RANGELAND INVENTORY
& MONITORING
Rangeland Management is:
• The use and stewardship of rangeland resources
to meet goals and desires of humans.
CURRENT
FUTURE
• You cannot make good management decisions if
you do not know the effect of past management
actions.
Information for Management
• Inventory = record of resources at one point in time:
• Land area & pasture sizes
• Roads & trails
• Water
• Vegetation types
• Corrals, buildings, fences
• ?
• ?
Information for Management
• Maps for management = resources referenced
geospatially:
• Vegetation map
• Range map
• Watershed map
• Land ownership
Information for Management
• Assessment = evaluation of condition at
one point in time:
• Riparian Proper Functioning Condition
• Rangeland Health
• Ecosystem Integrity
• Usually involve protocols based on
“qualitative” attributes (rather than
“quantitative” measures).
Monitoring
• The word "monitor" is rooted in a term meaning "to
warn."
• Enable managers to take appropriate actions and change
course if needed.
Monitoring
After a wildfire, a land manager of this sagebrush steppe
area in Southern Idaho may implement a monitoring
program to determine if and when the burned area
recovers to a plant community similar to an unburned
area.
Monitoring
A rancher may implement a
monitoring protocol to
determine if a new grazing
system is affecting
establishment of sedges or
willows along a stream,
improving the stability of
stream banks.
Monitoring
A leafy spurge patch such as
this could be monitored to
determine if the weed
management plans are
effective.
Monitoring: The Main Steps
• Complete inventory – know resources available
• Develop objectives
• Design and implement management
• Design the monitoring methodology
• Evaluate management actions
One Example of a
Planning Model
Revise
Evaluate
Implement
Inventory
Main Steps in
Rangeland
Management
Set Goals
Plan
Monitoring: The Main Steps
• What do I need to know to make good management
decisions?
• What/how can I realistically monitor?
Set SMART Objectives
SMART Objectives:
• Specific – Objectives should specifically state what you want to
achieve on the land you are managing.
• Measurable – It must be possible to measure whether you are
meeting the objectives or not.
• Achievable - Are the objectives you set achievable in your current
setting? Consider environmental constraints, societal expectations,
economic parameters, legal requirements, and technological
limitations.
• Realistic – Set objectives that you can realistically achieve given
the natural and management context of your situation.
• Time – Set a time horizon for management objectives.
SMART Objectives:
To set SMART objectives, you must know:


What resources you have:
 Land
 Human capital
 Economic
What affects your resources:
 Ecological site
 Climate
 Current condition

What you are capable of:
 Skills
 Abilities
 Knowledge
Examine Trend
Trend = upward or downward based on conditions measured
at least 2 points in time:
• Used to evaluate management actions
• Measures change over time
• Best if done frequently
Apparent Trend = attributes measured at one time point in
time to infer trend.
• Often misleading
Ecological Status
Trend vs. Current Status
Time
Factors influencing trend
• Weather
• Grazing/Browsing
• Insects
• Recreation
• Fire
• Trampling
• Rodents
All of these can be
beneficial or
detrimental,
depending on
circumstances.
FORTY YEARS OF CHANGE
IN A SHADSCALE STAND IN
IDAHO
Lee A. Sharp, Ken Sanders & Neil Rimbey
Access full text article at.
http://digitalcommons.library.arizona.edu/objectviewer?o=htt
p://rangelands.library.arizona.edu/Volume12/Number6/azu_ra
ngelands_v12_n6_313_328_m.pdf
Background of Photos
The following rangeland photo journal
charts the changes that have occurred
in a shadscale (Atriplex confertifolia)
stand in southern Idaho starting in
1951.
 Photos of the site have been taken
annually since 1955, but the selected
photos show the dynamic nature of the
site.
L.A. Sharp Experimental Area –Malta Idaho
1951
1955
1958
1959
1960
1961
1963
1964
Scale Insect
2005
8.0
15.4
Interpretation of data
• Determine if management objectives have been
achieved.
• if not, why?
• Determine if management objectives need redefining.
• are they realistic?
• have your goals changed?
• Determine needed management action.
“Pictures are worth a thousand words”
• But only if you know the true story of what happened
over time.
• Photos are used by critics, but they seldom make the
correct interpretation.
• The permittee is the person most likely to know the true
story.