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ARS Home » Plains Area » Las Cruces, New Mexico » Range Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #413044

Research Project: Knowledge Systems and Tools to Increase the Resilience and Sustainablity of Western Rangeland Agriculture

Location: Range Management Research

Title: Using large-scale monitoring and remote sensing data to monitor restoration outcomes through time

Author
item Young, Kristina
item DHITAL, SAROJ - New Mexico State University
item James, Darren
item DUNIWAY, MICHAEL - Us Geological Survey
item TYREE, GAYLE - Us Geological Survey
item McCord, Sarah
item Webb, Nicholas - Nick

Submitted to: Ecological Society of America (ESA)
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/1/2024
Publication Date: 8/9/2024
Citation: Young, K.E., Dhital, S., James, D.K., Duniway, M., Tyree, G., McCord, S.E., Webb, N.P. 2024. Using large-scale monitoring and remote sensing data to monitor restoration outcomes through time. Ecological Society of America (ESA). Abstract.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Due to the rapid pace of global change, ecological restoration projects are occurring more frequently and at larger scales than ever before. Assessing the outcomes of these restoration projects is a necessary but challenging task. This challenge is due in part to resource constraints that can limit follow-up field monitoring, reducing land managers’ ability to practice informed adaptive management. Increasingly, large-scale monitoring networks and remote sensing tools are available that can aid in assessing restoration outcomes through time. Here, we present the early stages of a before-after control-impact (BACI) remote sensing study across the Western US. Specifically, we are examining plant functional group cover before and after restoration treatments (seeding, herbicide, soil manipulation, and prescribed burns) across ecoregions in the Western US to determine immediate and trend changes in plant functional group cover. To accomplish this, we are compiling 30 years of RAP and LDC data from within restoration-treated polygons acquired from the USGS Land Treatment Digital Library. We then compare these treated sites to untreated sites using the novel DART tool that identifies robust untreated control estimates using abiotic matching and a counterfactual analysis. This analysis provides an understanding of how restoration treatments impact plant functional group cover both through time and across spatial scales. This and other large-scale monitoring research are necessary steps to providing land managers with the information needed to practice adaptive management in a changing climate.