Connecting modeled wind erosion estimates to Ecological Site Descriptions using quantitative ecological state keys

Authors: SCHALLNER, JEREMY - New Mexico State University; WEBB, NICHOLAS - New Mexico State University; EDWARDS, BRANDON - New Mexico State University; McCord, Sarah

Submitted to: Society of Range Management
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/12/2023
Publication Date: 2/16/2023
Citation: Schallner, J.W., Webb, N.P., Edwards, B.L., McCord, S.E. 2023. Connecting modeled wind erosion estimates to Ecological Site Descriptions using quantitative ecological state keys. Society of Range Management. Abstract.

Interpretive Summary: Wind erosion is a critical concern on rangelands in the United States and globally. Along with local land degradation and loss of soil resources, wind erosion has important feedbacks with ecosystem structure and composition and can impact human health and air quality downwind from dust emission sources. Making information about wind erosion accessible to land managers, and providing interpretive tools that support existing workflows, is needed to effectively mainstream wind erosion assessments and action in land use and rangeland management planning. Erosion processes are often difficult to measure in situ, so models are an important tool for understanding the impacts of ecological change on erosion, and vice versa. The Aeolian Erosion Model (AERO) is an aeolian transport and dust emission model developed in part as a decision-support tool for land management. Ecological Site Descriptions (ESDs) are another set of decision-support tools that describe the fundamental ecological dynamics of a site based on soil and plant community characteristics. Here, we demonstrate how the AERO outputs, probabilistic estimates of horizontal sediment flux and dust emission, can be used in multiple ways to assess risk of wind erosion and connect these outputs to ESDs via quantitative ecological state keys. The ecological state keys were created by incorporating quantitative indicators of ecological states and thresholds between states from published ESDs and their associated State-and-Transition Models (STMs). The ecological site keys and AERO were applied to a subset of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) plots in Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) 42. AERO outputs were then assessed at both the ecological site and state levels via the quantitative keys. Our results provide the basis for a risk assessment framework to facilitate management decisions related to potential wind erosion and its effects on ecosystem services.

Technical Abstract: Wind erosion is a critical concern on rangelands in the United States and globally. Along with local land degradation and loss of soil resources, wind erosion has important feedbacks with ecosystem structure and composition and can impact human health and air quality downwind from dust emission sources. Making information about wind erosion accessible to land managers, and providing interpretive tools that support existing workflows, is needed to effectively mainstream wind erosion assessments and action in land use and rangeland management planning. Erosion processes are often difficult to measure in situ, so models are an important tool for understanding the impacts of ecological change on erosion, and vice versa. The Aeolian Erosion Model (AERO) is an aeolian transport and dust emission model developed in part as a decision-support tool for land management. Ecological Site Descriptions (ESDs) are another set of decision-support tools that describe the fundamental ecological dynamics of a site based on soil and plant community characteristics. Here, we demonstrate how the AERO outputs, probabilistic estimates of horizontal sediment flux and dust emission, can be used in multiple ways to assess risk of wind erosion and connect these outputs to ESDs via quantitative ecological state keys. The ecological state keys were created by incorporating quantitative indicators of ecological states and thresholds between states from published ESDs and their associated State-and-Transition Models (STMs). The ecological site keys and AERO were applied to a subset of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) plots in Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) 42. AERO outputs were then assessed at both the ecological site and state levels via the quantitative keys. Our results provide the basis for a risk assessment framework to facilitate management decisions related to potential wind erosion and its effects on ecosystem services.