Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Las Cruces, New Mexico » Range Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #170956
Title: INTERPRETING INDICATORS OF RANGELAND HEALTH, VERSION 4.0

Author
item PELLANT, MIKE - BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
item SHAVER, PAT - NRCS
item PYKE, DAVID - US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
item Herrick, Jeffrey - Jeff

Submitted to: Complete Book
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/1/2004
Publication Date: 9/1/2005
Citation: Pellant, M., Shaver, P., Pyke, D.A., Herrick, J.E. 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.

Interpretive Summary: Interpretive summary not required for a complete book.

Technical Abstract: This book describes a protocol for using 17 qualitative soil and vegetation indicators to evaluate the status of three ecosystem attributes: soil and site stability, hydrologic function, and biotic integrity. Qualitative assessments of rangeland health provide land managers and technical assistance specialists with a good communication tool for use with the public. Many of these tools have been used successfully for this purpose over the past 100 years. The technique described in this book can be used to provide early warnings of resource problems on upland rangelands. It can also be used to help identify specific resource issues (e.g., erosion or invasive species) that must be addressed and to prioritize land for management resources. Version 4 is the second published edition of this technique. The changes in Version 4 are designed to improve the consistency in the application of the process. The most significant modification was the replacement of the Ecological Reference Area Worksheet with the Reference Sheet. The Reference Sheet facilitates consistent application of the process throughout an ecological site by integrating all available sources of data and knowledge to generate a single range of reference conditions for each indicator.