisture to the continent, driving much of the climate (long-term) and weather (short-term) of the Western United States. And oceans have regular oscillations in temperature, which drives moisture delivery. Researchers looked at historical yearling cattle production data going back to 1939 at the Central Plains Experimental Range to see whether correlations existed between the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and the El Nino Souther Oscillation and cattle performance. Interactions between the PDO and ENSO have an effect on both rangeland production and livestock weight gain. Listen to this panel discussion with Drs. Justin Derner, David Augustine, and EJ Raynor to learn more.

LINKS

Best PDO info: https://ecowatch.noaa.gov/thematic/climate-indices

EL NIÑO/SOUTHERN OSCILLATION (ENSO) information from NOAA: https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/ensodisc.shtml

PACIFIC DECADAL OSCILLATION information from NOAA: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/pdo/

ARTICLES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Colorado State University Extension publication "Early Warning for Stocking Decisions in Eastern Colorado", at https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/agriculture/early-warning-for-stocking-decisions-in-eastern-colorado-3-115/.

"Large-scale and local climatic controls on large herbivore

productivity: implications for adaptive rangeland management", in Ecological Applications (2020): https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/1354/23.%20Raynor%20et%20al.%202020%20Ecological%20Applications%20-%20climatic%20controls%20on%20LHP.pdf

More information about the LTAR Network, https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/30123025/Publications/2022/Goodrich%20et%20al.%202022%20Hydrological%20Processes%20-Long%20term%20agroecosystem%20research%20experimental%20watershed%20network.pdf

TRANSCRIPT at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-92-what-hath-ocean-currents-do-colorado-cattle-derner-augustine-and-raynor