Rangeland Assessment and Monitoring Methods Guide
Level 1 Users are users with little GIS and remote sensing experience or access to specialized GIS or remote sensing software or hardware. Level 1 users will mostly interact with Toolbox-generated products and web applications and may work with level-2 or level-3 users to use other Toolbox tools for their management information needs.
Level 2 Users have an understanding of GIS and rangeland monitoring data and have experience with GIS software. Level 2 users can do some minor data creation (e.g., creating layers to define new management scenarios) or edit existing layers (e.g., correcting and updating polygons in the vegetation maps). They will use Toolbox tools and products to aid analyses for their management questions and may also run new scenarios based on existing state and transition models and vegetation maps. These users may provide outputs to level 1 users but may also require assistance from level 3 users to set up datasets for some tools.
Level 3 Users have a highly-developed skill set for manipulating and analyzing GIS, remote sensing, and assessment/monitoring data. They will have access to specialized software and hardware for creating new data layers (e.g., creating image objects from new imagery) and would set up the data layers that level 1 and 2 users would have access to. These users could also lead the process of creating new state and transition models or vegetation maps for new areas. Use of Landscape Toolbox tools in major planning efforts (e.g. RMP) would rely heavily on level 3 users.What is the Rangeland Assessment and Monitoring Methods Guide?
The Rangeland Assessment and Monitoring Methods Guide (“Methods Guide”) helps you find the field and remote-sensing methods most useful for your rangeland assessment and monitoring needs. The goal of the Methods Guide is to give researchers and managers the information necessary to make informed decisions about which method or combination of methods could be most useful and cost effective for their specific rangeland management needs. The Methods Guide provides reviews on how well each method performs to answer specific questions as well as descriptions, relative costs, references to rangeland applications, and contact information for the different techniques.
The Methods Guide is intended to be the users’ first step to selecting assessment and monitoring protocols by providing enough information on strengths, limitations, and rangeland applications that users can seek additional, more specific how-to information on the recommended techniques.
While the results should be useful for work in rangeland systems around the globe, the Methods Guide was created with and for managers of shrub steppe ecosystems of the southern Columbia Plateau and northern Great Basin ecoregions (southern Idaho, southeast Oregon and northern Nevada).
Rangeland Methods Wiki
The Methods Guide includes a wiki with descriptions of each method and information about rangeland applications, strengths and limitations, technical references, and contacts. The wiki will help you understand exactly what a method can provide, and where to go to get more information or help in implementing a method. The wiki is also a helpful resource for technical users looking for a summary of how a method has been used in rangeland settings. Users can also check here for examples of how each method was applied to real rangeland projects.
Get Started
To use the methods guide go to www.rangelandmethods.org.