Project Number: 6235-11210-005-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Sep 25, 2002
End Date: Sep 24, 2007

Objective:
New technologies are needed for remediation of arid rangelands, monitoring and assessing arid rangeland ecosystems, ecologically based management of arid rangelands, controlling invasive weeds, and transferring these methodologies for the benefit of both ranchers and other private and public land managers. Specific objectives: (1) Develop an integrative assessment and monitoring approach for vegetation structure and composition, soil stability, watershed function, and biotic integrity of spatially and temporally heterogeneous rangelands at landscape, watershed, and regional scales. (a) Develop integrative assessment and monitoring tools tailored to the ecological characteristics of the coniferous open woodland ecotypes of the southwest. (2) Develop technologies for sustainable remediation of rangelands in degraded condition and maintenance of those in desired condition. (3) Develop adaptive strategies for livestock management across multiple scales based on animal foraging behavior. (4) Predict responses of ecosystem dynamics and livestock distribution across time and space to changes in climate and other management-dependent and management-independent drivers. (5) Develop effective and environmentally safe biological control treatments for rangeland weeds, including salt cedar, of the desert Southwest; includes research to clarify relationships between ecological host specificity of biological control agents and invasive plant species in the desert Southwest.

Approach:
Approach emphasizes interdisciplinary research. Objective 1 is shared among numerous collaborators where we are evaluating ground-based and remotely-sensed indicators of ecosystem properties for use at multiple-spatial scales for effectiveness in monitoring resource conditions. Objectives 2 and 5 are addressed by studies to identify areas within landscapes where stimulation of key processes will generate recovery of desired functions or control of undesired species. Objective 3 is addressed by (1) developing techniques which control animal movements on rangelands, (2) rapidly identifying botanical composition of livestock diets, and (3) identifying cattle breeds adapted to nutritional forage and environmental conditions of deserts. Objective 4 is shared by the National Science Foundation Long-Term Ecological Research project at the Jornada. Experimentation involves long-term studies of the effects of disturbances on ecosystem properties. For example, we have well-established studies that quantify pattern and control of primary productivity.