Location: Great Basin Rangelands Research
2020 Annual Report
Accomplishments
1. Quantifying watershed scale salt loading. The Colorado River has significant challenges in meeting international treaties on water quality with Mexico. ARS scientists in Reno, Nevada, and Kimberly, Idaho, along with scientists at the Desert Research Institute (DRI) developed an approach to use the Rangeland Hydrology and Erosion Model to estimate soil erosion and salt loading at the hillslope and watershed scale. These tools will allow the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and landowners to understand where the landscape conservation and salt load management practices could be implemented to reduce salt transport. This will also facilitate improved water quality for the Colorado River, which provides a large portion of the water supply for the western United States.
2. Climate influence on soil erosion. Soil erosion and runoff on arid and semi-arid rangelands is driven by precipitation intensity and duration. Currently there are relatively few weather stations in the western United States with sufficient measurements of these precipitation parameters to estimate runoff and soil erosion at the hillslope scale across the west. ARS scientists in Tucson, Arizona, and Reno, Nevada, developed new ways to estimate these critical parameters from alternative weather records. The team now has methods to estimate these climate parameters and predict risk of soil loss on rangelands worldwide at a scale that is appropriate for making management decisions.
3. Qualitative assessment tool for rangeland health. Rangeland health assessments are critical to maintaining ecosystem productivity under the pressures of livestock grazing, fire, invasive species, and other disturbances. An ARS scientist in Reno, Nevada, in collaboration with instructors from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Forest Service, and Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) have updated and published a technical document on the qualitative assessment tool for rangeland health, “Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health” (IIRH). Changes incorporated in the IIRH, Version 5 are designed to improve the ease of using the protocol in the field and clarify instructions. The IIRH protocol is the standard for BLM and NRCS rangeland health assessments and is applied domestically on over 500 million acres of U.S. rangelands. The protocol has been published in four languages and implemented internationally in at least five countries. It is used by private landowners and livestock producers, as well as by organizational planners and researchers.
4. Comprehensive synthesis of the state of the knowledge in pinyon and juniper woodlands. A researcher for ARS Reno, Nevada, worked with a team of researchers from other ARS locations, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Geologic Survey, and University collaborators to synthesize recent research findings and comprehensively summarize the current knowledge of pinyon and juniper ecosystems in a General Technical Report for managers, researchers, and the interested public. The ecohydrology section discusses hydrologic processes in woodlands that influence soil conservation and loss; water capture, release and storage; and the effect of woodland structure and composition on these processes. Key components in the success or failure of restoration and management activities are discussed - components that are necessary to consider when restoring ecosystem function and resilience. This publication was well-received by the management community as evidenced by the large number of downloads, was the topic of a press release, and was selected by the U.S. Forest Service to be featured in a “Science You Can Use” Bulletin.
Review Publications
Clements, D.D., Waldron, B.L., Jensen, K.B., Harmon, D.N., Jeffress, M. 2020. “Snowstorm’ Forage Kochia: A new species for rangeland rehabilitation. Rangelands. 42(1):17-21.
Longland, W.S., Dimitri, L.A. 2019. Significance of seed caching by rodents for key plants in natural resource management. Rangelands. 41(6):248-254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rala.2019.11.002.
Williams, C.J., Snyder, K.A., Pierson Jr, F.B. 2020. Ecohydrology of pinyon and juniper woodlands. In: Miller, R.F., Chambers, J.C., Evers, L., Williams, C.J., Snyder, K.A., Roundy, B.A., Pierson, F.B., editors. The Ecology, History, Ecohydrology, and Management of Pinyon and Juniper Woodlands in the Great Basin and Northern Colorado Plateau of the Western United States, General Technical Report, RMRS-GTR-403. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. pp. 129-163.
Founds, M., McGwire, K., Weltz, M.A., Verburg, P.S. 2020. Predicting micro-catchment infiltration dynamics. Catena. 190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.
Arslan, A., Weltz, M.A., Nouwakpo, S.K. 2020. Salt balance of moderately saline-alkaline rangeland soil and runoff water quality from rainfall simulation studies near Moab, Utah U.S.A. Journal of Geological Resource and Engineering. 8(1):1-19. https://doi.org/10.17265/2328-2193/2020.01.001.
Mcgwire, K., Weltz, M.A., Nouwakpo, S.K., Spaeth, K., Founds, M., Cadaret, E. 2020. Mapping erosion risk for saline rangelands of the Mancos Shale using the rangeland hydrology erosion model. Land Degradation and Development. 2020. 31:2552-2564. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.3620.
Spaeth K.E. et al. (2020) Hydrology and erosion risk parameters for grasslands in central Asia. In: Gutman G., Chen J., Henebry G., Kappas M., editors. Landscape Dynamics of Drylands across Greater Central Asia: People, Societies and Ecosystems. Switzerland: Springer. p. 125-141.