bar

brown

Joel R. Brown

Supervisory Range Scientist, USDA-ARS, Jornada Experimental Range, Las Cruces, New Mexico  88003-0003
Adjunct Faculty, Department of Animal and Range Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM

Education
1987 PhD Shrub Ecology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
1983 MS Grazing Ecology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
1977 BS Agriculture/Botany, Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kansas
1973 AA Barton Community College, Great Bend, Kansas

 

Professional Experience
1998-present Cooperating Scientist-USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Jornada Experimental Range, Las Cruces, NM
1999-2003

Special Assistant to the Chief for Global Change-USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

1993-1997

Senior Principal Research Scientist and Project Leader-CSIRO (Australia) Tropical Agriculture (now Sustainable Ecosystems).  Also held positions as Program Leader for the Cooperative Research Centre for the Sustainable Development of Tropical Savannas and as Program Leader for the Australian Land and Water Research and Development Corporation-Military Land Management Program

1991-1992 Visiting Research Fellow-CSIRO (Australia) Division of Tropical Crops and Pastures, Davies Laboratory, Townsville, QLD
1988-1993

State Rangeland Specialist-USDA Soil Conservation Service, Davis, CA

1986-1988

Area Rangeland Specialist-USDA Soil Conservation Service, Emporia, KS

1983-1986

Minority Merit Fellow-Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

1981-1983

Research Assistant, Department of Rangeland Ecology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

1977-1981

District Conservationist, USDA Soil Conservation Service, Kansas

 

Primary Research Interests

rangeland ecology, application of state and transition models to rangelands, rangeland soil carbon dynamics, shrub invasion, grazing systems, effects of climate change on rangelands, adoption of management practices on rangelands

Synergistic Activities (last 5 years)
Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

