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Sustaining rangelands at high performance levels requires implementation of long-term management practices that beneficially manipulate plant biological mechanisms and ecological processes enabling the grassland ecosystem to perform at its peak potential. The response of biological mechanisms and ecological processes to modifications of manipulation strategies is slow, and the response of grassland ecosystem performance to management practices occurs in annual incremental changes, both positive and negative, which may be evident only through annual monitoring. Changes in the performance levels of several components of the rangeland ecosystem can be monitored over time to provide indirect indication of the status of grassland ecosystem health. Such monitoring allows management practices to be adjusted before problems lead to a grassland ecosystem with deteriorated health status and low performance that can be improved only through many years of corrective manipulation.