Aaron Lien
- Assistant Professor, Rangeland Ecology and Adaptive Management
- Member of the Graduate Faculty
Contact
- (520) 626-2873
- Environment and Natural Res. 2, Rm. N221
- Tucson, AZ 85719
- alien@arizona.edu
Degrees
- Ph.D. Arid Land Resources Sciences
- University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States
- Incentives for Ecosystem Services on Rangelands: Institutional Design and Stakeholder Attitudes
Interests
No activities entered.
Courses
2024-25 Courses
-
Conservation of Natural Env
RNR 200 (Spring 2025) -
Dissertation
RNR 920 (Spring 2025) -
Rangeland Plnt Comm West
RAM 382 (Spring 2025) -
Dissertation
RNR 920 (Fall 2024) -
Independent Study
RNR 599 (Fall 2024) -
Internship
RNR 493 (Fall 2024)
2023-24 Courses
-
Dissertation
RNR 920 (Spring 2024) -
Rangeland Plnt Comm West
RAM 382 (Spring 2024) -
Thesis
RNR 910 (Spring 2024) -
Conservation of Natural Env
RNR 200 (Fall 2023) -
Dissertation
RNR 920 (Fall 2023) -
Thesis
RNR 910 (Fall 2023)
2022-23 Courses
-
Internship
RNR 393 (Summer I 2023) -
Dissertation
RNR 920 (Spring 2023) -
Rangeland Plnt Comm West
RAM 382 (Spring 2023) -
Thesis
RNR 910 (Spring 2023) -
Conservation of Natural Env
RNR 200 (Fall 2022) -
Independent Study
RNR 699 (Fall 2022) -
Thesis
RNR 910 (Fall 2022)
2021-22 Courses
-
Internship
RNR 393 (Summer I 2022) -
Rangeland Plnt Comm West
RAM 382 (Spring 2022) -
Thesis
RNR 910 (Spring 2022) -
Conservation and Agriculture
RAM 340 (Fall 2021) -
Conservation and Agriculture
RNR 340 (Fall 2021) -
Internship
RNR 393 (Fall 2021)
2020-21 Courses
-
Rangeland Plnt Comm West
RAM 382 (Spring 2021)
2019-20 Courses
-
Conservation and Agriculture
RAM 340 (Spring 2020) -
Conservation and Agriculture
RNR 340 (Spring 2020)
2018-19 Courses
-
Conservation and Agriculture
RAM 340 (Spring 2019)
2017-18 Courses
-
Conservation and Agriculture
RAM 340 (Spring 2018)
2016-17 Courses
-
Nat Resource Policy+Law
RNR 480 (Spring 2017) -
Nat Resource Policy+Law
RNR 580 (Spring 2017) -
Natural Resources Seminr
RNR 496B (Spring 2017)
Scholarly Contributions
Journals/Publications
- Chester, C., Lien, A., Sundberg, J., & Lopez Hoffman, L. (2020). Migratory species, spatial subsidies, and redressing inequitable outcomes in transboundary conservation. Conservation Letters.
- Chester, C., Lien, A., Sundberg, J., Diffendorfer, J., Gonzalez, C., Mattson, B., Medellin, R., Semmens, D., Thogmartin, W., & Lopez Hoffman, L. (2021). Migratory species, spatial subsidies, and redressing inequitable outcomes in transboundary conservation. Conservation Letters.
- Emerson, K., Baldwin, E., Scott, T., Pidot, J. R., Lien, A., Currim, F. A., Bethard, S. J., Ram, S., Miller, M. L., & Lopez Hoffman, L. (2021). NEPA performance: conceptualizing multi-dimensional policy objectives. Environmental Impacts Assessment Review.
