Introduction

EBIPM is a decision-making process that provides you a systems approach to designing invasive plant management and restoration strategies that are aimed at repairing the underlying cause of invasion and resulting loss in forage production. From a livestock producer’s point of view, the final choice of strategy is based on the likely economic benefit as a result of implementing a strategy. This tool was developed to provide an indication of the cost/benefit of your strategy and should allow you to compare the cost/benefit of various alternative EBIPM strategies. 

Getting Started

This cost/benefit analysis uses a model made by Duane Griffith, extension farm management specialist at Montana State University, to consider the possible economic benefits you could attain by using the EBIPM land restoration program you are considering. In order for the model to work and, more importantly, for it to be relevant to your unique situation (land, agribusiness, and invasive plant infestation), a myriad of data will be needed from you. It is important to note that the better the data the model is given, the better it will be able to predict cost/benefit outcomes.

There are about 40 questions and we anticipate it will require about an hour to work your way through them. Difficult questions have some guidance. At the end, you will receive a 20-year cost/benefit analysis that tells you if you can recover your costs and make money. If you can make money, the model also tells you how many years it will take for you to break even. After breaking even, the model predicts the benefits over time. It is also important to know that this tool is to be used simply as an estimation device. The actual cost/benefit, if you choose to move ahead with this project, is very likely to be substantially different than this, or any, model indicates.

Overview of Questionnaire

The information needed to complete this model will be from 3 major areas. The first portion asks about the costs of supplies and labor that will be needed for this project. The second portion will deal with the machinery and equipment cost. The final portion will be used to help estimate how your land will improve if this treatment is undertaken, as well as how it will degrade if nothing is done.

Click here to get started: Cost/Benefit Analysis of Annual Grass Management

10 Steps to Finding Maximum Biomass Production

Rangeland Productivity Estimates

Available now from CABI...

Invasive Plant Ecology and Management
Linking Processes to Practice

CABI Invasives Series

Edited by EBIPM-affiliated Scientists Tom Monaco and Roger Sheley

View the Table of COntents, see Related Titles, and purchase the book at the CABI bookstore.

Bringing together ecology and management of invasive plants within natural and agricultural ecosystems, this book bridges the knowledge gap between the processes operating within ecosystems and the practices used to prevent, contain, control and eradicate invasive plant species. The book targets key processes that can be managed, the impact of invasive plants on these ecosystem processes and illustrates how adopting ecologically based principles can influence the ecosystem and lead to effective land management.

  Videos

"The Silent Invasion" "Something troubling is taking hold in Oregon. Strange, exotic plants and animals are showing up in places where they don't belong. They are invasive species, and they're taking over landscapes, driving native wildlife away, and making everyone from ranchers to fishermen to wildlife managers nervous. What are these invaders? Where do they come from? And what can we do to stop them?" View "The Silent Invasion" on OPB.org

"Hope on the Range" This documentary examines the variety of pressures that threaten the health of western rangelands, including population growth and development and the interrelated effects of climate change, wildfires, and invasive species. The program takes viewers to locations around the West where ranchers, conservationists, and public land managers are turning to a legacy of the frontier -- livestock grazing -- to help conserve the rangeland ecosystems. "Hope on the Range" must be ordered from the Society for Rangeland Management.

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Curriculum Overview

Modules

Activities

Videos

Resources 

EBIPM is a Unique Way to Manage Weeds...

Ecologically-based invasive plant management (EBIPM) is a step-by-step decision-making framework based on principles of successional weed management which addresses the three causes of succession: site availability, species availability, and species performance. It is a unique weed management strategy because it allows managers to visualize and understand the linkages among site assessment, ecological processes, vegetation dynamics, guiding principles and management practices, and design and implement more effective weed management programs for any landscape. The EBIPM framework is divided into five steps, which provides managers a clear cut path to follow as they develop a weed management plan. Implementing EBIPM to manage invasive weeds can help managers to address true causes of weed invasion- not just symptoms, set long term goals, develop treatments with proven science behind them, and adapt the management plan as they go.

Module 1:

"Introduction and Overview to Ecologically-based Invasive Plant Management”

• -Overview of EBIPM to introduce the decision-making framework to students and discusses the importance of using successional weed management.
• -Major topics include: successional weed management, assessment, ecological processes, ecological principles, tools and strategies, and adaptive management.

Module 2:

"Assessing Ecological Conditions and Ecological Processes in Need of Repair"

• -How Rangeland Health Assessment is used in the EBIPM framework, how to conduct an assessment, and which tools should be used to repair damaged ecological processes.
• -Major topics include: assessment, rangeland health attributes, rangeland health indicators, state-and-transition models, resistance, and resilience.

 Module 3:

"Understanding the Causes of Succession - Site Availability, Species Availability, and Species Performance”

• -Describes the three causes of plant community change and provides many examples to help students understand the causes of succession associated with ecological processes.
• -Major topics include: successional weed management, causes of succession, disturbance, reproduction, dispersal, life strategy, resource acquisition, response to environment, stress, interference, and mutualism.

 Module 4:

“Ecological Principles for Invasive Plant Management”  

• -Ecological principles play an important role in the EBIPM framework and a management plan based on ecological principles helps land managers to make better, more informed decisions by providing a scientific basis for which tools and strategies to use. Provides examples to help students understand how ecological principles help to link ecological processes and tools and strategies.
• -Major topics include: ecological principles, ecological processes, and weed management tools and strategies.

 Module 5:

“Using Tools and Strategies: Managing Site Availability, Species Availability, and Species Performance” 

• -Describes the tools and strategies that are available to managers and when to use them in conjunction with the EBIPM framework. Covers three management strategies based on the extent of invasion: prevention, controlling a moderate infestation, and restoring a heavy infestation.
• -Major topics include: weed prevention areas, prescribed grazing, prescribed fire, chemical, biocontrol, and mechanical control methods.

 Module 6:

“Adaptive Management” 

• -Adaptive management combines setting goals and objectives, monitoring, stakeholders involvement, and adaptation to make weed management plans more successful.
• -Major topics include: land-use goals and objectives, data collection, and best management practices.

 Module 7:

“Weather and Climate Forecasting and Restoration Plans”  

• -Combines weather and climate modeling with seedbed microenvironment conditions to determine the success of seedling establishment.
• -Major topics include: weather and climate modeling, seedbed characteristics, seeding, and restoration.

Module 8:

"Human Dimensions of Weed Management" 

• -Success in weed management is not only determined by understanding ecology but also by taking into account economics, policy, and human interactions (collaborative learning).
• -Major topics include: cost benefit analysis of tools and strategies, stakeholders, collaborative learning, NEPA, Endangered Species Act, Wilderness Act, Invasive Species Executive Order, Clean Water Act.

How to Use this Curriculum:

This curriculum was created for classes taught at the university level. It can be used in a variety of natural resources courses, including courses on: invasion ecology, restoration ecology, range management, and weed science. There are eight modules in total; each contains a narrative text, PowerPoint presentation, case studies, discussion questions, activities, and additional resources. The case studies, discussion questions, and additional resources are contained in the narrative text. Students may answer the discussion questions individually but they are best discussed in a group setting. Activities are also included in a folder separate from the narrative text. The activities are organized by module under the “Modules” tab, and also organized by topic under the “Activities” tab. EBIPM management guides and videos are included under the “Resources” tab. This curriculum is very flexible in that it can be used in its entirety, or specific modules may be taken and modified to fit into a course. 

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Curriculum Overview

Modules

Activities

Videos

Resources