Will use this
A rapid, qualitative method for assessing a moment-in-time status of rangelands. 3 ecosystem
attributes (soil and site stability, hydrologic function, and biotic integrity) for a given location.
Indicators include rills, water flow patterns, pedestals and terracettes, bare ground, gullies, wind
scour and depositional areas, litter movement, soil resistance to erosion, soil surface loss or
degradation, plant composition relative to infiltration, soil compaction, plant functional/structural
groups, plant mortality, litter amount, annual production, invasive plants, and reproductive
capability. As the expected presence and amount of each indicator on the ecological site. Rangeland
health is the degree to which the integrity of the soil, vegetation, water and air as well as the
ecological processes of the rangeland ecosystem are balanced and sustained. Integrity is defined as
the maintenance of the functional attributes characteristic of a locale, including normal variability.
Soil or Site Stability - The capacity of the site to limit redistribution and loss of soil resources
(including nutrients and organic matter) by wind or water; Hydrologic Function - The capacity of the
site to capture, store and safely release water from rainfall, run-on and snowmelt (where relevant),
to resist a reduction in this capacity and to recover- er this capacity following degradation; Integrity
of the Biotic Community - The capacity of the site to support characteristic functional and structural
communities in the context of normal variability and to resist loss of this function and structure
caused by disturbance, and to recover following each disturbance.
Treated crop residue Attempts have been concentrated on the development of methods for
upgrading cereal crop residues using urea straw treatment technology, which has been shown to
effectively increase CP content and fibre digestibility (Chatikobo 2015). Several reports from these
investigations have shown that when chemically treated, the crop residues produce good quality and
palatable livestock feed (Manyuchi et al. 1994; Tesfaye and Chairatanayuth 2007; Bogale et al. 2008;
Peterson 2014). However, communal farmers’ use of crop residue is of little significance as residues
produced can only supplement range feed for short periods of the dry season, thus the failure of
stover treatment technology to solve the dry-season feed shortage problem. In addition, the
conservation farming concept, which requires that crop residues should be left in the field for mulch
and soil improvement (Doll and Snapp 2009), presents major difficulties to the adoption of crop
residue silage technology (Giller et al. 2006). This is because of the confusion brought about by the
concept of the comparative benefits of letting crop residues decay in the field as opposed to
harvesting them for animal utilisation as feed and using the manure to replenish soil nutrients
(Masikati 2010). A better strategy will be to feed improved crop residues to livestock and use the
animal manure as fertiliser. This is more practical because the residues are quickly decomposed via
rumen degradation compared with when left in the field, and manure can be collected easily
because communal animals are penned overnight. In addition, manure can be applied at desired
sites at a scale determined by the production program of the farmer and production potential of the
cropping field (Chivenge et al. 2004). An additional advantage of crop silage residue to communal
farmers is that the livestock productivity will be enhanced through increased and improved winter
feed availability
We define indicators as observable components of an ecosystem that are related to 1 or more
attributes, are easily evaluated, and used in combination with other indicators as an index of the
status of that attribute. Each indicator at an evaluation area is assigned to 1 of 5 categories based on
its departure from what is expected for that ecological site. The expectation for the ecological site
should be derived from the soil survey, the ecological site description or, as a last resort, from expert
opinion. Movement unit (see Intended Applications). Evaluation areas should be within a specific
landscape position, include the natural variability of the ecological site, but remain sufficiently small
(approximately 0.4 to 2.0 ha or 1 to 5 ac), so that evaluators can easily walk throughout the area and
observe the variation in the plant species composition and soil surface features. Since assessments
will be made relative to the ecological site description or ecological reference areas on the same
ecological site, evaluators must be certain of the evaluation area's landscape position and soils
(same ecological site)