- Pillet, M., Baldwin, E., Ernst, K., Maitner, B. S., Newman, E. A., Lien, A., Breshears, D. D., Enquist, B. J., Feng, X., Park, D. S., Boyle, B., Gallagher, R. V., Burger, J. R., Merow, C., Li, Y., Huynh, K. M., Foden, W., Hannah, L., Jørgensen, P. M., , Kraft, N. J., et al. (2022). A review of the heterogeneous landscape of biodiversity databases: Opportunities and challenges for a synthesized biodiversity knowledge base. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 31(7), 1242-1260. doi:10.1111/geb.13497
- Conix, S., Garnett, S. T., Thiele, K. R., Christidis, L., Dijk, P. P., Bánki, O. S., Barik, S. K., Buckeridge, J. S., Costello, M. J., Hobern, D., Kirk, P. M., Lien, A., Nikolaeva, S., Pyle, R. L., Thomson, S. A., Zhang, Z., & Zachos, F. E. (2021). Towards a global list of accepted species III. Independence and stakeholder inclusion. Organisms Diversity & Evolution.
- Feng, X., Merow, C., Liu, Z., Park, D. S., Roehrdanz, P. R., Maitner, B., Newman, E. A., Boyle, B. L., Lien, A., Burger, J. R., Pires, M. M., Brando, P. M., Bush, M. B., McMichael, C. N., Neves, D. M., Nikolopoulos, E. I., Saleska, S. R., Hannah, L., Breshears, D. D., , Evans, T. P., et al. (2021). How deregulation, drought and increasing fire impact Amazonian biodiversity. Nature, 597(7877), 516-521.More infoBiodiversity contributes to the ecological and climatic stability of the Amazon Basin, but is increasingly threatened by deforestation and fire. Here we quantify these impacts over the past two decades using remote-sensing estimates of fire and deforestation and comprehensive range estimates of 11,514 plant species and 3,079 vertebrate species in the Amazon. Deforestation has led to large amounts of habitat loss, and fires further exacerbate this already substantial impact on Amazonian biodiversity. Since 2001, 103,079-189,755 km of Amazon rainforest has been impacted by fires, potentially impacting the ranges of 77.3-85.2% of species that are listed as threatened in this region. The impacts of fire on the ranges of species in Amazonia could be as high as 64%, and greater impacts are typically associated with species that have restricted ranges. We find close associations between forest policy, fire-impacted forest area and their potential impacts on biodiversity. In Brazil, forest policies that were initiated in the mid-2000s corresponded to reduced rates of burning. However, relaxed enforcement of these policies in 2019 has seemingly begun to reverse this trend: approximately 4,253-10,343 km of forest has been impacted by fire, leading to some of the most severe potential impacts on biodiversity since 2009. These results highlight the critical role of policy enforcement in the preservation of biodiversity in the Amazon.
- Johnson, M. K., Rowe, M. J., Lien, A., & López-Hoffman, L. (2021). Enhancing integration of Indigenous agricultural knowledge into USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service cost-share initiatives. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 00179.
- Johnson, M., Rowe, M. J., Lien, A., & Lopez Hoffman, L. (2020). Examining compatibility and conflicts in the integration of Indigenous Agricultural Knowledge into Natural Resource Conservation Service cost-share incentives.. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation.
- Lien, A. M., Baldwin, E., & Franklin, K. (2021). Collective Action and Invasive Species Governance in Southern Arizona. Rangeland Ecology & Management, 74, 151--164.
- Lien, A. M., Conix, S., Zachos, F. E., Christidis, L., Dijk, P. P., Bánki, O. S., Barik, S. K., Buckeridge, J. S., Costello, M. J., Hobern, D., Montgomery, N., Nikolaeva, S., Pyle, R. L., Thiele, K., Thomson, S. A., Zhang, Z., & Garnett, S. T. (2021). Towards a global list of accepted species IV: Overcoming fragmentation in the governance of taxonomic lists. Organisms Diversity & Evolution.
