The Rimrock Report
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA,
SCHOOL OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND THE ENVIRONMENT
April 2014
Volume 7, Issue 2
New! Vegetation/GIS Data System (VGS) Support Web Site
Inside this issue:
For those of us who monitor rangelands, Del Despain’s software for tablet computers is
one of the best tools to come along in recent years. He is a range person who needed a
tool to faciliate his monitoring work and has designed the software to be practical and
user friendly. I met Del in Kingman at the very first range workshop I attended as an
extension specialist here in Arizona. We started talking and found out we were both
using tablet computers; he to collect and manage range vegetation data and I to run a
portable NIRS instrument. Del has been holding VGS users group meetings at the
national SRM meetings the last few years and at this past meeting in Orlando he
debuted the new VGS website. So I asked him to provide the same information here in
the Rimrock Report. I am sure you will find this website as useful as we did when he
presented it at the SRM meeting.
New! VGS Support
Web Site
2-3
Plant of the “week”
4-5
2014 bales
Elementary Science
Fair
6
Chris’ Hot Topic of
Range
7-11
Better Rangeland
Photos Workshop
12-15
View from the Rim
16
Just Me Talking
16
“…one of the
best tools to
come along
in recent
years…”
The Rimrock Report
New! VGS Support Web Site by Guest Writer Del Despain...continued
A new web site has been launched to provide resources and support for users and others interested in the VGS
(Vegetation/GIS Data System) database application. VGS is tablet and desktop computer software for
recording and managing vegetation and other ecosystem related data. The support web site was announced at
the annual VGS User Group meeting held in conjunction with the Society for Range Management meetings in
Orlando Florida in February. Visit the web site at: http://vgs.arizona.edu
The new web site provides the following resources:
1) General Information
General information is included on the web site
targeted at those evaluating VGS for potential
use, those looking for more detailed training and
information, and those simply interested in
finding out what VGS is all about. Computer
requirements and recommendations for using the
software are included. There is also a calendar of
Camp Verde Range Rocks students use
upcoming events. In general, anyone is invited to
tablet PC and VGS to record range data
attend various trainings and field days regardless
of the target agency or group. So, if you see something on the calendar that is happening in your area,
contact us and we’ll let you know if an event is open for attendance and the topics to be covered. Or, if
we will be in your area, perhaps we can coordinate a visit to your location.
2)
FAQs
The FAQ pages provide lists of frequently asked
questions with answers or links to information. This
is a good first stop to find answers to questions about
VGS. There is a section for general questions and a
support section for the most oft-asked “how to”
questions.
3)
Downloads
Several files and documents are freely available for
download from the VGS web site. Additional
resources will be provided over time. Files available
for download are organized into two sections:
Even old cowboys can use the VGS system
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The Rimrock Report
New! VGS Support Web Site...continued
1. General: Files in this section include VGS installation packages, help manuals and general
information documents.
2. Organization/Group: This section includes pre-configured database and configuration files
for specific organizations or groups. Other documents, such as field guides, examples and so
forth that are pertinent to an organization may also be available.
4) Forums
Over time, we expect this section of the web site may become the most useful resource on the VGS
site. There isn’t much information there yet, but as people ask questions and responses and comments
are posted, the forums will become a great resource for finding and sharing answers to questions and
issues that have come up previously. There is a “General” forum for general questions and
discussions about VGS. The general forum may also be used for discussing sampling protocols and
vegetation measurement in general. The “Support” forum is for specific questions and issues
regarding how to use and accomplish tasks in VGS. Anyone may respond to each other’s questions or
comments in either forum, but we reserve the right to monitor and filter all postings. The forums are
available for all to peruse, but posting to the forums requires setting up an account. This is easily done
by clicking the “Log-in/Register” link on the home page.
5) Support ticketing system
The web site includes a complete
support/help-desk ticketing system.
This will be the foundation for
tracking bugs and specific user
issues. Users are welcome to call
as well, but support tickets will
still be created to help track the
issues and to keep users informed
about progress. Use of the
ticketing system requires users to
register for an account as described
above. To maintain privacy for
users, support tickets are generally
not visible to everyone.
