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RANGELAND SOIL HEALTH: SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION ON MEANING AND DIRECTION FOR RANGELAND MANAGEMENT.
Author
Herrick, Jeffrey
Moebius-Clune, Bianca
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2016
Body

This paper will summarize and synthesize the papers in this symposium. The co-authors will then facilitate a discussion focusing on implications for rangeland soil science and management. Managing soil health is a critically important challenge for all of the nation's lands, including rangelands. Soil health affects and is affected by virtually every management action. In some cases these effects are direct while in others they are indirect through vegetation management. Most managers focus solely on managing the plant community, and assume that a healthy, productive plant community will improve soil health through compaction-busting root growth, soil organic matter inputs, protection of the soil surface from wind and water erosion and evaporation, and keeping soil temperatures in a favorable range for soil biotic activity. The papers in this symposium have in many ways supported these assumptions. However, they have also demonstrated how an understanding of rangeland soil processes can often improve our ability to manage rangeland ecosystems, increasing production while reducing runoff and erosion. They have shown how soil health can sometimes be used as an early warning indicator of changes in rangeland ecosystem resilience. Finally, they have illuminated the tremendous gaps in our understanding of rangeland soil health, which is also reflected by the literature. We look forward to a fruitful discussion of how the soil health movement can and should influence rangeland management. We expect the discussion to reflect a broad variety of views, based on the diversity of knowledge and experience represented by both the speakers and the membership of the Society for Range Management, which provided supporting comments for promoting soil and rangeland health at a special hearing titled "The benefits of promoting soil health in agriculture and rural America" by the House Committee on Agriculture, Subcommittee on Conservation, Energy and Forestry, held on September 18th, 2014.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM Corpus Christi, TX
Collection
SRM Annual Meeting Abstracts