This on-line information is designed to establish a solid understanding of vegetation structure and composition is necessary to understand how activities on rangelands and forested lands will affect wildlife habitat, livestock forage, fire behavior, watershed characteristics, and many other wildland values.
After completing the learning modules, students will be able to:
- Design appropriate sampling protocols to meet monitoring objectives in various types of vegetation.
- Measure vegetation cover, density, frequency, biomass, structure, and species composition and diversity on rangelands.
- Estimate utilization of herbage.
- Explain advantages and disadvantages of different sampling and measurement methods for all plant attributes.
- Create monitoring programs that incorporate photographic methods
- Use standard approaches to land classification and evaluation to interpret results in the context of resource management decisions.
- Be able to identify and interpret rangeland health indicators
- Clearly communicate results and their implications in an accepted standard written format.
This project was made possible through a USDA NIFA Higher Education Challenge Grant entitled “Repositioning Rangeland Education for a Changing World.” (Award # 2010-38411-21370)