Hopi range managers use tablet PC and VGS to record range data
Go ahead and poke around the new web
site and please send us your feedback - preferably via the “General Forum” on the web site. The web site is a
work in progress and we want to make it a useful resource for all, so suggestions are always welcome.
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The Rimrock Report
Plant of the “Week” by guest writer Maria Williams
TERLINGUA CREEK CAT’S EYE
Rangelands occasionally harbor unique plant species. One such
plant is Terlingua Creek Cat’s-eye (Oreocarya [Cryptantha]
crassipes), a federally endangered species found only in a few
square miles of Brewster County, Texas. All known populations of
this endangered species are located in what has been described as
the harshest part of the Chihuahuan desert, a moonscape where few
plants grow. Terlingua Creek Cat’s-eye continues to persist here in
a narrow ecological range on privately owned land. Cattle have
grazed these particular ranches since the 1800s. Local ranchers can
identify Terlingua Creek Cat’s-eye, know where to find it, and note
that “nothing eats it”. Attempts to locate this species in nearby Big
Bend Ranch State Park and Big Bend National Park have failed to
uncover any new populations.
With its bristly, hairy leaves, and silvery green appearance, it stands
out against the creamy yellow limestone hills where it is found.
Plants range in size from 6-12 inches tall. First blooms are noted in
March, possibly providing an early nectar source for migrating
insects. Individual seed units are light and aerodynamic.
Terlingua Creek Cat’s Eye; Photo by John Wells
The geologic area where Terlingua Creek Cat’s-eye is located is a
rock unit called the Fizzle Flat lentil with high concentrations of
gypsum and barite. No records of Terlingua Creek Cat’s-eye have
occurred outside of this substrate. Plants with restricted distributions
like this are the most vulnerable to habitat loss or degradation.
Our study was undertaken at Sul Ross State University in Alpine,
Texas from 2010-2012 with the goal of collecting much needed
information for recovery as defined by Texas Parks and Wildlife. The
privately owned areas that Terlingua Creek Cat’s-eye inhabits have a
sparse but interesting vegetation community which includes other rare
plants. Protecting and assessing Terlingua Creek Cat’s-eye habitat
may be benefiting the recovery of the target species, but it is also
supporting the plants with which it may have evolved.
How Terlingua Creek Cat’s-eye has evolved adaptations that allow it
to survive in an area nearly devoid of vegetation is not known.
Through analysis of herbivory patterns and chemistry our research
found that Terlingua Creek Cat’s-eye has a poisonous hepatotoxin in
Terlingua Creek Cat Eye Flowers;
its
leaves and roots (pyrrolizidine alkaloids) that made it not only
Photo by John Wells
unpalatable but deadly if eaten by mammals. This may have conferred
protection not only against herbivory but some pyrrolizidines provide osmotic protection to plant cells. This
osmotic protection prevents plants under drought stress from losing their cellular integrity.
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Volume 7, Issue 2
Plant of the “Week”…..continued
Our findings that gypsum levels are higher closer to the
Cat’s-eye plants than in the outlying areas may account
for the sparse vegetation as gypseous soils tend to be
inhospitable to plants due to its dryness. In the case of
Terlingua Creek Cat’s-eye, it could be soil structure
providing the advantage that makes this habitat
functional for Terlingua Creek Cat’s-eye because
gypsum was positively and significantly correlated to the
soil’s capacity to hold a known amount of water.
Monitoring the Cat’s Eye; Photo by William Greenwood
Although the endangered species act does require a
recovery plan for the conservation of endangered plants,
it does not require that owners of the property where the
plants are located comply with recommendations or
measures intended to protect it.
Terlingua Creek Cat’s-eye habitat is being mined and developed for bentonite. Fortunately, it’s a small area
since the demand for bentonite is fairly low. Since the Cat’s-eye is basically unpalatable there is little else
placing it at risk other than its very small and harsh homeland.
At the same time, private property owners in Texas have collaborated with researchers to allow an assessment
of previously unmapped or unknown populations, thus helping to protect the plants on a larger scale. Ranchers
were aided in the cost of building fences which also served to protect this endangered species. They even
purchased adjacent properties because Terlingua Creek Cat’s-eye grows there. They felt personally protective
of the plants! The unique features of the Cat’s-eye plants’ toxic and osmotic properties were identified with
the assistance and support of local ranchers. All plants have a relationship with their soil. In some cases, this
relationship can facilitate survival in a harsh environment, as it did here. While the unique chemical
properties of the Cat’s-eye could eventually prove useful to humanity, the protective nature of the landowners
led to a collaboration with researchers and governmental agencies that proved successful to all, especially to
the Terlingua Creek Cat’s-eye.
