Land Health Knowledge Systems enable producers, land managers, and policy makers to create and interpret data about land with regard to its functioning and health. We work closely with partners curating, training, and improving Inventory, Monitoring, and Assessment Tools primarily for rangelands using standardized field inventory (point-in-time measurement of land conditions) and long-term monitoring methods as well as the Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health qualitative assessment methodology.
Monitoring and assessment information help us understand the condition of ecosystems and how they are changing over time. Methods developed by scientists at the Jornada are used by land managers, producers, and researchers around the world to inform management decisions and increase understanding of ecosystem dynamics. These methods are captured in manuals such as the Monitoring Manual for Grassland, Shrubland, and Savannah Ecosystems, Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health, and others.
Learn MoreThe data produced using standardized (core) methods now exceeds over 70,000 locations in the United States and internationally. The Landscape Data Commons provides a centralized database for public use and an expanding set of computational tools to derive indicators and conduct data analyses in support of land management.
Learn MoreEcological Site Descriptions (ESDs) are information systems used to classify land according to potential vegetation states, management options, and transitions among states. ESDs serve as benchmarks for site-specific interpretations of land health and management options. The Jornada is developing databases to develop and house ESDs with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and methods for developing ESDs in the US and internationally.
Learn MoreThe effects of climate and management on wind erosion is a primary concern in drylands due to its effects on land and human health. The National Wind Erosion Research Network (NWERN) is producing publicly accessible data to improve wind erosion models and develop new approaches to using wind erosion data in management decisions.
Learn MoreThe Land Potential Knowledge System (LandPKS) is a mobile application and embedded set of methods that allow users to learn about land health, easily access information in other databases, and produce site-specific data at any location in the world, including soil, vegetation cover, and management data.
Learn MoreWe work with US and international stakeholders to adapt monitoring and assessment tools to local settings and link them to management strategies that promote rangeland resilience.
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