4 research outputs found
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Rangeland Monitoring and the Parker 3-Step Method: Overview, Perspectives and Current Applications
9 pp.Principles of obtaining and interpreting utilization data on rangelandsRangeland monitoring is essential for making sound management decisions. Monitoring requires repeated measurements of the same attributes over time. Perhaps the earliest and most widespread rangeland management monitoring data collection protocol was the development and establishment of the Parker 3-step Method on U. S. Forest Service rangelands, beginning in 1948. This method collected both objective and subjective data and provided a scoring technique for assessment purposes. This paper describes the development of the Method and suggests ways to summarize the ecological attributes collected on Parker transects, analyze the data and reinterpret them based on trends in plant species abundance, composition and soil cover
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Value of University of Arizona Cooperative Extension’s Involvement in Immediate Post-Wallow Fire Grazing Recovery
The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension participated in cooperative efforts to monitor rangeland recovery and assess forage availability after the Wallow Fire that provided critical information supporting the Forest Service’s decision to allow grazing to resume on allotments earlier than originally anticipated. Enhancement and use of the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Vegetation GIS Data System software allowed Forest Service and University personnel to quickly record and analyze ecological data. This ecological data was important to determining the response of vegetation to provide forage for livestock and wildlife. Estimates of benefits to ranchers from earlier resumption of grazing on their allotments range from 52,835 per allotment. Estimates of total rancher benefits range from 2,060,577
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The Importance of Strategic Questions and Tactical Ground Rules in Rangeland Studies for Grazing Management
All parties participating in rangeland studies (i.e., monitoring, inventory, or assessment) should clearly understand strategic questions concerning "why?, what?, when?, where?, who? and how often?" data are being collected, as well as tactical ground rules that should be followed when conducting a particular sampling technique. This information should be clearly recorded either directly on data sheets or described in each report or cover sheet that accompanies the data. The information should also be catalogued and stored in a safe location in both hard copy and electronic formats where it is easily accessible by current and future observers