Monitoring of rangeland plant compositions and soil surface type on Cal Poly grazing pastures using Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) plots and the newly developed app, LandPKS.

Author

Katie White, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Sarah James, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

Completion Date

12-2019

Advisor(s)

Marc Horney

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to conduct field trials to determine the ease of use, efficiency, and information content of the LandPKS app, using complete AIM plots for comparison. The LandPKS app has the potential to be widely used by public, private, and nongovernmental entities to monitor rangeland conditions. This includes places that have limited access to resources and trained staff for monitoring efforts including in countries like Kenya, Namibia and Mongolia. The group concluded that the Stick Method, the methodology used by the LandPKS app, held up comparatively to the Assessment, Inventory, Monitoring (AIM) Method. The group also identified shortcomings of the LandPKS app.

URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/bkendowments/81

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.