Rangeland health attributes and indicators for qualitative assessment
Issue Date
2002-11-01Keywords
soil surfacesoil structure
flow resistance
soil morphology
gullied land
wind erosion
hydrologic factors
assessment
rapid methods
data collection
ecological balance
grassland condition
overland flow
rill erosion
ground cover
grasslands
range condition
perennials
mortality
vegetation
biomass production
range management
plant litter
introduced species
invasive species
literature reviews
United States
soil compaction
soil stability
hydrologic function
biological integrity
ecosystem status
erosion
infiltration
inventory
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Pyke, D. A., Herrick, J. E., Shaver, P., & Pellant, M. (2002). Rangeland health attributes and indicators for qualitative assessment. Journal of Range Management, 55(6), 584-597.Publisher
Society for Range ManagementJournal
Journal of Range ManagementAdditional Links
https://rangelands.org/Abstract
Panels of experts from the Society for Range Management and the National Research Council proposed that status of rangeland ecosystems could be ascertained by evaluating an ecological site's potential to conserve soil resources and by a series of indicators for ecosystem processes and site stability. Using these recommendations as a starting point, we developed a rapid, qualitative method for assessing a moment-in-time status of rangelands. Evaluators rate 17 indicators to assess 3 ecosystem attributes (soil and site stability, hydrologic function, and biotic integrity) for a given location. Indicators include rills, water flow patterns, pedestals and terracettes, bare ground, gullies, wind scour and depositional areas, litter movement, soil resistance to erosion, soil surface loss or degradation, plant composition relative to infiltration, soil compaction, plant functional/structural groups, plant mortality, litter amount, annual production, invasive plants, and reproductive capability. In this paper, we detail the development and evolution of the technique and introduce a modified ecological reference worksheet that documents the expected presence and amount of each indicator on the ecological site. In addition, we review the intended applications for this technique and clarify the differences between assessment and monitoring that lead us to recommend this technique be used for moment-in-time assessments and not be used for temporal monitoring of rangeland status. Lastly, we propose a mechanism for adapting and modifying this technique to reflect improvements in understanding of ecosystem processes. We support the need for quantitative measures for monitoring rangeland health and propose some measures that we believe may address some of the 17 indicators.Type
textArticle
Language
enISSN
0022-409Xae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.2307/4004002