  1. Brown, J.R. and Archer, S.R. 1987.  Woody plant seed dispersal and gap formation in a North American subtropical savanna woodland: the role of domestic herbivores.  Vegetatio 73: 73-80.
  2. Brown, J.R. and Archer, S.R. 1989.  Woody plant invasion of grasslands: establishment of honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa var glandulosa) on sites differing in herbaceous biomass and grazing history.  Oecologia 80:19-26.
  3. Brown, J.R. and Archer, S.R. 1990.  Water relations of a perennial grass and seedling vs adult woodland plants in a subtropical savanna, Texas.  Oikos 57: 366-374.
  4. George, M.R., Brown, J.R. and Clawson, W.J. 1992. Application of nonequilibrium ecology to management of Mediterranean grasslands.  Journal of Range Management 45: 436-440.
  5. Brown, J.R. and Stuth, J.W. 1993. How herbivory affects grazing tolerant and sensitive grasses in a central Texas grassland: integrating plant response across hierarchical levels.  Oikos 67: 291-298.
  6. McIvor, J.G., Brown, J.R. and Ash, A.J. 1994. Tropical savanna land use and management: what role for science? Land Use Policy 11: 4-7.
  7. Bellamy, J.A. and Brown, J.R. 1994. Building a state and transition model for management and research on rangelands.  Tropical Grasslands 28: 247-255.
  8. Brown, J.R. 1994. Ecology as a basis for rangeland management: performance criteria for selecting a model.  Tropical Grasslands. 28: 206-213.
  9. Brown, J.R. and Ash, A.J. 1996.  Managing resources: Moving from sustainable yield to sustainability in tropical rangelands.  Tropical Grasslands 30: 47-57.
  10. Brown, J.R. and MacLeod, N.D. 1996. Integrating ecology into natural resource management.  Environmental Management  20: 289-296.
  11. Brown, J.R. and Carter, J.L. 1998. Spatial and temporal patterns of exotic shrub (Acacia nilotica) invasion in an Australian tropical grassland.  Landscape Ecology 13: 93-102.
  12. Whiteman, G. and Brown, J.R. 1998. Assessment of a method for mapping woody plant density in a grassland matrix.  Journal of Arid Environments 38: 269-282.
  13. Brown, J.R., McIvor, J.G. and Scanlan, J.C. 1998. Effects of herbaceous competition on shrub seedling establishment in an Australian tropical woodland.  Journal of Vegetation Science 9: 829-836.
  14. Brown, J.R. and Archer, S.R. 1999. Shrub invasion of grassland: recruitment is continuous and not regulated by herbaceous biomass or density.  Ecology 80:2385-2396.
  15. Brown, J.R., J. E. Herrick and D.L. Price. 1999. Managing low-input agroecosystems sustainably: the importance of ecological thresholds.  Canadian Journal of Forest Research 29: 1112-1119.
  16. Kritikos, D., J.R. Brown, I. Radford and M. Nicholas. 1999.  Plant population ecology and biological control: Acacia nilotica as a case study.  Biological Control 16: 230-239.
  17. Northup, B. K., J.R. Brown and J.A. Holt. 1999.  Grazing impacts on the spatial distribution of soil microbial biomass around tussock grasses in a tropical grassland.  Applied Soil Ecology 13:259-270.
  18. Northup, B.K., J.R. Brown, C.D. Dias, W.C. Skelly and B. Radford. 1999.  A technique for near-ground remote sensing of herbaceous vegetation in tropical woodlands.  Rangeland Journal 21: 229-243.
  19. Brown, J.R. 2001. Book Review: Ecological Stewardship: A Common Reference for Ecosystem Management.  Ecological Engineering 17:469-471.
  20. Cremers, D.A. M. H. Ebinger, D. D. Breshears, P.J. Unkefer, S. A. Kammerdiener, M. J. Ferris, K. M. Catlett, and J. R. Brown. 2001. Measuring Total Soil Carbon with Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS): Results from Initial Testing. Journal of Environmental Quality 30: 2202-2206.
  21. Radford, I.J., D.M. Nicholas and J.R. Brown. 2001.  Assessment of the biological control impact of seed predators on the invasive shrub Acacia nilotica (Prickly Acacia) in Australia.  Biological Control 20: 261-268.
  22. Radford, I.J., D.M. Nicholas and J.R. Brown. 2001.  Impact of prescribed burning on Acacia nilotica seed banks and seedlings in the Astrebla grasslands of northern Australia.  Journal of Arid Environments 49: 795-807.
  23. Radford, I.J. D.M. Nicholas, J.R. Brown and D.J. Kriticos. 2001. Paddock-scale patterns of seed production and dispersal in the invasive shrub Acacia nilotica (Mimosaceae) in northern Australian rangelands.  Austral Ecology 26: 338-348.
  24. Tiver, F., M. Nicholas, D. Kriticos and J. R. Brown. 2001.  Low density of prickly acacia under sheep grazing in Queensland.  Journal of Range Management  54 (4) 382-389.
  25. Herrick, J.E., J.R. Brown, A.J. Tugel, P. L. Shaver and K.M. Havstad. 2002. Application of soil quality to monitoring and management: paradigms from rangeland ecology.  Agronomy Journal 94: 3-11.
  26. D. J. Kriticos, J. R. Brown, G. F. Maywald, I. D. Radford, D. M. Nicholas, R. W. Sutherst, & S. W. Adkins. 2003. SPAnDX:  a process-based population dynamics model to explore management and climate change impacts on an invasive alien plant, Acacia nilotica. Ecological Modeling 163: 187-208.
  27. D.J. Kriticos, J.R. Brown. 2003. Climate change and biotic invasions: a case study of a tropical woody vine.  Biological Invasions 5:145-165.
  28. Bestelmeyer, B.T., J.R. Brown, K.M. Havstad, R. Alexander, G. Chavez and J.E. Herrick. 2003.  Development and use of state and transition models for rangelands.  Journal of Range Management 56: 114-126.
  29. Bestelmeyer, B.T., J.E. Herrick, J.R. Brown, D.A. Trujillo and K.M. Havstad. 2004.  Land management in the American Southwest: a state and transition approach to ecosystem complexity.  Environmental Management 34: 38-51.
  30. Brown, J.R. and K.M. Havstad. 2004. Monitoring to detect changes on rangelands: physical, social and economic/policy drivers.  African Journal of Range and Forage Science 21: 115-121. 
  31. Rice, K.J., S.L. Matzner, B. Beyer and J.R. Brown. 2004. Patterns of tree dieback in Queensland Australia: the importance of drought stress and the role of resistance to cavitation.  Oecologia 139: 190-198.
  32. Northup, B.K., C.D. Dias, J.R. Brown and W.C. Skelly. 2005. Micro-patch and community scale spatial distribution of herbaceous cover in a grazed eucalypt woodland.  Journal of Arid Environments 60: 509-530.
  33. Northup, B.K., J.R. Brown and A.J. Ash. 2005. Grazing impacts on spatial distribution of soil and herbaceous characteristics in an Australian tropical woodland. Agroforestry Systems 65:137-150.
  34. Tugel, A. J.E. Herrick, J.R. Brown, M. Mausbach, W. Puckett and K. Hipple. 2005. A framework for describing change in the soil survey.  Journal of the Soil Science Society of America 69: 738-747.
  35. J.E. Herrick, B.T. Bestelmeyer, S. Archer, A.J. Tugel and J.R. Brown. 2006. An integrated framework for science-based arid land management. Journal of Arid Environments 65: 319-335.
  36. Briske, D.D., J.D Derner, J.R. Brown, S.D. Fuhlendorf, W.R.Teague, R.L. Gillen, A.J. Ash, K.M. Havstad, and W.D. Willms. Benefits of Rotational Grazing on Rangelands: An Evaluation of the Experimental Evidence (submitted to Rangeland Ecology and Management)
  37. Havstad, K., Peters, D., Herrick, J., Bestelmeyer, B., Fredrickson, E., Pieper, R., and Brown, J. Reconnecting ecological sciences to the formation of policies and management of natural resources  (Submitted to Frontiers in Ecology and Environment)
  38. Havstad, K.M., D.P.C. Peters, R.Skaggs, J. Brown, B. Bestelmeyer, E. Fredrickson, J. Herrick and J. Wright. 2007. Ecological services to and from rangelands of the United States.  Ecological Economics (in press)
  39. Kriticos, D.J., J.R. Brown. Climate change and the potential distribution of an invasive alien plant: Acacia nilotica ssp. indica in Australia. (submitted to Journal of Applied Ecology)
  40. Kriticos, D.J., J.R. Brown, R.W. Sutherst, and G.F. Maywald. Paddock-scale impacts of climate change on an invasive perennial plant, Acacia nilotica: implications for management. (submitted to Austral Ecology)
  41. Additional Publications