Left: Poorly vegetated landscape; Photo by Steve Williams. Right: Top view of Terlingua Creek Cat’s Eye; Photo by Roy Morey
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The Rimrock Report
2014 Bales Elementary Science Fair
Bales Elementary held their annual science fair last February. Once again the school was packed with rows of
science. Projects were quite varied, from solar powered radios to mentos and soda to tornadoes, volcanos, and
dinosaurs. Rangeland science was strongly represented, with several plant growth projects and a few on
animal sciences. The University of Arizona’s Cooperative Extension had a booth there representing the V Bar
V Ranch, the “Range Rocks!” Program, and the Bureau of Land Management.
The booth talked about
rangeland restoration, plant
identification, BLM projects,
and the uses of near infrared
spectroscopy. Joelle Walker
and Doug Whitbeck were also
science fair judges and
searched for the best
rangeland vegetation and the
Left: Doug Whitbeck teaching students about Rangeland restoration with native seeds.
best rangeland animal science Right: Doug Whitbeck and Joelle Walker looking for the best Rangeland Science
project, with a plant
projects.
identification book and critter
book as prizes.
The Winner of Rangeland Vegetation was Emily Hovatter from Grade 6. She won based on her experiment
with plant growth and how the different types of water and fertilizer affected them. She is a great kid, and she
loves animals!! She would probably have a zoo if she could get it into her house. She wants to be an
Egyptologist when she grows up.
Emily Hovatter (center) and her dad (left) being
presented the Plant Identification book for best
rangeland vegetation project
Zachary Shamblin, winner of
the rangeland animal science
project.
Page 6
The winner of Rangeland
Animal Science was Zachary
Shamblin from Grade 6.
Zachary did his project on
cricket behavior. He chose his
project because he wanted to
learn more about what
attracted crickets. He is
fascinated by science and
animals, and spends a lot of
time with animals. He just
started learning how to rope,
and is hoping to make a career
out of roping when he grows
up.
Volume 7, Issue 2
Chris’ Hot Topic of Range
#SocialMedia #OneYearLater
“75% of American Children Under 8 Have Access to a Smartphone or Tablet”~ Common Sense Media.
“71% of those age 18-29 cite the internet as a main news source”~ Pew Research Center
Exactly one year ago the V Bar V Range Program
launched a full scale social media bonanza. We’re
talking a Website, Google+, YouTube Channel,
Facebook, and Twitter account. This was our grand
experiment, to see if incorporating the latest in social
media technology could enhance our ability to advertise
workshops, communicate, educate, and inform. It was
a logical move. Social media has rapidly expanded
over the last decade, transitioning from a 2005 novelty
with only 8% of internet users to a 2014 multi-billion
dollar industrial complex power house with 73% of
internet users. This transition has transformed society,
moving away from traditional media sources and
putting a focus on user generated content. Today over
50% of Americans get their news from the internet as
opposed to newspapers, TV, and radio.
A handful of Social Media Platforms.
Well, it doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to realize that there might be some
communication potential in social media. Most companies now have
some sort of online presence and many have created sophisticated social
media hubs to monitor trends and to interact full time, in real time, with
fans. There are many examples where social media has been
successfully used in various commercial and private sectors. However,
the rangeland sector might be a little trickier. For one, our age
distribution is skewed a little to the right (Average age of a producer is
over 55). This is significant since social media data, when broken up by
age, show a much faster adoption of social media by the younger
generations.
Another issue is that the rangeland sector tends to be a little less
technologically inclined when it comes to information. A recent survey
asked 91 agriculture media editors and broadcasters how they feel their
audience prefers to receive information. The response: 42% Radio; 24% Magazine; 10% email; and only
8.5% internet (Rhoades and Aue 2010). Though to be fair this was published way back when in 2010; back in
the archaic days of iPhone 3.
Use of Social Networking Sites by Age.
