Environmental sampling for monitoring rangeland condition

TitleEnvironmental sampling for monitoring rangeland condition
Publication TypeReport
Year of Publication1983
AuthorsHutchinson CF, Warren PL
Date Published1983
InstitutionUniversity of Arizona
CityTucson, Arizona
ISBN NumberFinal Report of NASA/NSTL/ERL Contract No. 13-172
Call Number00608
Keywordsbook, books, chapter, chapters, community, vegetation change, grassland, vegetation change, remote sensing, soil, remote sensing, vegetation, report, reports, shrub, vegetation change, soil erosion, soil texture, vegetation change
AbstractSelected environmental variables were evaluated for their utility as indicators of rangeland change and their potential for remote sensing. Eighty-five study sites were sampled in souther New Mexico. Total vegetation cover and the ration of shrub cover to grass cover were related to disturbance. Increasing degrees of change were associated with a decrease in total vegetation cover, and increase in the ration of shrub to grass cover and decrease in organic soil cover (litter and algal crusts). Total vegetation cover and organic soil cover can be monitored from single-date satellite data, but total vegetation cover alone may provide ambiguous results. The ration of shrub to grass cover, which is necessary to identify the direction of change can be determined by examining multi-date satellite data that correspond to the times when grasses and shrubs exhibit their maximum green biomass.