Information contained in Ecological Site Descriptions (ESDs) can provide a consistent and systematic basis for the application of management practices to restore range and forest land plant communities after disturbance. Regardless of whether degradation is a result of chronic misuse (overgrazing) or acute disturbance (fire), state-and-transition models (STMs) contained in ESDs and interpretations can direct on-the-ground application of technologies and management. The successful application of STMs requires well defined diagnostics for classifying land into unique ecological states and plant communities so that initial soil and vegetation conditions can be objectively assessed to develop a credible inventory. Transitions must clearly describe the ecological processes and feedbacks that maintain undesirable ecological states and how management can be implemented to overcome inertia and restore desired plant communities. These processes should be explicitly linked to well-defined conservation practices, including indicators that can be measured to guage progress toward objectives. Finally, an information system that can serve as a database for analyzing successes and failures is required to test restoration concepts and practices.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.