8. Historical Data Collection
• Management interviews:
– One 1‐hour interview (management philosophy).
• Operation & family history.
• Goals, values, and land ethics.
• Personal value of ecosystem goods and services.
• Perspectives about grassland‐2‐farmland conversion.
– One site identification interview (hypothesis i.d.).
• What sites have diverse land use history and why?
– 10 questions per site (experiments and learning).
• Management tactics and observed performance.
…indigenous knowledge of those
with greatest connection to local
system..
…knowledge to aid in others’
understanding.
10. Field Data Collection
• A soil “interview”:
– Results of management experiments.
– Interagency method.
– 17 Indicators of Rangeland Health.
• Soil stability.
• Hydrologic function.
• Biotic integrity.
– Soil Organic Matter.
• Rangelands…and Farmlands?
– Soil function vs. Farm decision support.
Available at: blm.gov/nstc/library/1734-6rev05.pdf
11. Soil Site Stability Hydrologic Function Biotic Integrity
Identifying Indicators of Ecosystem Health
The capacity of an area to limit
redistribution and loss of soil
resources (including
nutrients and organic matter) by
wind and water.
The capacity of an area to
capture, store, and safely release
water from rainfall,
run‐on, and snowmelt (where
relevant), to resist a reduction in
this capacity, and
to recover this capacity when a
reduction does occur.
The capacity of the biotic
community (plants, animals,
microorganisms, above and
below ground) to support
ecological processes within the
normal range of variability
expected for the site, to resist a
loss in the capacity to
support these processes, and to
recover this capacity when
losses do occur.
Pellant, M., P. Shaver, D.A. Pyke, and J.E. Herrick. 2005. Interpreting indicators of rangeland health,
version 4. Technical Reference 1734‐6. U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management,
National Science and Technology Center, Denver, CO. BLM/WO/ST‐00/001+1734/REV05. 122 pp.
* Capacity – Resiliency – Recovery *
12. Ecosystem Indicator Soil Site
Stability
Hydrologic
Function
Biotic
Integrity
1. Rills X X
2. Water flow patterns X X
3. Pedastals/Terracettes X X
4. Bare ground % X X
5. Gullies X X
6. Wind‐scour, blowout or deposition areas X
7. Litter movement X
8. Soil surface resistance to erosion X X X
9. Soil surface loss or degradation X X X
10. Plant community distribution relative to
infiltration
X
11. Compaction layer X X X
12. Functional/structural groups X
13. Plant mortality/decadence X
14. Litter amount X X
15. Annual production X
16. Invasive plants X
17. Reproductive capability of perennials X
The three indicators that cover all three
func ons → Soil
Highly dependent on previous land use.