~Pew Research Center
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The Rimrock Report
Chris’ Hot Topic of Range …..continued
So lots of potential here, but we had no real idea of how
successful we’d be. There was a lot to consider; which social
media sites, how many sites, strategies to use, and of course the
rules and regulations when it comes to branding and
representing the University of Arizona. It could get somewhat
complicated, so I must give a shout out to Sheila Merrigan,
Jeanne Pfander, and Barb Hutchinson for all their help
throughout this process. They introduced us to Hootsuite.com,
a social media organizing site that allows us to schedule posts.
Suddenly we didn’t have to log on every day and a single
message could be posted to multiple social media sites. Now
that is efficient.
The V Bar V Range
Program Website
turned out to be a great
Primary source of news by age.
~Pew Research Center”
base of operations for
our online presence. It
links to all our projects and current activities, has a regularly updated
“upcoming events” section, and links to our various social media
sites. The website is also visited regularly, with 2074 unique visitors
and 15,147 page views for the year. That’s five people visiting a day,
which isn’t half bad for its first year. Gotta give tons of credit to
Craig Boesewetter and his website development team for getting the
site running and for helping with any bugs we inadvertently created.
Great people to work with!
It is a little too early to report on our YouTube account, but we did
just launch our Range Rocks! World Premiere. The Premiere is a
short detailed video on the origins of near infrared and the start of a
V Bar V Range Program Website Front Page
series of educational modules that we hope will be continuously
posted throughout the year. We’ll mostly be using YouTube as a
place we can store videos and link to other social media sites, but stay tuned as we work to add more
educational modules and other informational content.
Google+…well it still has potential. It is Google’s answer to Facebook and is
part of Google’s plan to have a completely integrated online experience and,
eventually, seamless interaction between the digital and real world. At
500,000,000 unique profiles it is the second largest social media site in the
world and definitely nothing to sneeze at. …but, after a year of posts we only
have 6 people in our circle, and one of them is me, so if range folk are using
Google+, we haven’t found them yet.
Page 8
…Yep, that’s about right.
Image by: Brian Kuo
Volume 7, Issue 2
Chris’ Hot Topic of Range …..continued
Top; age distribution of Facebook and the V Bar V.
Bottom; number of page likes over the year.
Facebook seems to be where the majority of online range
folk hang out. We quickly grew to 60 “likes” just months
after we launched. Then we decided to try a paid
advertising for our annual Ranch Explorer days. We didn’t
seem to get any new signups for the event, but in four days
our page views went over 8000 and our “likes” doubled to
110 (Real people? Or bots that inflate “like” numbers to
justify the cost of advertising? #conspiracy). From that
point we steadily increased until today where we have 146
“likes”. A great many more “likes” than Karen
Launchbaugh’s U-Idaho Rangeland Center Facebook page
(#winning).
The age demographic information is very interesting in that
it doesn’t seem to mirror the Facebook community. We have more women, 20% of everyone is over the age
of 55, and we have no teenagers. So without jumping to too many conclusions I think we can say that women
love rangelands, kids these days need to go outside more often, and the older generations are much more tech
savvy than they let on.
Those stats are all fun, and we did see a lot more interest in Facebook than the
other social media sites. So we chose to focus our efforts there. At first we
were worried that we wouldn’t be able to generate much content; even talking
about forcing ourselves to post at least once a week. Our goal was to advertise
workshops and update on our activities. This became much easier when our
flip phones were upgraded to smart phones. We also started sharing rangeland
related news from across the internet which increased our content and
hopefully added an entertaining new dimension to our site. Between
workshops, rangeland news, and our activities we have been able to average
about five updates a week.
So far we are satisfied with Facebook. However, there were a few things that
didn’t quite work as expected. We have not yet had a single person sign up to
an event through Facebook and user participation through discussions is a bit
Doug enjoying his shiny new
lacking. This is probably a function of only having 146 people and the type of semi-intelligent personal handupdates made. We’ll see what we can do about this as our site enters its second held communication device.
year.
I also mentioned that we have a Twitter account. This is another social media tool that has potential. At the
moment we’ve only used it to advertise our workshop and events that have been posted on our other social
media sites. It can have more utility than that, but we’ve not expanded our use of it yet.
