Get reliable rangeland science

Fundamental to sustainable rangelands is a healthy soil. This foundational component of sustainability, however, is often overlooked given the belowground “black box” mentality attributed to soils. Until transformative changes occur with soils (e.g., accelerated erosion), this attribute of integrated rangeland ecosystems is largely taken for granted. Nevertheless, benchmark events (e.g., Dust Bowl of the 1930s) provide relevant context for the importance of maintaining healthy soils for the provision of ecosystem goods and services for society. Promotion of soil health, and the associated co-benefits (enhanced soil water holding capacity, increased nutrient cycling), increases the resilience of rangelands to weather/climatic variability and predicted climate changes. Future directions of usable science for sustainable rangelands involving soil health should address: 1) spatial aspects of soil health indicators, 2) characterization of soil health indicators for sensitivity levels that affect transitions/thresholds of state-and-transition models (STMs) in ecological site descriptions (ESDs), 3) influences of management practices, predicted climate changes, and extreme events on soil health indicators, and 4) how soil health is affected by prescribed fire and wildfires. Successful attainment of usable science for rangelands and soil health is predicated on completing soil surveys for the Nation, and updating already completed surveys to include metrics of soil health.