- Lien, A. M., Dew, T., Ruyle, G. B., Sherman, N. R., Perozzo, N., Miller, M., & López-Hoffman, L. (2021). Trust is Essential to the Implementation of Adaptive Management on Public Lands. Rangeland Ecology & Management, 77, 46--56.
- Pyle, R. L., Barik, S. K., Christidis, L., Conix, S., Costello, M. J., Dijk, P. P., Garnett, S. T., Hobern, D., Kirk, P. M., Lien, A. M., Orrell, T. M., Remsen, D., Thomson, S. A., Wambiji, N., Zachos, F. E., Zhang, Z., & Thiele, K. R. (2021). Towards a global list of accepted species V. The devil is in the detail. Organisms Diversity & Evolution, 21(4), 657--675.
- Thiele, K. R., Conix, S., Pyle, R. L., Barik, S. K., Christidis, L., Costello, M. J., Dijk, P. P., Kirk, P., Lien, A., Thomson, S. A., Zachos, F. E., Zhang, Z., & Garnett, S. T. (2021). Towards a global list of accepted species I. Why taxonomists sometimes disagree, and why this matters. Organisms Diversity & Evolution.
- Wilder, B. T., Jarnevich, C. S., Baldwin, E., Black, J. S., Franklin, K. A., Grissom, P., Hovanes, K. A., Olsson, A., Malusa, J., Kibria, A. S., Li, Y. M., Lien, A. M., Ponce, A., Rowe, J. A., Soto, J. R., Stahl, M. R., Young, N. E., & Betancourt, J. L. (2021). Grassification and Fast-Evolving Fire Connectivity and Risk in the Sonoran Desert, United States. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 9, 655561.
- Epstein, G., Morrison, T., Lien, A., Gurney, G., Cole, D., Delaroche, M., Tomas, S., Ban, N., & Cox, M. (2020). Historical legacies and the diagnosis of complex social-ecological systems. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability.
- Garnett, S., Christidis, L., Conix, S., Costello, M., Zachos, F., Banki, O., Bao, Y., Barik, S., Buckeridge, J., Hobern, D., Lien, A., Montgomery, N., Nikoleava, S., Pyle, R., Thomson, S., van Dyck, P. P., Whalen, A., Zhang, Z., & Thiele, K. (2020). Principles for creating a single authoritative list of the world’s taxa. PLOS Biology.
- Lien, A. (2020). The Institutional Grammar Tool in Policy Analysis and Applications to Resilience Research. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2020.02.004
- Lien, A., Ulibarri, C., Vanasco, W., Bonar, S., Ruyle, G. B., & Lopez Hoffman, L. (2019). Opportunities and barriers for endangered species conservation using payments for ecosystem services. Biological Conservation. doi:doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.01.017
- Haefele, M., Loomis, J., Semmens, D., Dubovsky, J., Wiederholt, R., Thogmartin, W., Huang, T., Lien, A., McCracken, G., Merideth, R., & Lopez Hoffman, L. (2018). Willingness to pay for conservation of transborder migratory species: A case study of the Mexican free-tailed bat in the United States and Mexico. Environmental Management.
- Johnson, M. K., Sherman, N. R., Lopez-hoffman, L., & Lien, A. M. (2018). Barriers to PES programs in Indigenous communities: A lesson in land tenure insecurity from the Hopi Indian reservation. Ecosystem services, 32, 62-69. doi:10.1016/j.ecoser.2018.05.009More infoAbstract There has been significant study of barriers to implementation of payment for ecosystem services in Indigenous communities in less developed countries. These barriers include land tenure insecurity and lack of access to capital. However, there is no similar research in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. Our research fills this gap. We hypothesize that mismatches between the traditional land tenure regimes and institutional arrangements of Indigenous communities on one hand, and government sponsors of PES programs on the other hand, result in the lack of success of these programs. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a qualitative study of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) on the Hopi reservation in the United States. We answer two questions: (1) What barriers prevent Hopi ranchers and farmers from participating in incentive-based programs? (2) What institutional changes are necessary to permit Hopi farmer and rancher participation in EQIP? We analyzed primary documents and conducted key informant interviews. We conclude that land tenure is at the forefront of problems associated with administering PES programs in Indigenous communities. Without new approaches addressing the land tenure regimes in Indigenous communities, PES will continue to struggle on American Indian reservations and around the world.
