Rangeland Inventory & Monitoring. Rangeland Management is: The use and stewardship of rangeland...
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Transcript of Rangeland Inventory & Monitoring. Rangeland Management is: The use and stewardship of rangeland...
Rangeland Inventory & Monitoring
Rangeland Management is:
The use and stewardship of rangeland resources to meet goals and desires of humans.
You cannot make good management decisions if you do not know the effect of past management actions.
CURRENT FUTURE
Information for Management Inventory = record of resources at
one point in time: Land area & pasture sizes Roads & trails Water Vegetation types Corrals, building, fences ? ?
Information for Management Maps for management = resources
references geospatially: Vegetation map Range map Watershed map Land ownership
Information for Management Assessment = evaluation
of condition at one point in time: Riparian Proper
Functioning Condition Rangeland Health Ecosystem Integrity
Usually involve protocols based on “qualitative” attributes (rather than “quantitative” measures).
Monitoring The word "monitor" is rooted in a
term meaning "to warn." Enable managers to take
appropriate actions and change course if needed.
Monitoring After a wildfire, a land manager of
this sagebrush steppe area in Southern Idaho may implement a monitoring program to determine if and when the burned area recovers a plant community similar to an unburned area.
MonitoringA rancher may
implement a monitoring protocol to determine if a new grazing system is affecting establishment of sedges or willows along a stream improving the stability of stream banks.
MonitoringA leafy spurge
patch such as this could be monitored to determine if the weed management plans are effective.
Monitoring: The Main Steps Complete inventory – know resources
available
Develop objectives Design and implement management Design the monitoring methodology Evaluate management actions.
One Example of a Planning Model
Main Steps in Rangeland
Management
What do you have?
How will you get there?
What do you want to have?
Just do it!
How is it
going?
What needs to
change?Inventory
Set Goals
PlanImplement
Evaluate
Revise
Monitoring: The Main Steps What do I need to know to make
good management decisions? What/how can I realistically
monitor?
Set SMART Objectives
SMART Objectives: Specific – Objectives should specifically state
what you want to achieve on the land you are managing.
Measurable – It must be possible to measure whether you are meeting the objectives or not.
Achievable - Are the objectives you set, achievable in your current setting? Consider environmental constraints, societal expectations, economic parameters, legal requirements, and technological limitations.
Realistic – Set objectives that you can realistically achieve given the natural and management context of your situation.
Time – Set a time horizon for management objective.
SMART Objectives:To set SMART objectives must know: What resources you have:
Land Human capital Economic
What you and your land of: Ecological site Climate Condition
What you are capable of: Skills Abilities Knowledge
Examine TrendTrend = upward or downward based on
conditions measured at least 2 points in time: Used to evaluate management actions Measures change over time Best if done frequently
Apparent Trend = attributes measured at one time point in time to infer trend Often misleading
Trend vs Current Status
Time
Eco
logi
cal S
tatu
s
Factors influencing trend Weather Grazing/Browsing Insects Recreation Fire Trampling Rodents
All of these can be beneficial or
detrimental, depending on circumstances.
Fifty Years of Change in a Shadscale Stand in IdahoLee A. Sharp, Ken Sanders & Neil Rimbey
http://www.cnr.uidaho.edu/range/Projects/Shadscale/
The following rangeland photo journal charts the changes that have occurred in a shadscale (Atriplex confertifolia) stand in southern Idaho starting in1951.
Photos of the site have been taken annually since 1955, but the selected photos show the dynamic nature of the site.
Background of Photos
L.A. Sharp Experimental Area –Malta Idaho
1951
1955
1958
1959
1960
1961
1963
1964
Scale Insect
2005 8.0 15.4
Interpretation of data Determine if management
objectives have been achieved if not, why?
Determine if management objectives need redefining are they realistic? have your goals changed?
Determine needed management action
“Pictures are worth a thousand words” But only if you know the true story
of what happened over time. Photos are used by critics, but they
seldom make the correct interpretation.
The permittee is the person most likely to know the true story.