Presentation Summary: The beef cattle industry is one of Saskatchewan’s largest land users and an important steward of rangelands and their biodiversity.  The Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute (ABMI) recently completed a multi-year, collaborative project using species-habitat models to assess how beef production influences plant diversity in southern Saskatchewan. We developed new maps of the beef industry’s land-use footprint and compared predicted plant species abundance in current and historical, undeveloped landscapes to estimate habitat intactness. Intactness was generally higher in pasture-dominated areas than in other land uses, suggesting cattle grazing may better support biodiversity than alternative land-use types. However, our analysis focused on land conversion rather than fine-scale habitat quality, meaning further work is needed to evaluate how grazed landscapes contribute to long-term biodiversity outcomes. This project highlights how ABMI’s modelling tools can be applied in new regions to understand human impacts on biodiversity.

About the Presenter: Emily Holden is a Vegetation Ecologist at the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute. In her work, she analyses large biodiversity datasets to evaluate trends in plant species over time. She also develops and implements new analytical approaches for large biodiversity monitoring datasets. Emily is passionate about research that supports effective conservation and sustainable land management.

Hosted by: Caitlin Mroz-Sailer, Stewardship Coordinator, Prairie Conservation Action Plan

Presenting Sponsor: Canadian Forage and Grasslands Association, North American Helium, Nutrien, Pembina and SaskTel.