Proceedings Publications
- Huang, T., Soto, J. R., Baldwin, E., Lien, A. M., Ferguson, D. B., Enquist, B. J., Swann, A. L., Soto, J. R., Park, D. S., Nunez-regueiro, M. M., Merideth, R., Lopez-hoffman, L., Lien, A. M., Huang, T., Ferguson, D. B., Feng, X., Ernst, K. C., Enquist, B. J., Dang, T., , Breshears, D. D., et al. (2018). Crops in a Changing World: Hidden Forest-Agriculture Teleconnections. In Proceedings of the 5th European Congress of Conservation Biology.
Presentations
- Baldwin, E., Henry, A. D., Lien, A., & Jia, J. (2021, June). Environmental contingency and network effectiveness. Public Management Research Conference.
- Lien, A. (2021, October). Governance approaches for regional light pollution: an introduction to three models of governance. United Nations Workshop on Dark & Quiet Skies. Online.
- Lien, A., Baldwin, E., & Franklin, K. (2021, February). Collective action and invasive species governance in southern Arizona. Society of Range Management Annual Conference. Online: Society for Range Management.
- Lien, A., Baldwin, E., Jasso, V., Woods, D., Lopez Hoffman, L., & Breshears, D. D. (2021, may). Networks of action situations: an empirical application to forest planning. International Associations for the Study of the Commons, Polycentricity Virtual Conference. Online: International Association for the Study of the Commons.
- Lien, A., Boustead, A., Baldwin, E., Joshi, N., McCann, L., & Evans, T. (2021, November). Design of a national database of state and local COVID-19 policies using the institutional grammar. Institutional Grammar Research Institute Seminar. Online: Syracuse University.
- Lien, A., Conix, S., Zachos, F., Christidis, L., van Dijk, P. P., Barik, S., Buckerridge, J., Costello, M., Hobern, D., Montgomery, N., Nikolaeva, S., Pyle, R., Thiele, K., Thomson, S., Zhang, Z., & Garnett, S. (2021, November). Governance principles for a single authoritative list of life on Earth. National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Board on Interantional Scientific Organizations. Online: National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine.
- Lien, A., Hutchinson, B. S., & Howery, L. D. (2021, March). Rangelands Gateway: Public Lands and NEPA. Arizona Cooperative Extension Virtual Range Livestock Workshop. Online: Arizona Cooperative Extension.
- Lien, A., Ram, S., Miller, M. L., Bethard, S. J., Emerson, K., & Lopez Hoffman, L. (2021). NEPAccess: Bringing NEPA Into the 21st Century Through the Power of Data Science. James E. Rogers College of Law Environmental Breakfast Club.
- Lien, A., Ram, S., Miller, M. L., Bethard, S. J., Emerson, K., & Lopez Hoffman, L. (2021). NEPAccess: Bringing NEPA Into the 21st Century Through the Power of Data Science. University of Arizona Center for Outreach & Collaboration, Washington DC Inaugural Event.
- Rowitt, J., Joshi, N., McCann, L., Zimmer, A., Baldwin, E., Boustead, A., Lien, A., & Evans, T. (2021, October). Rural vs. urban differences in COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical interventions. American Public Health Association Annual Meeting. Online: American Public Health Association.
- Lien, A., & Baldwin, E. (2020, February). Cooperation and collective action for buffelgrass mitigation in southern Arizona. Society of Range Management Annual Conference. Denver, CO: Society of Range Management.