  42. Stuth, J.W., J.R. Brown, P.D. Olson, M.R. Arujo and H.D. Aljoe. 1987. Effects of stocking rate on critical plant-animal interactions in a rotationally grazed Schizachyrium-Paspalum grassland.  pp 115-139. In: F.P. Horn et al (eds).  Grazing Lands Research at the plant-animal interface. Winrock International, Morrillton AR.
  43. Svejcar, T.J. and Brown, J.R. 1991. Failures in the assumptions of the condition and trend concept for management of natural ecosystems.  Rangelands 13: 165-167.
  44. Brown, J.R. and Smith, D.W. 1993. Using soil survey information for site descriptions: a landscape approach.  Pp 77-82. In: Proceedings of the Eighth International Soil Management Workshop: Utilisation of Soil Survey Information for Sustainable Land Use-May 1993. (ed: J.M. Kimble) USDA-Soil Conservation Service, National Soil Survey Center. 
  45. Svejcar, T., J.R. Brown and M. Conner. 1995. Technology Transfer: Who uses information about rangelands and why?  Rangelands 17: 93-97.
  46. Brown, J.R. and Howard, B. 1996. Bridging the gap between monitoring and implementation for management at landscape and regional scales. Pp 107-109. In: Proceedings of the Vth International Rangeland Congress.  Salt Lake City, USA.
  47. Grice, A.C. and Brown, J.R. 1996. An overview of the current status of weed management in Australian rangelands. Pp 195-204. In: Proceedings of the 11th Australian Weeds Conference. (ed. R.C.H. Shepherd).  Weed Science Society of Victoria.
  48. Grice, A.C. and Brown, J.R. 1996. The population ecology of the invasive tropical shrubs Cryptostegia grandiflora and Ziziphus mauritiana in relation to fire.  pp 589-597. In: Frontiers of Population Ecology. (eds. R.B. Floyd, A.W. Sheppard and P.J. DeBarro). CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.
  49. Noble, J.C and Brown, J.R. 1996. A management framework. pp 79-92. In: Landscape Function and Rangeland Management: the Ecology of Australia's Savannas. eds: J. Ludwig and D.J. Tongway. CSIRO Press, Melbourne.
  50. Brown, J.R., Stafford Smith, M. and Bastin, G. 1998. Monitoring for natural resource management decision making on pastoral properties. Pp 57-66 (eds. J. Tothill and I. Partridge) Tropical Grassland Society of Australia Occasional Publication No. 9.
  51. Tugel, A.J. and J.R. Brown. 2001. State and transition ecosystem models-application to soil survey and dynamic soil properties databases.  pp 194-201 In: Building for the Future: Proceedings of the National Cooperative Soil Survey Conference.  USDA NRCS. Washington DC.
  52. Bestelmeyer, B.T., J.R. Brown and K.M. Havstad. 2002.  Grazing in complex environments-the details matter.  Proceedings of the Quivera Coalition New Ranch Symposium.  Quivera Coalition. Santa Fe NM.
  53. Brown, J.R., T. Svejcar, M. Brunson, J. Dobrowolski, E. Fredrickson, U. Krueter, K. Launchbaugh, J. Southworth and T. Thurow. 2002. Are range sites the appropriate spatial unit for measuring and monitoring rangelands? Rangelands 24:7-12.
  54. Brown, J.R. and K.M. Havstad. 2004. Environmental drivers and monitoring of rangelands.  Proceedings of the VIIth International Rangeland Congress.  Durban S.A.
  55. Brown, J.R., G. R. McPherson, R. R. Blank and K. W. Tate. 2005. Rangelands and Global Change: An Issue Paper for the Society for Range Management. 12 pp. Society for Range Management, Denver CO. 
  56. Bestelmeyer, B.T., J.R. Brown, K.M. Havstad and E.F. Fredrickson. 2006. A holistic view of an arid ecosystem: A synthesis of research and its applications.  pp 354-368. In: Structure and Function of a Chihuahuan Desert Ecosystem (eds. K.M. Havstad, L.F. Huenneke and W.H. Schlesinger). Oxford Press. New York, NY USA.
  57. Northup, B.K. and J.R. Brown. 2006. Degradation and recovery in grazed Australian tropical woodlands: herbaceous change in response to climate and management. (submitted to Rangeland Ecology and Management)Vavra, M. and J.R. Brown. 2006. Rangeland Research: strategies for providing sustainability and stewardship to the rangelands of North America and the World.  Rangelands 28 (6):7-14.
  58. Brown, J.R. and N. Sampson. 2007. Carbon Sequestration. Chapman Conference Proceedings (in press).

home