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WATER QUALITY
CALIFORNIA VEGETATION
LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION
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MONITORING VEGETATION AND GRAZING
Main Points
Effective inventory, monitoring and assessment requires planning that identifies why monitoring is to be undertaken, what will be monitored, where monitoring will occur, who will monitor, how long and how frequently monitoring will occur. Statement of measurable project objectives will improve project planning and improve the chances for an effective monitoring project.
Rancher, range manager or citizen group monitoring objectives may include one or more of the following: document normal conditions, document abnormal (catastrophic) events, confirm agency assessments, investigate perceived problems, document your good management, and document the effectiveness of new practices.
There are many different vegetation characteristics that can be monitored including ground cover, residual dry matter, stubble height, canopy cover, plant density and yield or standing crop. The attributes monitored depend on the objectives of the monitoring project.
Assessing Rangeland Health
Monitoring Planning
Rangeland Monitoring Fact Sheets (PDF Format)
Vegetation Monitoring Publications
- Bartolome J.W., W.E. Frost, N.K. McDougald and J.M. Connor. 2002. California Guidelines for Residual Dry Matter (RDM) Management on Coastal and Foothill Annual Rangelands. Rangeland Monitoring Series, University of California Ag and Nat Res Pub 8092. Oakland, CA. 8 p.
- Coulloudon, Bill, Kris Eshelman, James Gianola, Ned Habich, Lee Hughes, Curt Johnson, Mike Pellant, Paul Podborny, Allen Rasmussen, Ben Robles, Pat Shaver, John Spehar, and John Willoughby. 1999. Sampling Vegetation Attributes. Tech. Ref. 1734-4. Bureau of Land Management, Denver, CO.
- Herrick, Jeffrey E., Justin W. Van Zee, Kris M. Havstad, Laura M. Burkett and Walter G. Whitford. 2005. Monitoring Manual for Grassland, Shrubland and Savannah Ecosystems: Volume 1 – Quick Start. USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range, Las Cruces, NM. http://usda-ars.nmsu.edu/
- Herrick, Jeffrey E., Justin W. Van Zee, Kris M. Havstad, Laura M. Burkett and Walter G. Whitford. 2005. Monitoring Manual for Grassland, Shrubland and Savannah Ecosystems: Volume 2 – Design, supplementary methods and interpretation. USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range, Las Cruces, NM. http://usda-ars.nmsu.edu/
- Lile, David F., Kenneth W. Tate, Donald L. Lancaster and Betsy Karle. 2003. Stubble height standards for Sierra Nevada meadows can be difficult to meet. Calif. Agric. 57:60-64
- McDougald, Neil, Bill Frost, and Dennis Dudley. 2003. Photo-monitoring for better land use planning and assessment. ANR Publ. No. 8067. Div. of Agric. And Nat. Res., Univ. of Calif., Oakland, Calif. 10 pgs. http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8067.pdf
Riparian Monitoring Publications
- Ward, T.A., K.W. Tate, and E.R. Atwill. 2003. Visual Assessment of Riparian Health. ANR Publ. No. 8089. Div. of Agric. And Nat. Res., Univ. of Calif., Oakland, Calif. 23 pgs. http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8089.pdf
- Ward, T.A., K.W. Tate, and E.R. Atwill. 2003. Guidelines for Monitoring the Establishment of Riparian Grazing Systems. ANR Publ. No. 8094. Div. of Agric. And Nat. Res., Univ. of Calif., Oakland, Calif. 37 pgs. http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8094.pdf
- Ward, T.A., K.W. Tate, E.R. Atwill, D.F. Lile, D.L. Lancaster, N.K. McDougald, S. Barry, R.S. Ingram, H.A. George, W.J. Jensen, W.E. Frost, R. Phillips, G.G. Markegard, S. Larson. 2003. A Comparison of Three Visual Assessments for Riparian and Stream Health. J. Soil and Water Conservation. 58:83-88
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