Sustainable Rangelands Roundtable

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Sustainable Rangelands Roundtable

• Development and Evolution of the
• Criteria and Indicators

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Overview

• Criteria
• Productive Capacity
• Soil and Water Resources
• Ecosystem Health and Diversity
• Social and Economic Benefits
• Legal, Institutional, Economic Frameworks
• Indicators within these Criteria
• Scientific Challenges
• Next Technical Steps

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A journey of 1000 miles begins with 1 step

• Criteria and indicators described here represent
  the current development.
• The indicators will continue to evolve as the SRR
  advances towards an accepted set for monitoring
  and assessing rangeland sustainability.

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Criteria
Productive Capacity
Legal, Institutional and Economic Framework
Sustainable Rangelands
Health and Diversity
Soil and Water
Social and Economic

• Indicators

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Maintenance of Productive Capacity on Rangeland
Ecosystems

• Productive capacity provide the current
  generation with a wide variety of goods and
  services depending on the mix desired by society
  at any particular time
• Maintenance that future generations will be
  able to obtain their desired mix...
• Indicators must capture Determinants of
  Productive Capacity, and the Variety of Outputs
  that can be produced on Rangelands

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Indicators Determinants of Productive Capacity

• Aboveground
• Biomass Production

Integrates biotic and abiotic factors influencing
capacity
Indicates shifts in a major commodity product

• Rangeland available
• for livestock grazing

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Indicators Productive Capacity Outputs

• Domestic Livestock

Number of cattle, sheep, goats, horses, bison
measures a consumptive use

• Wildlife Density

Direct measure of wildlife numbers indirect for
recreation

• Harvest of landscape
• edible/medicinal
• plants

Measures the variety of other consumptive uses
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Maintenance of Ecological Health and Diversity of
Rangelands

• Rangeland health .. degree to which the
  integrity of the soil and the ecological
  processes of rangelands are sustained
• Nutrient cycling, energy flow, hydrologic
  processes

• Biodiversity .. variety of life and its
  processes which encompasses the variety of
  living organisms, the genetic differences among
  them and the communities and ecosystems in which
  they occur
• Landscape, community, population, genetics

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Indicators Health and Diversity
Trends in land status

• Extent of rangeland

• Annual production

Energy capture storage

• Changes in fire regimes

Fire freq., intensity extent

• Riparian condition

Veg. watershed health

• Wetland Abundance

Number extent
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Indicators Health and Diversity

• Fragmentation
• Plant Communities
• Parcel Size
• Different Management

Captures changes in landscape patterns,
connectedness, habitats

• Plant Communities
• Area
• Invasives, Non-natives
• Vegetation Classes

Captures changes in plant community structure and
function

• Population Dynamics
• Species communities of
• concern
• Selected Species

Captures finer scale details for individual
species communities
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Conservation and Maintenance of Soil and Water
Resources

• Soils influence hydrologic processes by providing
  the medium for the capture, storage, and release
  of water.
• Flow of water through rangelands influences soil
  physical and biological properties.
• In most rangelands, water is extremely limiting.

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Indicators Soil and Water Resources

• Area of Rangeland with

Measures loss of soil

• Significant Erosion

Physical properties affecting water infiltration

• Significant Compaction

• Changes in aggregate
• stability
• Bare ground

Potential for erosion through resistances to wind
and water

• Diminished Organic Matter
• Changes in Soil Organisms
• Pesticide Application

Measures of soil productivity, and ties to water
quality
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Indicators Soil and Water Resources

• Percent of Water Bodies with

• Variation in Natural Range of Biological
  Diversity
• Variation in pH, Chemicals, Temperature,
  Sedimentation

Indicates changes in water quality and aquatic
habitat conditions
Indicates potential for changes in vegetation and
water availability

• Changes in Groundwater

• Changes in stream
• Flow amounts timing
• Dry periods
• Geometry

Assesses watershed functioning, and impacts to
aquatic and terrestrial diversity
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Maintenance and Enhancement of Multiple Economic
and Social Benefits to Current and Future
Generations

• Socio-economic indicators provide a measure of
  societal values reflecting allocation of scarce
  economic resources.
• Economic indicators complement social measures by
  assessing changes resulting from adjustments in
  social, ecological, legal, and political systems.

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Indicators Social and Economic Benefits

• Social measures are widely available
  Population, Migration, Mortality, Education,
  Income, etc.
• However, few are rangeland-specific.
• For example, social acceptability of rangeland
  policies, practices, conditions
• Assumption Human communities are better off if
  rangelands are both healthy and productive.

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Indicators Social and Economic Benefits

• Area managed for
• Cultural, Spiritual Values
• Subsistence
• Non-consumptive-use

Assess management support for these values and
uses

• Land Ownership

Measures effect of change

• New Technologies

Assess adoption for improvement and protection
Assesses how use and conditions impact
range-dependent communities

• Viability and adaptability of social systems

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Indicators Social and Economic Benefits

• Amount and Economic Value
• AUMs
• Forage
• Non-livestock products

Assess availability and value of diverse uses

• Management for Recreation
• Area, Facilities, Visitors

Assess desire for tourism, recreation, wilderness

• Investment in Rangelands

Demand for different uses

• Rangeland Research, Development and Education

Investment in the future
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Indicators Social and Economic Benefits

• Ranching Sector
• Use of new technology
• Rate of return
• Employment in sector

Ability to remain in business, importance in
total employment

• Land Use and Conservation
• Conservation easements
• Ownership by NGOs
• Contribution to restoration

Willingness to contribute to conservation by
people and by organizations
Identifies where investment income is occurring

• Trade Flows between Rural and Urban Areas

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Legal, Institutional, and Economic Framework for
Rangeland Conservation and Sustainable Management

• Sustainable rangelands are influenced by
• U.S. laws, regulations, guidelines,
• Issues of equity, cultural traditions, legal
  rights and obligations, and
• Availability of scientific understanding and
  appropriate management technologies and skills.

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Legal, Institutional and Economic Frameworks
Criteria

• Support for sustainability through frameworks of
• Legal
• Institutional
• Economic

Property rights, range-related planning, public
involvement in policy, investment, taxation

• Capacity to monitor change in sustainable
  management

Inventories, policy review, enforcement of laws
and regulations

• Capacity in RD aimed at improving management and
  delivery of goods and services

Existence of research and development programs
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Challenges

• Capacity? To what extent can productive capacity
  be measured?
• Transition between rangeland and forests? What
  triggers identification of land as rangeland vs.
  forests?
• Scale? National inventory
• Integration? Links between economic, social, and
  ecological sustainability?

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Next Technical Steps

• Reduce duplication of indicators
• Develop protocols for evaluating indicators
• Protocols for identifying evaluating data sets
• Inventory structure at national level
• Agency roles
• First Approximation Report

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A journey of 1000 miles begins with 1 step
Future Plans