## 2 Materials and Methods  
### Study Area  
This research was conducted at the USDA-ARS Central Plains Experimental Range (CPER) in northeastern Colorado (40.833\({}^{\circ}\)N, 104.733\({}^{\circ}\)W), which is a Long-Term Agroe-cosystem Research network site [27] (Figure 1). Soil composition ranges from fine sandy loams on the upland pains to alkaline salt flats near drainages. Long-term mean annual precipitation is 340 mm, with most of this occurring between April and September [28]. The mean annual temperature is 8.6 \({}^{\circ}\)C, and average monthly temperatures range from 22 \({}^{\circ}\)C in the summer to \(-\)4 \({}^{\circ}\)C in the winter.  
Figure 1: Location map of the Central Plains Experimental Range (CPER) along with CPER pasture boundaries, treatments, and locations of plots. Each plot includes four transects, two of which were used to measure aboveground net herbaceous production (ANHP) by clipping biomass in one 0.18 m\({}^{2}\) quadrat inside each of two movable grazing cages per transect. Cages were located \(\sim\)10 m and \(\sim\)20 m along each transect.  
The study area is dominated by shortgrass steppe vegetation, with a mix of perennial warm-season and cool-season graminoids. Here, we examine the aboveground productivity of plant communities associated with the Loamy Plains, Sandy Plains, and Salt Flats ecological sites managed with moderate stocking rates. However, the study pastures experience very different management regimes in terms of the timing of grazing within and across growing seasons. Ten of the study pastures (130 ha each) each experience continuous, season-long grazing from mid-May to early October each year (Traditional Rangeland Management; TRM) at a moderate stocking rate. These 10 pastures were paired in terms of ecological site and topography to a second set of 10 130-ha pastures assigned to a Collaborative Adaptive Rangeland Management (CARM) treatment. CARM pastures are grazed by the same total number of cattle as the TRM pastures each year, but CARM cattle are managed as a single herd rotated among pastures during the growing season. Details of the cattle management strategy applied to the CARM pastures were decided by an 11-member stakeholder group that developed an initial grazing management plan in 2013 and subsequently met three times annually to review results from prior grazing seasons and decide on the stocking rate and grazing sequence for the subsequent grazing season based on a suite of criteria tied to management objectives [29; 30]. Within the CARM treatment, one or more of the pastures are rested (i.e., remain ungrazed for the entire growing season) each year, while the remainder experience pulsed grazing by the CARM herd for time periods varying from 7 to 40 days depending on forage conditions and rotation criteria used in a given year. TRM pastures are each grazed by a separate herd that is \(\sim\)10 times smaller than the CARM herd.  
In addition to these 20 pastures, we compiled data from three additional pastures that were managed using season-long, continuous grazing at a heavy stocking rate. These pastures were located on the Loamy Plains ecological site and had a prior history of season-long grazing at a moderate stocking rate. Beginning in 2019, these pastures were stocked at a rate 50% higher than the TRM and CARM pastures.