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ARS Home » Plains Area » Las Cruces, New Mexico » Range Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #423388
Research Project: Knowledge Systems and Tools to Increase the Resilience and Sustainability of Western Rangeland Agriculture

Location: Range Management Research

Title: Connecting models and standardized monitoring data to support grazing lands conservation and land management

Author
item EDWARDS, BRANDON - New Mexico State University
item Webb, Nicholas
item McCord, Sarah

Submitted to: Soil and Water Conservation Society Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/25/2025
Publication Date: 8/6/2025
Citation: Edwards, B.L., Webb, N.P., McCord, S.E. 2025. Connecting models and standardized monitoring data to support grazing lands conservation and land management. Soil and Water Conservation Society Proceedings. Abstract.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Understanding and assessing the impacts of conservation practices on grazing lands is critical for improving outcomes and responsible land management. Over the last ~20 years, standardized monitoring methods have been used to collect data on vegetation cover, composition and structure at over 100,000 locations globally in grassland, shrubland and savanna ecosystems. Partnering with the Conservation Effects Assessment Project on Grazing Lands (CEAP-GL), scientists with the USDA-Agricultural Research Service have developed wind and water erosion models that leverage the Landscape Data Commons (LDC), a cyberinfrastructure platform that harmonizes and aggregates these standardized datasets, enables linkages to models, and facilitates analysis and interpretation of data within decision-support tools. The ability to connect models to monitoring data through the Landscape Data Commons has created new opportunities to leverage ecological monitoring datasets to produce indicators of erosion and ecosystem function. Linking ecological monitoring datasets to erosion models has been transformative in providing ecological context for understanding soil erosion impacts, understanding the ecological implications of soil erosion across dryland ecosystems, and providing land managers with quantitative data needed to mitigate erosion processes that have broad impacts across Earth systems and society. Here, we describe the Aeolian EROsion (AERO) model, the cyberinfrastructure of the LDC, and highlight decision support products that support conservation and land management on U.S. rangelands.