LandPKS for rangeland inventory and monitoring – new features and future directions

Authors: Herrick, Jeffrey - Jeff; Bestelmeyer, Brandon; KACHERGIS, E - Bureau Of Land Management; KERCHOF, C - University Of Colorado; LEPAK, N - Bureau Of Land Management; LUNDGREN, B - Non ARS Employee; MAY, T - The Nature Conservancy; MAYNARD, J - University Of Colorado; McCord, Sarah; PEACOCK, G - Non ARS Employee; SMITH, B - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, USDA); WEBB, NICHOLAS - New Mexico State University

Submitted to: Society for Range Management Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/20/2020
Publication Date: 10/20/2020
Citation: Herrick, J.E., Bestelmeyer, B.T., Kachergis, E., Kerchof, C., Lepak, N., Lundgren, B., May, T., Maynard, J., McCord, S.E., Peacock, G., Smith, B., Webb, N. 2020. LandPKS for rangeland inventory and monitoring – new features and future directions. Society for Range Management Meeting Abstracts.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Rangeland inventory and monitoring mobile apps, including those that provide access to the Land Potenal Knowledge System (LandPKS), are improving the efficiency of rangeland monitoring. Within LandPKS, a number of the tools have been updated in the past year, and users of the app are invited to contribute to the design of a new version will serve as a gateway to a variety of rangeland and pasture data, informaon and knowledge sources. This paper briefly describes some of the recent updates, and future opportunies. The three primary new features are an expanded SoilHealth module, a Habitat module, and a Ulizaon tool. The SoilHealth module provides a complete set of data entry forms necessary to complete the 2020 NRCS Cropland In-Field Cropland Soil Health Assessment. While designed for croplands, many, if not most, of the indicators are relevant to rangelands. One process missing from the Assessment is runoff and erosion. This is captured in the erosion indicators that have been retained from the original SoilHealth module, and include the Rangeland Health indicators Water Flow Paerns, Rills and Gullies. The Habitat module provides informaon on habitat requirements for species whose range includes the locaon queried using the phones GPS, or the map funcon at the boom of the screen. Looking ahead, the app will be rebuilt to focus specifically on rangelands, making it both easier to use, as well as more useful. We expect it to include greater flexibility in vegetaon monitoring, while sll retaining NRCS-NRI and BLM-AIM compability. The photo monitoring funcon will be redesigned to make it much easier to use. Most importantly, users will be able to more easily access and interpret data and informaon from EDIT, the Landscape Data Commons, and either directly or through these tools, to explore scenarios with modeling tools such as AERO.