Using large-scale monitoring and remote sensing data to monitor restoration outcomes through time

Authors: Young, Kristina; McCord, Sarah; James, Darren; Webb, Nicholas - Nick

Submitted to: Society for Ecological Restoration Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/1/2023
Publication Date: 9/30/2023
Citation: Young, K.E., McCord, S.E., James, D.K., Webb, N.P. 2023. Using large-scale monitoring and remote sensing data to monitor restoration outcomes through time. Society for Ecological Restoration Abstracts. Abstract.

Interpretive Summary: Ecological restoration projects are happening more often and on bigger scales due to global changes. However, checking how successful restoration projects are is difficult. This is partly because of limited resources, making it harder for land managers to adjust their plans based on new information. But now, there are big monitoring networks and tools that use remote sensing to help track restoration results over time. In our study, we are looking at how plants change before and after restoration, using tools called the Rangeland Analysis Platform (RAP) and the Landscape Data Commons (LDC). These tools a allow us to look at how different groups of plants grow before and after restoration work like planting seeds, using chemicals to kill unwanted plants, changing the soil, and controlled fires. To do this, we're collecting 30 years of data from RAP and LDC about the areas that received restoration work using the USGS Land Treatment Digital Library. By doing this analysis, we're trying to understand how these restoration methods affect different plant groups over time and across different areas. This kind of research helps land managers make better decisions as the climate keeps changing.

Technical Abstract: Due to the rapid pace of global change, ecological restoration projects are occurring more frequently and at larger scales than ever before. Monitoring the outcomes of these restoration projects is a necessary but challenging task. This challenge is due in part to resource constraints that can limit follow-up field monitoring, reducing land managers’ ability to practice informed adaptive management. Increasingly, large-scale monitoring networks and remote sensing tools are available that can aid in monitoring restoration outcomes through time. Here we present the early stages of a study examining vegetation trends before and after restoration treatments using the Rangeland Analysis Platform (RAP) and the Landscape Data Commons (LDC). Specifically, we are examining plant functional group cover and biomass trends before and after restoration treatments (seeding, herbicide, soil manipulation, and prescribed burns) across ecoregions in the Western US. To accomplish this, we are compiling 30 years of RAP and LDC data from within restoration-treated polygons acquired from the USGS Land Treatment Digital Library. Through this analysis, we can begin to understand how restoration treatments impact functional group cover both across time and across spatial scales. This and other large-scale monitoring research are necessary steps to providing land managers with the information needed to practice adaptive management in a changing climate.