User:Whoanoelle/sandbox

= Rangeland Inventory and Monitoring = Inventory and monitoring on rangelands are the processes by which land managers use to describe and evaluate a rangeland resource at a site.

Inventory
Rangeland inventory is the process of documenting and describing the existing status of the rangeland resource at a specific site within management unit.

Inventories typically include information related to soils and vegetation attributes. Rangeland inventory data provides a valuable baseline to which response can be compared.

Monitoring
Monitoring is a way to evaluate the impact land management strategies have on a rangeland resource.

Key Areas
A key area is a small subset of land that is representative of the larger land area with similar vegetation, soils, climate, and land use characteristics.

When selecting a key area, establishing clear objectives for the management unit are the most important considerations. A key area should include the following criteria:
 * represent the overall range site it is located in
 * be located on a single ecological site and plant community
 * contain the key species of interest for monitoring purposes
 * be likely to show or capable of showing a response to management actions
 * should not be selected at random, rather placed based upon attributes linked to management objectives

Critical Areas
Critical areas are

Density
In regards to rangeland management Density refers to the number of plant individuals within a given area. While the area can be an entire pasture which would represent the total population it is easier and commonplace to count plants within numerous individual quadrats and scale their densities up to the total pasture size. Density measurements can provide useful information on how a plant population is has reacted to some sort of disturbance or land management practice by providing estimates of plant mortality and recruitment.

Cover
Cover measurements represent the percentage amount of ground that is covered by vegetation. The two most common types of cover measurements are aerial and basal (refer to image) and they are commonly measured with points along a transect. Knowing percent cover estimates provide useful information on the potential for erosion on a site and invasive species.

Frequency
= Field Techniques =