Statistical considerations of using the 1-ft2 quadrat for monitoring peak standing crop and residual dry matter on California annual rangelands

Abstract

• Peak standing crop (PSC) and residual dry matter (RDM) are the primary measures of production and grazing intensity on California's annual rangelands. • One of the most common methods of monitoring forage metrics is to clip 1-ft2 quadrats. The USDA Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, universities, and other land managers have been using this methodology since the 1930s. • We used best linear unbiased predictors (BLUEs) to determine 95% confidence intervals for PSC and RDM. For both PSC and RDM, as the number of samples taken increased from 1 to 10, the predictive ability also significantly increased. We found no evidence of increased predictive power past 10 samples. © 2023 The Authors