Filters: Tags: rangeland health (X) > Categories: Publication (X)
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We assessed plant interspaces in July 2007 using continuous line intercepts in twice-replicated pastures of northern mixed-grass prairie with contrasting grazing treatments: 1) long-term (25 yr) heavily grazed, dominated by the bunchgrass blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis), and 2) ungrazed, dominated by the rhizomatous grass western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii). The number of plant interspaces was 26% higher in pastures heavily grazed, but the amount of soil surface occupied by plant interspaces was 27% greater without grazing. Plant interspaces were larger without grazing (14.8�1.2 cm, mean�1 SE) than heavily grazed (8.9�0.4 cm). Plant interspaces represented 87% and 68% of the total soil surface in the ungrazed...
Categories: Publication;
Types: Citation,
Journal Citation;
Tags: Rangeland Ecology & Management,
fetches,
gap intercept,
grassland structure,
hydrologic function,
Biological soil crusts are a diverse soil surface community, prevalent in semiarid regions, which function as ecosystem engineers and perform numerous important ecosystem services. Loss of crusts has been implicated as a factor leading to accelerated soil erosion and other forms of land degradation. To support assessment and monitoring efforts aimed at ensuring the sustainability of rangeland ecosystems, managers require spatially explicit information concerning potential cover and composition of biological soil crusts. We sampled low disturbance sites in Grand Staircase?Escalante National Monument (Utah, USA) to determine the feasibility of modeling the potential cover and composition of biological soil crusts...
Categories: Publication;
Types: Citation,
Journal Citation;
Tags: Rangeland Ecology & Management,
Society for Range Management,
cryptobiotic soil crusts,
degradation thresholds,
drylands,
The intent of long-term ecological monitoring is to document changes in important properties of biological communities. At the least, a long-term monitoring system should be designed to detect long-term trends in three key attributes: soil and site stability, hydrologic function, and the biotic integrity of the system. There are four basic guidelines for developing integrated soil-vegetation monitoring systems for rangelands. These are: (1) identifying a suite of indicators which are consistently correlated with the functional status of one or more critical ecosystem processes and=or properties; (2) selecting base indicators on site specific objectives and resource concerns, and inherent soil and site characteristics;...
Categories: Publication;
Types: Citation,
Journal Citation;
Tags: Arid Land Research and Management,
biotic integrity,
indicators,
rangeland health,
resilience,
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