This presentation will review how ecological site descriptions (ESDs) are used to support rangeland health evaluations, and how rangeland health evaluations can be used to improve interpretations based on state and transition models (STMs). Reference sheets that serve as the standard for evaluating rangeland health using the "Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health" protocol are now included in United States ESDs. Other information included in the ESDs used to support development of the reference sheets includes the STMs: the natural range of variability within the reference state serves as the reference for each indicator. Defining this range of variability requires knowledge about the natural disturbance regime, production, and soils, which is also included in the ESD. Rangeland health evaluations can improve STM-based interpretations by helping to identify ecological processes have been modified, resulting in a change in resilience. This information can be used to help identify appropriate management interventions. The presentation will conclude with a brief discussion of some new mobile apps that will make it easier to identify the correct ESD to be used for rangeland health evaluations, and to provide feedback on STMs and rangeland health reference sheets. The global "Land-Potential Knowledge System (LandPKS) allows users to use their phone quickly determine the climate for their location, and to help identify which soil, and therefore which ecological site they are on.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.