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The Rimrock Report
Chris’ Hot Topic of Range …..continued
Though I suppose I should admit to participating in some scheduled group chats. Those were very fast paced
and condensing thoughts into 140 characters can be difficult; but they can be fun.
Overall I think that our grand experiment
worked. I feel that the website and Facebook are a success and I think that we can
expand on Facebook, Twitter, and
YouTube as this next year moves on.
We’ll still maintain Google+, but only because it can be easily lumped with the other social media sites when scheduling
posts. The question now is, are we satisfied or do we want to expand? We’ve limited ourselves to these social media outWho needs talking when you have the
lets, but there are many others to choose
convenience of tweeting at your fingertips!
from. Should we now start up LinkedIn?
Perhaps Instagram, Pinterest, FourSquare, Scoop.it, or Mixi? And then there’s this societal shift as kids move
away from Facebook because “Facebook is what my mom does.” So to stay ahead of the game we might need
to open many more accounts. I’ll get Dr. Doug Tolleson on top of all that, he seems to really like this sort of
thing.
Social media in the field? #LOL
Additional reading:
Rhoades, E., & Aue, K. (2010). Social agriculture: Adoption of social media by agricultural editors and broadcasters. Proc. 107th Annu. Mtg. Of Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists, Orlando, Florida, 7-9.
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Volume 7, Issue 2
Chris’ Hot Topic of Range …..continued
The most popular Facebook post of 2013!
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The Rimrock Report
Better Photos-Better Rangelands Workshop
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The Rimrock Report
Better Photos-Better Rangelands Workshop...continued
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The Rimrock Report
Better Photos-Better Rangelands Workshop...continued
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The Rimrock Report
Better Photos-Better Rangelands Workshop...continued
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The view from the Rim
I thought it might be time for a few more Tolleson-isms, but without interpretations. I think these are pretty
self-explanatory and y’all are much more advanced now.
 That’s about as country as a tow truck with a flat.
 That makes about as much sense as an udder on a bull.
 If you go hunting for my faults, you won’t need a very good dog.
The University of Arizona
School of Natural Resources and the Environment
V Bar V Ranch
2830 N. Commonwealth Drive Suite 103
Camp Verde, AZ 86322
Phone: 928-554-8991
Fax: 928-554-8996
Cell: 928-821-3222
E-mail: dougt@cals.arizona.edu
Web: http://cals.arizona.edu/aes/vbarv/
Note: Please email me if you would like to be added to the
“mailing” list for this newsletter.
Just me talking...
It rained just before Christmas and I was beginning to wonder if we were going to
make it to Easter before we got wet again around here. But we did get some nice
rain, generally about an inch, the first of March. We have had some mild temps
since then without too much wind but I can’t say I have been out on the range
enough to tell if that last rain actually did a lot of good. I’ll bet it did though and we
will always take it. I will never forget my Grandpa Tolleson saying “Boy, don’t
ever cuss a rain...” The SRM meeting in Orlando was good but the attendance was
down. Among other things, the agencies did not send many of their people this year. The national BOD is
working on overcoming that situation. I did get to see quite a bit of Florida on that trip. The Native American
Range Forum group traveled down to Brighton to visit the Seminole ranches there. Saw some good county and
good cattle, talked to some knowledgeable cattlemen and women. I also had the opportunity to go up to the
Jacksonville area and visit Iric Burden at White Oak Conservation and speak to their staff about grazing
animal nutritional monitoring. Great place. It is not often you get to spend time with friends, scratch rhinos
and okapis and play with cheetahs. Our AZ SRM Winter meeting was another good time back in January. And
the 101 workshop the day before had a good lineup of speakers and was well attended. The Better PhotosBetter Rangelands workshop this summer after the Navajo County Extension/AZ SRM meeting should be
fantastic. Learning photography techniques from Bruce Taubert and Jeff Kida with AZ Highways will be a
unique opportunity. We actually have gotten out of the office a bit lately. We went up and looked over the
range conditions on Glen Reeds place near Williams and helped scout out some key areas north of Cave
Creek. There have been some interesting range oriented focus groups in the state this spring, looking at social
media, range education, etc... now if I can just get a Morse code app for my phone, I will be in business.
Till next time,
Dash-Dot-Dot Dash-Dash-Dash Dot-Dot-Dash Dash-Dash-Dot
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