Part 9: Collecting Monitoring Data

Rangeland Vegetation Attributes

There are many attributes of plant communities that can be evaluated to assess the condition of rangeland resources and to determine if management objectives are being met, or in the process of being met. Presented here are descriptions of several attributes that are commonly assessed. Having yearly data on the condition of these attributes can provide very useful information for your monitoring program.

Frequency : Describes the presence or absence of individual species in a population; the percentage of occurrence of a species in a series of samples of uniform size. Monitor using the Frequency Method.

Cover : Describes the percentage of the soil surface that is covered by vegetation, rocks, gravel and litter. Canopy cover is often best assessed using the Line Intercept Method. Ground cover is often best evaluated using the Point Intercept Method.

Density : An actual count of the number of plants per unit area. Density is evaluated using the Density Method.

Production : A measurement of the biomass of vegetative material produced on the ranch. In this leaning module, production is measured using the Comparative Yield Method.

Composition : Uses frequency, density, cover, and production to describe the proportion of various plants on the ranch. Composition by weight is evaluated using the Dry Weight Rank Method.

Now, let’s look at each of these attributes more closely to see how collecting data will help you assess the condition of your ranch and the success of your management decisions.