Criteria and Indicators of Sustainable Rangeland Management

Area of Focus
Forest and Rangeland Assessments

This project is a joint effort of the Sustainable Rangelands Roundtable and the Society for Range Management. During a series of meetings from 2001 to 2003, the Sustainable Rangelands Roundtable (SRR) developed the five criteria and 64 indicators of sustainable rangeland management. The SRR is a collaborative, inclusive organization, comprised of participants representing universities, federal research agencies, federal, state and local land management agencies, tribal governments, scientific societies, and both environmental and commodity-oriented non-governmental organizations. To achieve its goal, the SRR dealt with multiple issues, including those of scale and definitions. The criteria used are based on those of the Montreal Process and the concept of sustainability used here originates from the internationally-accepted definition for sustainable development contained within the UN's Brundtland Report: “... development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” More specifically, the SRR defines sustainable rangeland management as involving "the kinds of management that consider all aspects of rangelands, including their environmental, economic, and social values and the attempts to integrate them to achieve a sustainable future.

Indicators

  • Aboveground phytomass
    Phytomass is the mass of plants, including dead attached parts, per unit area at a given time. Phytomass is commonly measured in units of kilograms per hectare (or pounds per acre). It is a direct measure of biomass production, carbon storage, energy availability, and available forage for potential grazers and users of rangelands. It also serves as a fuel source for rangeland fire. Phytomass is not to be confused with the next indicator, primary productivity, which describes rates of biomass accumulation. Spatially explicit maps of biomass and standing dead material are becoming extremely useful for providing inputs into wildfire behavior models.
  • Agriculture (ranch/farm) structure
    This is a multi-component measure of direct production in agriculture. A farm or ranch is defined as having $1,000 or more in gross agricultural sales. Other components of production include type of commodity produced, acres in production, dollar or volume levels of farm sales (a measure of scale), and the type of business organization (family, corporate, etc.). Farm structure is an indirect indicator of production capacity for food and fiber.
  • Annual removal of native and non-forage biomass
    This indicator measures the annual harvest from rangelands of 1) native hay and non-forage plant materials, including landscaping and decorative plant materials, 2) edible and medicinal plants, 3) wood products, and 4) biomass for biofuels. Traditional non-forage biomass products have relatively high local value and may have exceedingly high international value. Under some conditions, the net effect of recurring harvests and/or removals of non-forage products could significantly impact ecosystem properties and processes at a broader scale than the activities themselves.
  • Area and percent of rangeland with a significant change in extent of bare ground
    Bare ground is exposed mineral or organic soil that is susceptible to raindrop splash erosion. Increases in bare ground and greater homogeneity of existing bare ground relate—directly—to a site’s susceptibility to accelerated wind or water erosion. The importance of bare ground as an indicator is a function of 1) its direct relationship to erosion risk, 2) its known value as an indicator of changes in land management and watershed function, and 3) the ease and economy with which this indicator can be monitored over extensive areas, particularly when using remote sensing methods.
  • Area and percent of rangeland with accelerated soil erosion by water and wind
    Soil erosion by wind or water begins with the loss of all or part of the surface horizon. Surface horizons of soils are important to maintain because they contain the majority of the organic material and are the exchange medium for transferring nutrients from the soil to plants. This indicator will identify areas where erosion is greater than expected for the soils on a specified site.
  • Area and percent of rangeland with significantly diminished soil organic carbon
    This indicator measures the soil organic carbon (soil organic matter) content of the soil and the carbon:nitrogen (C:N) ratio of the soil organic matter. The C:N ratio is a relative measure of soil organic matter’s potential for biological decomposition. Soil organic matter provides many benefits to the soil and is associated with the productive potential of soils and soil sustainability. Grazing management that ensures a healthy plant community can result in increased soil organic matter through increased carbon sequestration (Schuman et al. 2002).
  • Area of infestation and presence/absence of invasive and non-native plant species of concern
    Invasions of non-indigenous species can threaten native biodiversity, ecosystem functions, animal and plant health, and human economies. Plant invasions are a serious threat to natural and managed ecosystems. The optimal solution regarding invasive and non-native species is to prevent the introduction of these species into the ecosystem. However, in many rangeland situations, this option has already been lost, and a system must be developed to manage invaded areas, monitor exotic organisms, and attempt to minimize their impacts on other ecosystems. The proposed indicator is designed to track the area of infestation and the presence or absence of invasive or nonnative species on rangeland over time.
  • Area of rangelands under conservation ownership or control by conservation organizations
    This indicator measures the number of conservation easements and number of acres protected under conservation easement. It shows the presence and trend of open space or other undeveloped or minimally developed land areas. It is an amenity availability measure and speaks to the desirability, adaptability, and resilience of communities, and to the community perception of the importance and value of that land use or asset.
  • Changes in groundwater systems
    Because groundwater is a crucial source of fresh water, supplying the major source of drinking water for more than 50 percent of the U.S. population and 96 percent of the rural domestic supply of water, a case could be made that groundwater has a direct connection with social, economic, and ecological sustainability of rangelands. Groundwater is used for irrigated pastures that supply winter forage for livestock in many regions of the country. Many of the streams, rivers, and wet meadows in rangeland depend on groundwater and the connection between groundwater and shallow water tables. Down-cutting of mountain meadows can lower water tables and cause the replacement of water-loving vegetation with upland species.
