Rangeland Ecology & Management

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LONG-TERM ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AT THE MACARTHUR AGRO-ECOLOGY RESEARCH CENTER
Author
Thorne, Mark
Fukumoto, Glen
Kim, Yong-Soo
Lee, Chin N.
Stevenson, Matthew
Lollis, Gene
Swain, Hilary
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2014
Body

To face growing challenges of providing food and fiber to an increasing population, agriculture is challenged with maintaining production while also maintaining natural resources.  Long-term environmental monitoring on rangelands is needed to examine long-term trends in nutrient loads, water flows, groundwater, greenhouse gases and biodiversity and their relationship to climate, management and land-use.  With advances in technology there are many options for designing a monitoring program and specific monitoring arrays. The MacArthur Agro-ecology Research Center (MAERC) at Buck Island Ranch, located in south-central Florida, is a 10,500 acre cattle ranch operated at full commercial scale and is dedicated to long-term ecological research, education, and environmental stewardship. Collection of environmental data and agricultural operations data are an integral component of MAERC. Environmental monitoring is focused on several categories: weather and climate, water quality, and groundwater and surface water stage. Agricultural operations collect data on cattle productivity and movement, fertilizer applications, supplemental feed locations, and pasture management (burning, aerating etc.). Incorporating new technology into our environmental monitoring program has allowed us to continually expand the types and frequency of data we are collecting. One of the primary technologies implemented is the use of radio and cellular telemetry, creating real time data streams that can be monitored remotely, allowing for more efficient data collection, and the ability to immediately recognize sensor failure and reduce data gaps.  Challenges to the collection and maintenance of large volumes of environmental data also include storage and quality assurance.  In response to these challenges, we have not only developed automated capture and delivery of data to a central system, but have developed automated QA tests and processes that extensively reduce required staff time. Our data management system also allows raw and QAed data to be available immediately on our website.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM Orlando, FL