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Training

Experts Roundtable: Soil Indicators of Rangeland Health

Date

Friday, February 29, 2008
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Brazil Ranch
Big Sur
Lunch will be provided

COST: FREE

REGISTRATION FOR THIS PROGRAM IS CLOSED


Instructor Information

Susan Edinger-Marshall
Professor of Rangeland Resources and Wildland Soil
Humboldt State University

Jon Gustafson
State Rangeland Management Specialist
Natural Resource Conservation Service

Louise Jackson
Professor and Extension Specialist
UC Davis

Ken Oster
Area Resource Soil Scientist
Natural Resource Conservation Service

Contact

Grey Hayes
grey@elkhornslough.org
(831) 274-8700

Sponsors

Description

See also: Central Coast Rangeland Coalition, Sustainable Human Systems

On February 29th, 2008 The Coastal Training Program held a round table discussion on soil indicators of sustainable rangeland stewardship. The goal of this discussion was to bring together experts to help create useful, efficient methods of monitoring the sustainability of rangeland management practices as reflected in the soils of central coast rangelands and to gain feedback from these experts in how to tailor management responses to these soil indicators. Questions addressed included: what are the best indicators of soil health; how to set acceptable thresholds of soil health and how to respond when soils health thresholds are exceeded. We discussed presentations from various soil experts including Ken Oster, Louise Jackson, Susan Marshall, and Jon Gustafson. We spent significant time discussing monitoring methodologies in the field. By the end of the workshop, the Coastal Training Program hopes had a better understanding of how to design future training courses for land managers and consultants interested in monitoring their management-related impacts on rangeland soils.  Important outcomes of the workshop:  1) soil structure monitoring holds promise, but it is difficult to standardize between observers due to subtleties between varying soil structures; 2) soil carbon accumulation depends on soil type and site history, and so variability is high across California rangelands; 3) soil aggregate stability monitoring (NRCS method) may be a productive, efficient, and widely applicable method of monitoring soil organic matter dynamics in rangelands soils.  There was much interest in remote sensing applications and other efficient methodologies for monitoring large scale soil and soil cover processes in California rangelands.

Documents and Publications

DOCUMENT AUTHOR / SOURCE
WORKSHOP MATERIALS
Agenda: Soil Indicators of Rangeland Health
PDF, 23KB


Bare (soil) Facts
PDF, 118KB
Susan Edinger Marshall
Humboldt State University
February 2008
Contact List: Soil Indicators of Rangeland Health
PDF, 12KB


NASA Brazil Ranch Sustainability Studies
PDF, 71KB
Chris Potter
NASA
March 2008
Rangeland Soil Health Survey Field Form: Soil Structure
PDF, 18KB
Ken Oster
USDA NRCS
March 2008
Soil Biology and Carbon Cycling in California Rangelands
PDF, 245KB
Dr. Louise Jackson
Book Chapter: Soil Biology and Carbon Sequestration in Grasslands L.E. Jackson, M. Potthoff, K.L. Steenwerth, A.T. O’Geen, M.R. Stromberg, and K.M. Scow
2008
Soil Condition in the Context of Rangeland Health
PDF, 25KB
Jon Gustafson
USDA NRCS
February 2008
Soil Structure and Macropores As Indicators of Rangeland Soil Health
PDF, 122KB
Ken Oster
USDA NRCS
March 2008
PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
Soil biological and chemical properties in restored perennial grassland in California
PDF, 231KB
M. Potthoff, L. E. Jackson, K. L. Steenwerth, I. Ramirez, M. R. Stromberg, D. E. Rolston
Restoration Ecology, 13(1):61-73
2005

Links

Jornada Experimental Range: Monitoring and Assessment
http://usda-ars.nmsu.edu/monit_assess/monitoring.php

Synergy Resources Solutions, Inc. (soil stability test kits)
http://www.countgrass.com/

Questions and Answers

Submit a question on this subject and we'll provide an answer. coastaltraining@elkhornslough.org