Project Number: 1902-21000-007-15
Project Type: Reimbursable

Start Date: Jul 01, 2010
End Date: Sep 30, 2011

Objective:
Integrate and synthesize research information on multiple ecosystem services and pastureland production to address ecological condition and management on grazing lands, and assess tradeoffs between these multiple goals.

Approach:
The American Forage and Grassland Council will facilitate a literature synthesis effort to document the effects of the following conservation practices: (1) prescribed grazing, (2) pasture and hayland planting, (3) pest management, and (4) nutrient management on pastureland in the USA. A final chapter will address an integrated assessment of the socio-economic concerns of implementing these practices. Conduct multivariate and geospatial analyses of climate, soils and topography to refine and enhance the development of ecological site descriptions that reflect ecological and production attributes of pastureland. The new information obtained will be used to refine and enhance the Forage Suitability Groups now being developed by NRCS, and will additionally be used to refine the plant sampling protocols used for the pastureland National Resource Inventory.