Rangeland Health Assessment and Monitoring (Framework for Ecological Site-Based Assessment and...

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Rangeland Health Assessment and Monitoring

(Framework for Ecological Site-Based Assessment and Monitoring in Mongolia)

7 July 2007Ulan Bator, Mongolia

Jeff Herrick and Brandon BestelmeyerUSDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range and the

Jornada LTERLas Cruces, New Mexico USA

Our understanding of Mongolia’s current needs for assessment and monitoring (3 elements)

(1) National rangeland condition assessment of long-term (every 5 years) status and changes in rangeland health

(2) Regional assessments of short-term (every 2-4 weeks) forage availability and carrying capacity

(3) System that herders and local officials can use to decide:(a) When to move livestock

(b) Which areas need to be rested from grazing for one or more years

ALSO Relate 3 elements to each other

Why rangeland health (quantitative and qualitative indicators)?

• Complements plant community composition and cover information (Traditional methods)

• Reflects changes in land degradation (for example, increased runoff and erosion)

• Reflects changes in the resilience of the land• Uses the long-term potential of the land (based

on soils and climate) as the reference (instead of the current plant community).

Rangeland health reflects changes in land degradation and resilience. Because it uses the ecological potential as a reference, it can also be used to plan and prioritize restoration projects.

Rangeland health publications and databases

Atypically highgrazing pressure

Regional increasesin temperature and aridity

Socio-economicdrivers

Global climate change

Reduction in cover and change in composition of perennial vegetation*and soil surface disturbance and compaction

Meristemlimitation/reduced NPP

Reducedreproduction,delayed recovery

Reducedwater capture,Reduced NPP

Increasingerosion, plantmortality

Soil degradation,plant mortality

Increasedalbedo/aridification

*Especially key forage species; native and exotic invasive species can also contribute to degradation but may not result in a reduction in cover.

Why ecological sites?

• Ecological sites reflect the long-term potential of the land (based on soils and climate) as the reference (instead of the current plant community). This helps herders and government officials focus management and restoration efforts on areas with high potential.

Different degradation processes in different ecological sites different indicators are necessary

Example: Caragana forms dunes form in sandy soils, but not in loamy soils (same species, different patterns and processes)

Sandy clay loam 0-25 cm(1 ecological site)

Sandy loam 0-7 cmSandy clay loam 7-25 cm(a different ecological site)

Different soils often have different potential and different response to grazing (different ecological sites). There are probably between 50 and 200 ecological sites in Mongolia.

Why rangeland health assessments?

• To help understand what processes are important

• To help decide what quantitative indicators should be used for repeated assessments (for example, the Mongolian National Rangeland Condition Assessment)

• To describe processes and properties (for example, runoff) that are difficult to evaluate with quantitative indicators

• To help interpret quantitative indicators

Pedestals, terracettes and water flow patterns are important indicators of degradation but are almost impossible to quantify. They can be used to help interpret quantitative indicators (such as plant basal cover). In other words, we often don’t know how much basal or plant cover is necessary to limit runoff and erosion; qualitative indicators can help us identify these threshold values.

Soil erosion and deposition patterns are important indicators of degradation by wind erosion but are very expensive to quantify. They can be used to help interpret quantitative indicators (such as plant canopy cover). In other words, we often don’t know what distribution of plant cover is necessary to limit wind erosion; qualitative indicators can help us identify these threshold values.

Qualitative indicators of soil compaction are used to determine when it is necessary to monitor soil compaction. Cars and trucks cause soil compaction. This is important in some ecological sites, but not in others. Also, the reference (control) is different in different ecological sites.

Penetration resistance (quantitative - # of strikes)

Road Control

Site #1 silty clay loam 31 9(10 tests)

Site #2 loamy sand 76 20(3 tests)

Road #1(58m wide)

Qualitative indicator of compaction – soil structure

Our understanding of Mongolia’s current needs for assessment and monitoring (3 elements)

(1) National rangeland condition assessment of long-term (every 5 years) status and changes in rangeland health

(2) Regional assessments of short-term (every 2-4 weeks) forage availability and carrying capacity

(3) System that herders and local officials can use to decide:(a) When to move livestock

(b) Which areas need to be rested from grazing for one or more years

ALSO relate 3 elements to each other

Describe (measure where possible) 17 Rangeland Health

Indicators

Preliminary landscape stratification/classification (based on GIS analysis + expert knowledge of soil/vegetation/climate patterns)

Randomly select field sampling points within strata1

Describe soils (texture, depth, gravel, CaCO3)

2009 National Assessment

Measure key indicators (for example, basal cover)

Rangeland Condition

Assessment Method

(Traditional)

Develop ecological site system & refine landscape stratification2

1 There are specific methods that are used to do this for regional and national assessments and monitoring. To the extent possible, use existing monitoring points (for example, Gobi Forage).

2 Based on analysis of 2009 data, other existing data, and new studies by Academy of Science and other scientists.

Select key indicators for groups of similar ecological sites2

2009(Assess at sampling locations to create statistical map)

Research

support (Research Institutes and others)

Element 3 (local

assessment and

monitoring)

Contact: USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range and Jornada LTER, Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA. Brandon Bestelmeyer (bbestelm@nmsu.edu), Kris Havstad (khavstad@nmsu.edu) and Jeff Herrick (jherrick@nmsu.edu).

(Element 1) National rangeland condition assessment of long-term (every 5 years) status and changes in rangeland health.

Indicators

Rangeland Condition

Assessment Method

(Traditional)

Research

Element 3 (local

assessment and

monitoring)

Indicators

Rangeland Condition

Assessment Method

(Traditional)

Research

Element 3 (local

assessment and

monitoring)

Indicators

Rangeland Condition

Assessment Method

(Traditional)

Research

Element 3 (local

assessment and

monitoring)

Indicators

Rangeland Condition

Assessment Method

(Traditional)

Research

Element 3 (local

assessment and

monitoring)

Indicators

Rangeland Condition

Assessment Method

(Traditional)

Research

Element 3 (local

assessment and

monitoring)

Indicators

Rangeland Condition

Assessment Method

(Traditional)

Research

Element 3 (local

assessment and

monitoring)

(Element 2) Regional assessments of short-term (every 2-4 weeks) forage availability and carrying capacity

• Mercy Corps/Gobi Forage Project

• Other initiatives

(Element 3a) System that herders and local officials can use to decide when to move livestock- Utilization- Plant height- Plant cover- Biomass- Etc…

(Element 3b) System that herders and local land managers can use to decide which areas need to be rested from grazing for more than one year

- Few, very simple degradation indicators- Different indicators for different regions

- Areas with too much wind erosion (wind erosion site)- Areas with too much runoff (gully site)- Areas where palatable species lost

- Qualitative AND quantitative indicators can be used- These indicators are related to National

Assessment indicators

(4) Relationship between 3 elements

Element 1: National Condition Assessment/Monitoring (every 5 years)

Element 3a: Local forage availability (when move livestock)

Element 2: Regional forage availability (every 2-4 weeks)

Element 3b: Local degradation (when need long-term rest)*

Identify relevant localindicators for groups of ecological sites

*Some local indicators also developed together with herders.

Standard reference (potential based on ecological sites); shared sampling locations

Long-term patterns help separate precipitation from grazing effects on long-term indicators

Calibrate/validate

Early warning/general patterns

Calibrate/validate

Contact information

USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range

Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA

http://usda-ars.nmsu.edu

Brandon Bestelmeyer (bbestelm@nmsu.edu)

Kris Havstad (khavstad@nmsu.edu)

Jeff Herrick (jherrick@nmsu.edu)

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