ecological sites: development and description esd workshop winnemuca nv 5 june 2012 joel brown usda...

ECOLOGICAL SITES: DEVELOPMENT AND DESCRIPTION

ESD WorkshopWinnemuca NV

5 June 2012

Joel BrownUSDA NRCS

National Soil Survey Center /Jornada Experimental Range

A climate, a plant community or a soil, in the sense of an individual, is a ... section of the landscape with a range in characteristics set by our logic, not by nature. (Dyksterhuis 1958)

Early forest and range site applications were explicitly designed to divide the landscape as a means of predicting production and restoring production post-disturbance

As site, landscape and regional scale ecosystem services expand, change and become more fluid, ecological site descriptions need to become more robust

FAO.org

A climate, a plant community or a soil, in the sense of an individual, is a ... section of the landscape with a range in characteristics set by our logic, not by nature. (Dyksterhuis 1958)

A distinctive kind of land with specific physical characteristics that differs from other kinds of land in its ability to produce a distinctive kind and amount of vegetation, and in its ability to respond to management actions and natural disturbances.

HOW DO WE SYSTEMATICALLY SUBDIVIDE THE LANDSCAPE AND INTERPRET THOSE DIVISIONS?

Geographic areas with similar soils

Similar landscape patterns

Groups of Ecological Sites that share landscapes

Intermingled ecological sites or single site

One individual representative of the site

An observation of plant-soil relationships

Regions with similar climate, land use




Intermingled Ecological Sites

Single individual representative of the site

Point scale plant-soil relationships


LAND RESOURCE REGIONS

LRR D – Western Range and Irrigated RegionSemidesert or desert region of plateaus, plains, basins and mountain ranges150 – 1065 mm105-260 d frost freeOvergrazing is a concern on rangelands

Basics of ecological sites: spatial scales








35

43B

3

42 133A

8

5

30136

54

72

58A

40

25

48A

52

73

29

47

28A

23

6534A

133B103

98

36

56

38

17

143

43A

116A

140

27

131A

112

53B

41

28B 147

77C

125

105

7

58B

153A

67B

78C

127

55B

22A

69

80A

126

2

78B

109

21

31

24

55A

86A

102A

104

7175

90A

74

70C

139

55C

85

95B

119130B

106107B

121

63A32

79

53A

12143

81B

94A

43A

77A

102C

113

150A

Non-native grass invasion,increased fire frequency,loss of native woody plants

Drought-triggeredforest dieback

Non-native grass invasion,altered surface hydrology, reduced productivity

Perennial grass loss, soil erosion, native woody plant dominance

Nonnative woody plant invasion

Native woody plant thickening, reduced fire frequency

MLRAs distinguish broad differences in potential and types of ecological dynamicsOur challenge: to better to understand broad vegetation/disturbance/geo-physical relationships.

Major Land Resource Areas of the continental USA

MLRA 24 Humboldt Area35, 610 sq miles (92, 275 sq km)low flat coastal plains44-59 “ (1120-1500) average annual precipitation, 60% June-Sep70-75o F(21-24o C) Average annual temperature

MLRA EXPLORERLand Resource Regions and Major Land Resource Areas of the United States, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Basin http://www.cei.psu.edu/mlra/




Groups of Ecological Sites sharing landscapes





Loamy soil (active piedmont)Susceptible to water erosion andgrass loss: vulnerable/restorable

Clayey soil (basin floor)Receives water and sediment: low risk

Limestone Grass protected byrocks, higher rainfall,good water capture: low risk

Soil mapping units of the Jornada Basin (15 km)

Gravelly soil (shallow, relict piedmont)Surface soil water limited, high risk for grass loss and erosion: vulnerable/restorable

Sandy soil (relict basin floor)Erodible surface soils once grasses removed: vulnerable/hard to restore

The MLRA-level “model” is filtered by soils/topography and local climate (LRU) Our challenge: to begin to sample/model and understand finer vegetation/disturbance/geo-physical relationships.

Associated Sites:SODIC TERRACE 6-8 P.Z. R024XY003NVSILTY 4-8 P.Z. R024XY004NVDROUGHTY LOAM 8-10 P.Z. R024XY020NVSTREAMBANK 10-14 P.Z. R029XY025NV

ECOLOGICAL SITE CHARACTERISTICSSite Type: RangelandSite Name: LOAMY 5-8 P.Z./ Atriplex confertifolia - Picrothamnus desertorum / Achnatherum hymenoides( / shadscale - bud sagebrush / Indian ricegrass)Site ID: R024XY002NVMajor Land Resource Area: 024-Humboldt Area

Sandy loam uplandLoamy upland

Sandyloam

LoamClayloam

Clay

ECOLOGICAL SITES: DEVELOPMENT AND DESCRIPTION

“A Common Way to Describe Ecological Sites”for Rangelands

• The Interagency ESD Manual - 2010• The Interagency ISD Handbook- 2012 (hopefully)

• Development of Standards and Process – (2013 Goal)

A Common Way to Describe Ecological SitesESD Project Plans

• An ESD Project Plan is the main tool for analyzing workload (planning, scheduling, and coordinating activities) and tracking progress of ES activities.

• The scope of ESD project plans will vary. A project plan may simply involve the collection of additional data for inclusion in an existing ESD or may involve going through the entire development process for a new ecological site.

Goals

To increase the understanding of ecological dynamics to landscapes

To better catalogue expert knowledge and data-driven processes

To use common process for defining the ecological site concept

To develop ecological site products that meet the needs of multiple users

To develop products that are management tools

Establish priorities for development

Assemble existing resource material

Select locations for reconnaissance

Establish local working group

Resource allocation

Planning Phase

Build your Local

Working Groups

DATA and DOCUMENTATION COLLECTION PHASE

Important to have draft STM developed prior to sampling design and data collection

Level III sampling should be dependent on Level II results

ECOLOGICAL SITE DESCRIPTION CERTIFICATION PHASE

Peer review

Correlation of interpretations

SUMMARY

• Climate, geology, soils, vegetation occur within spatiotemporal gradients

• It is unlikely that you will be able to work with Ecological Sites that are exclusively one unit

• Understanding the hierarchical setting of an ecological site can help interpret and apply the information in an ESD to conservation problems

ImplementThe Plan

Evaluate the Plan

Inventory Resources

Analyze Resource

Data

Identify Problems

Determine Objectives

Formulate Alternatives

EvaluateAlternatives

Make Decisions

How do ESDs Support Planning?

ecological sites: development and description esd workshop winnemuca nv 5 june 2012 joel brown usda...

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