Location: Range Management Research
Title: Using large-scale monitoring and remote sensing data to monitor restoration outcomes through timeAuthor
Young, Kristina | |
DHITAL, SAROJ - New Mexico State University | |
James, Darren | |
DUNIWAY, MICHAEL - Us Geological Survey | |
TYREE, GAYLE - Us Geological Survey | |
McCord, Sarah | |
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. |