- Ernst, K. C., Ernst, K. C., Enquist, B. J., Enquist, B. J., Ferguson, D. B., Ferguson, D. B., Merideth, R., Merideth, R., Park, D. T., Park, D. T., Dang, T., Dang, T., Nuñez-Regueiro, M. M., Nuñez-Regueiro, M. M., Baldwin, E., Baldwin, E., Soto, J. R., Soto, J. R., Breshears, D. D., , Breshears, D. D., et al. (2018, June). Crops in a Changing World: Hidden Forest-Agriculture Teleconnections. 5th European Congress of Conservation Biology. Jyväskylä, Finland: European Congress of Conservation Biology.
- Lien, A., Johnson, M., & Lopez Hoffman, L. (2017, March). Barriers Associated with the Environmental Quality Incentives Program: Case Study on the Hopi Indian Reservation. Farm Bill 2018: Policy, Politics, and Potential. Washington DC.
- Lien, A., Merideth, R., Ruyle, G. B., & Lopez Hoffman, L. (2017, November). Impacts of adapative management on southwestern rangelands. National Institute for Food and Agriculture Project Directors Meeting. Tampa, FL.
- Lien, A., Ruyle, G. B., Robbins-Sherman, N., Libby, K., & Lopez Hoffman, L. (2017, January). Bringing Dark Data into the Light: Mining US Forest Service Records for Trends in Management and Ecological Change. Society of Range Management Annual Meeting. St. George, UT.
- Lien, A., Ruyle, G. B., Robbins-Sherman, N., Libby, K., & Lopez Hoffman, L. (2017, January). Impacts of Adaptive Management on Southwestern Rangelands. Arizona Section of the Society of Range Management Winter Meeting. Tucson, AZ.
- Lien, A., Ruyle, G. B., Robbins-Sherman, N., Libby, K., & Lopez Hoffman, L. (2017, Januray). Measuring Ecosystem Services Provided by Adaptive Management on Southwestern Rangelands. Society of Range Management Annual Meeting. St. George, UT.
Poster Presentations
- Schlau, J., Lien, A., Dosamontes, E., Mcreynolds, K. H., Conley, J., Hall, A. L., Grace, J. L., Hutchinson, B. S., Brischke, A. S., Howery, L. D., Pfander, J. L., Ruyle, G. B., Noelle, S. M., Noelle, S. M., Ruyle, G. B., Pfander, J. L., Howery, L. D., Brischke, A. S., Hutchinson, B. S., , Grace, J. L., et al. (2020, February). Exploring public lands grazing: redesigning the Global Rangelands website to effectively reach multiple audiences. Society of Range Management Annual Conference. Denver, CO: Society of Range Management.
- Lopez Hoffman, L., Soto, J. R., Nuñez-Regueiro, M. M., Laguë, M. M., Baldwin, E., Derbridge, J. J., Breshears, D. D., Swann, A. L., Huang, T., Lien, A., & Feng, X. (2018, August). How does forest die-off affect agriculture thousands of miles away? Revealing the hidden teleconnected network of NEON domains. Ecological Society of America 2018. New Orleans, LA: Ecological Society of America.
Others
- Archer, S. R., Fehmi, J. S., Gornish, E., Howery, L. D., Lien, A., Lopez Hoffman, L., Mcclaran, M. P., Ruyle, G. B., Smith, S. E., & Soto, J. R. (2021, May). Annual Report, Ecology, Management and Restoration of Rangelands. USDA NIFA REEPort.More infoHatch Project Annual Report ARZT-1361610-H12-223, 11 pp.
- Lien, A. (2021, February). New perspectives to inform responses to invasive plant species on rangelands. Society of Range Management Annual Conference.
- Lien, A., Manwaring, B., Chrismer, M., & Bonini, A. (2021, October). NEPA Next 50: Reflections on the National Environmental Policy Act Federal Agency Dialogue on Engagement and Consultation.More infoWorkshop organizing committee and presenter.