Droughts have varied impacts on social and ecological rangeland systems in the Northern Rockies region of the United States.

We used a participatory methodology, grounded in local conditions and including multiple stakeholder groups, to create visions for increased drought resilience.

Visions for increased drought resilience were focused on three themes: sustaining ranching livelihoods, supporting functioning ecosystems, and building social connections.

Participatory research suggests drought interventions must consider the local context of resources and vulnerabilities in order to enact sustainable and acceptable future change.

The exotic invasive plant Parthenium hysterophorus is invading rangelands in Africa while causing negative effects on the biodiversity, environment, economy, and human and animal health because eco-friendly control methods are lacking.

We conducted experiments to investigate the suppressive effects of forage legume plant species; Desmodium intortum (Fabaceae), Lablab purpureus (Fabaceae), and Medicago sativa (Fabaceae) in suppressing the growth of Parthenium hysterophorus.

Parthenium hysterophorus growth was suppressed when grown with fodder plant species at high density. However, the effect was mediated by the presence of Lablab purpureus.

Our work highlights the importance of competitive native plant diversity and density in rangeland management.

Moreover, this control method could be part of an integrated control toolkit being deployed in a community-based approach in other countries.

Water is the most important nutrient for livestock and ensuring a continuous supply can be costly and time consuming.

Failed water delivery systems have resulted in livestock deaths.

Game cameras, pressure transducers, and automatic meter reading systems that connect either by cellular networks or satellite can be used to remotely monitor water.

Although costs vary among systems, the user's comfort level with using technology and the characteristics of each remote water monitoring system are more important considerations.

The peace of mind of knowing that livestock have water is equally important to economic and labor savings provided by these systems.

Kangaroo rats occur exclusively in arid environments of western North America, where they often function as ecosystem engineers and keystone species.

These rodents can exist on a diet of seeds without drinking free water.

Kangaroo rats evade attacks from their primary predators, owls and snakes, using split-second gymnastic-like maneuvers.

Kangaroo rat activities, such as digging, altering soil seed banks, and storing seeds in surface caches, account for their keystone species status.

Although some kangaroo rat species are common over large geographic areas, others have limited ranges, and some are endangered. Climate change will only make their future conservation more challenging.