Location: Range Management Research
Project Number: 3050-11210-009-011-R
Project Type: Reimbursable Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Apr 21, 2017
End Date: Sep 30, 2019
Objective:
To support long-term, sustainable increases in productivity and biodiversity conservation through land-use planning and better land management.
Approach:
LandPKS will support long-term, sustainable increases in productivity and biodiversity conservation and collecting, sharing, and integrating local and scientific knowledge about the potential productivity, biodiversity, and resilience of specific types of land for local, regional, and global application.
1. Soil identification will be facilitated through a combination of user inputs (soil description guided by keys and instructional videos in the app), and cloud-based algorithms. Slope and other topographic data will be generated from a combination of user inputs and digital elevation models. Climate information necessary to predict potential productivity and erosion risk will be derived from existing global databases. In 2017-2018 we will expand work on both the algorithms to make them more accurate, and develop QA/QC protocols.
2. The information provided through #1 will be used to (a) run site-specific crop production and erosion models, and (b) identify relevant management options in existing knowledge-bases. EPIC modeling will be expanded to the new pilot countries, and to address multiple crops. We will also collaborate with other researchers using other models, in addition to continuing our collaboration on EPIC with IIASA.
3. Basic interpretation will be provided through the apps themselves by presenting the potential production and erosion risk relative to other soils in the area, and more sophisticated analysis and interpretation tools will be provided through the web data portal. We will develop new tools
4. New modules will be developed allowing the manager to input their own management and yield data, making this information available to others. In addition to the new LandPKS app modules, we will expand capacity building including train-the-trainer sessions in pilot countries to support use of the tools for both decision-making and monitoring. Local coordinators may also be recruited in some of the pilot countries.
