A Key to Rangeland Monitoring Web Sites

A KEY TO RANGELAND MONITORING WEB SITES

I. National Monitoring

http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/monitor/index.htm - NPS Inventory and Monitoring Home page. - has a section called Guidance for Designing an Integrated Monitoring Program.

http://www.blm.gov/nstc/library/techref.htm - This is the web site which lists the library of Technical References published by the BLM. There is a section for both Inventory and Monitoring Coordination and Riparian Area Management. Some of the documents are very large to download.

http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/monitor/websites.htm - This site has an extensive list of websites (and their links) that are concerned with inventory and monitoring. Most have a short descriptive sentence or two about the site. Several links on the original site do not work.

http://www.fs.fed.us/institute/monitoring/ - This is a website from the US Forest Service with links and information about monitoring. It is still under construction but is usable. Some useful guides include Designing a Monitoring Program, Defining the Goals of Monitoring and Evaluation and Reporting.

http://fhm.fs.fed.us/ - This is a Forest Service site titled “National Forest Health Monitoring” with links to pages about different types of monitoring. There are also links to the different regions across the United States that contain monitoring sites.

http://fresc.usgs.gov/products/fs/fs-125-02.pdf - A short fact sheet on assessing rangeland health from the USGS.

II. Project Level Monitoring and Designing a Study (watershed, allotment, pasture)

http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/extension/FactSheets/RangelandResources/pdfs/ whywhere.PDF - Article from UC Davis titled “Why, Where and What to Monitor”

http://danr.ucop.edu/uccelr/h15.htm - This site has general monitoring guidelines but refers frequently to water quality.

http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/research/social/monpaper.asp - This is a paper from New Zealand that describes how to develop a framework for a monitoring program.

http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/natresources/az1259.pdf - This web page has some information about site selection of key areas and other considerations when designing a monitoring study. There is also a real life example of a monitoring project in Arizona.

http://www.nlwra.gov.au/minimal/30_themes_and_projects/48_themes/4_rangela nds_ monitoring/04_work_plan_part_1/work_plan_part_1.html - This is an Australian site from an organization called the National Land & Water Resources Audit. It has a section titled “A model framework for rangeland monitoring”.

http://web.ead.anl.gov/rmpweb/application/rmp_browse.cfm? rmpid=29&idref=27822 - This is an example of a management plan. It is the Rangeland Monitoring Plan for the Pinedale Resource Area.

http://www.uwyo.edu/ces/PUBS/B1065.pdf - The Rangeland Monitoring Manual from the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service.

http://library.humboldt.edu/~rls/resrange.htm - This is a site through Humboldt University. The page is titled Research Tools for searching the rangeland resource science literature. One useful link is to look under Reference Materials and go to link to Handbooks and Manuals which has a large list of books and manuals on monitoring. There is also a section on monitoring riparian areas.

1) Upland http://extension.usu.edu/files/natrpubs/range.pdf - A booklet titled “Monitoring Rangelands: Intepreting What You See”. It is from the Utah State University, Cooperative Extension.

ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/GLTI/technical/publications/pasture-score-sheet.pdf - Pasture Condition Score Sheet.

2) Riparian

http://extension.usu.edu/files/natrpubs/range.pdf - A booklet titled “Monitoring Rangelands: Intepreting What You See”. It is from the Utah State University, Cooperative Extension.

http://216.48.37.142/pubs/viewpub.jsp?index=6259 - Guide to effective monitoring of aquatic and riparian resources, a publication from The Rocky Mountain Research Station, USFS. This site is a summary of the publication with a link to the complete document. ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/GLTI/technical/publications/pasture-score-sheet.pdf - Pasture Condition Score Sheet.

A. Rangeland health characteristics:

a) Soils: http://soils.usda.gov/sqi/files/RSQIS2.pdf - This is a worksheet titled “Rangeland Soil Quality – Indicators for Assessment and Monitoring”

http://soils.usda.gov/sqi/soil_quality/land_management/range.html - This site has a number of NRCS Rangeland Soil Information Sheets that can be downloaded.

http://www.blm.gov/nstc/library/pdf/1734-6.pdf - This is a manual titled “Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health” from the BLM. It contains several indicators related to soil factors such as bare ground and soil surface resistance to erosion.

b) Water: http://www.blm.gov/nstc/library/pdf/1734-6.pdf - This is a manual titled “Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health” from the BLM. It contains several indicators related to water such as water flow patterns.

c) Wind: http://www.blm.gov/nstc/library/pdf/1734-6.pdf - This is a manual titled “Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health” from the BLM. It has at least one reference to wind erosion as a monitoring indicator.

d) Plant Community health: http://www.blm.gov/nstc/library/pdf/1734-6.pdf - This is a manual titled “Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health” from the BLM. It contains several indicators related to plant community such as litter movement and plant mortality/decadence.

http://na.fs.fed.us/spfo/fhm/fact/index.htm - Forest Health Monitoring Fact Sheet series. B. Monitoring methods:

a) plot methods (key words include: quadrats, permanent, pantograph, Daubinmire frame, m2 frame, 3x3 plot, plot photography).

http://www.blm.gov/nstc/library/pdf/samplveg.pdf - A document titled “Sampling Vegetation Attributes” that has a section on methods.

b) plotless methods (key words: line intercept, point line, point frame, greenline).

http://extension.usu.edu/files/natrpubs/range.pdf - A booklet titled “Monitoring Rangelands: Intepreting What You See”. It is from the University of Utah, Cooperative Extension Service. There is a section on techniques, primarily plotless.

http://www.blm.gov/nstc/library/pdf/samplveg.pdf - A document titled “Sampling Vegetation Attributes” that has a section on methods.

c) aerial methods (key words include: rangeland watershed, aerial imagery, bare ground, motion blur)

http://www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/icrw/Proceedings/Booth.pdf - A paper titled “Monitoring Rangeland Watersheds with Very-Large Scale Aerial Imagery.”

http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/projects/projects.htm? ACCN_NO=404632&fy=2004 - An annual report including information on Wyoming BLM / ARS cooperative project to develop improved aerial monitoring and automated image-analysis methods for rangelands.