  • Changes in the frequency and duration of surface no-flow periods in rangeland streams
    This indicator annually measures the percentage of rangeland streams with at least one day of no-flow (also referred to as zero-flow) in a year, and, of those, the percentage that have a duration of zero-flow for a given period that is substantially longer or shorter compared with a long-term average. Together, these two variables describe the frequency and duration of surface no-flow periods. Stream-flow is critical in sustaining the habitat necessary for many rangeland plants and animals. Increasing no-flow periods can lead to loss of streamside vegetation and wildlife habitat for many rangeland species. No-flow periods can lead to loss of fish and aquatic animals.
  • Community satisfaction
    This indicator describes the level of satisfaction a community or county has with socioeconomic infrastructures, employment opportunities, and social support networks. Places with low satisfaction risk significant out-migration and having low capacity for adapting to opportunities and threats. The indicator measures how the local community feels about sustaining local resources and the potential of that community to take action toward sustainability.
  • Economic policies and practices
    This indicator describes the extent to which economic policies and practices affect the conservation and sustainable management of rangelands. The indicator explores the relationship between micro-economic and macro-economic processes and long-term sustainable management on rangelands. Recent years have seen a transition from policies that primarily promote increased productive capacity on rangelands to a trend of encouraging ecosystem health and restoration. Extensive research has shown that important outputs of ranches are often not incorporated into conventional economic analyses. These outputs include things like family, tradition, and a rural way of life. In addition to their management-unit level effects, economic policies influence rural communities and regions.
  • Employment diversity
    An economic diversity index can be developed to describe the industries and sectors present in an economy. If economic diversity is defined as “a large number of different types of industries being present in an area” or “the extent to which the economic activity of a region is distributed among a number of industrial sectors,” a summary statistic can be used to describe the diversity of an area and compare it to other areas. Measures such as location quotients compare local areas’ proportional employment in industries to those of a larger region. The Shannon-Weaver Diversity Index measures diversity of employment, considering both numbers of industries present and the distribution of employment across them, against a uniform distribution where employment is equi-proportional across all industries.
  • Employment, unemployment, underemployed, and discouraged workers by industrial sector
    Data on these variables provide information on the vitality of the local economy. High numbers in the unemployed, underemployed, and discouraged worker categories could indicate an economy in trouble and a community under stress. Such high numbers occurring in rangeland related industries (e.g., livestock production, recreation, tourism) would provide an indication of pressures on rangeland-dependent livelihoods and lifestyles.
  • Expenditures (monetary and in-kind) for restoration activities
    The amounts of funds and in-kind contributions, like time volunteered, that organizations and individuals contribute to rangeland restoration activities indicate the strength of importance that people place on restoring and maintaining rangelands. These expenditures are made to maintain, enhance, or restore the rangeland ecosystem without explicit future monetary returns necessarily expected from the investment.
  • Extent and Condition of Riparian Systems
    This indicator measures the extent and condition of riparian plant communities along rivers and streams on rangelands. The status or condition may be evaluated on a quantitative basis using a numeric value. Possible numeric values could include a metric similar to the Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI), a hydrogeomorphic (HGM) index, or a qualitative evaluation with a descriptor such as “fair condition”.
  • Extent of Land Area in Rangeland
    This indicator quantifies the amount of land area defined as rangeland at any given time. The amount of rangeland at any instant and the associated changes over time are important metrics because they provide information on one of the important global land types as well as inform the spatial and temporal framework from which all other indicators will be considered. Change in land cover converts land of one type of cover to another. The area of rangeland at any point in time and the changes over time have major consequences for the availability of ecosystem services from rangelands. Given that 84 percent of mammals and 74 percent of the bird species within the United States (inhabitants or common migrants) use rangeland habitats, changes in rangeland area (to urban or other agricultural cover) have implications to the sustainability of these species and populations.
  • Extent of rangelands with changes in soil aggregate stability
    Soil aggregates are groups of soil particles bound to each other more strongly than to adjacent soil particles. Aggregate stability refers to the ability of aggregates to resist degradation and erosive forces. Soils with stable aggregates at the surface are more resistant to water erosion than other soils. This indicator may provide an early-warning indicator of erosion.
  • Federal transfers by categories (individual, infrastructure, agriculture, etc.)
    Federal transfer payments (e.g., food stamps, social security, Medicare/Medicaid, support for Women, Infants, and Children–WIC) are a relatively stable source of income to individuals and to local, especially county, governments during most economic conditions. This indicator is another aspect of economic resilience and the capacity to endure changes in economic conditions. The presence of such transfers could help counteract some of the adverse effects of poverty and income inequality.
  • Fragmentation of Rangeland and Rangeland Plant Communities
    This indicator is defined as the breaking up or loss of connectivity of rangeland or of a rangeland cover type. Fragmentation has been shown to impact plant and animal species and ecosystem function in western ecosystems. While fragmentation studies have a long history in forested ecosystems, recent research has also described fragmentation as an interruptive process affecting the sustainability of rangeland ecosystems. Fragmentation of rangelands affects wildlife and some plant populations, hydrological and biogeochemical processes, and even social and economic systems associated with rangelands. Fragmentation measures the size of contiguous areas, spatial organization, and community type dispersion.