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.
Photo monitoring can be used to qualitatively monitor some vegetation characteristics.
Residual dry matter monitoring is widely used by agencies, ranchers and other organizations to prevent overgrazing.
Articles, citations, reports, websites, and multimedia resources focused on rangeland ecology, management, restoration, and other issues on American rangelands.