Mixed-species herbivory, along with prescribed fire, is one of the most effective ways of controlling woody plant encroachment in the southern Great Plains and comes with the added benefits of maintaining grazing efficiency and rangeland productivity. Despite its experimental stage success, most landowners in the southern Great Plains have not fully adopted mixed-species herbivory as a range management tool. This study aimed to understand the barriers to the adoption of mixed-species herbivory by soliciting information from rangeland owners in the southern Great Plain states of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. We found that more than 40% of landowners in the southern Great Plains are not aware of mixed-species herbivory and < 10% of them have adopted the practice. Landowners who were previously aware of mixed-species herbivory were less likely to think that it provides lower returns compared with traditional grazing. Many landowners, however, reported a lack of sufficient infrastructure, labor, or equipment as barriers to adoption. We suggest that extension efforts and outreach campaigns focused on the needs and concerns of landowners can change perceptions around the effectiveness of mixed-species herbivory as a land management tool to enhance the resiliency of rangeland ecosystems in the southern Great Plains.

混合物种食草以及规定的火是控制大平原南部木本植物侵占的最有效方法之一，并且具有保持放牧效率和牧场生产力的额外好处。尽管实验阶段取得了成功，但大平原南部的大多数土地所有者尚未完全采用混合物种食草动物作为牧场管理工具。这项研究旨在通过向南部大平原州德克萨斯州、俄克拉荷马州、堪萨斯州和内布拉斯加州的牧场所有者征求信息，了解采用混合物种草食动物的障碍。我们发现，大平原南部超过 40% 的土地所有者不知道混合物种食草，其中只有不到 10% 的人采取了这种做法。以前了解混合物种食草的土地所有者不太可能认为与传统放牧相比，它提供的回报较低。然而，许多土地所有者表示，缺乏足够的基础设施、劳动力或设备是采用该技术的障碍。我们建议，以土地所有者的需求和关注为重点的推广工作和外展活动可以改变人们对混合物种草食动物作为土地管理工具的有效性的看法，以增强大平原南部牧场生态系统的弹性。