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Integrated monitoring and seed testing to improve restoration outcomes on the Colorado Plateau

By Southwest Biological Science Center August 23, 2017

Northern Arizona University published an article that referenced SBSC’s Restoration Assessment & Monitoring Program for the Southwest (RAMPS) program. RAMPS is a program that scientifically tests and explores restoration approaches in the arid Southwest.

What is RAMPS?
RAMPS scientist meeting with two land managers in arid shrubland
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RAMPS scientist meeting with two land managers in arid shrubland (Credit: Mike Duniway, USGS, Southwest Biological Science Center. Public domain.)

The Northern Arizona University (NAU) article focuses on the research of a RAMPS partner, Brad Butterfield from NAU’s Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research. RAMPS is a collaborative program between the SBSC, other USGS Science Centers, BLM, NPS, USFWS, NAU, and other universities that aims to strengthen restoration strategies and outcomes in the hot and dry American Southwest. The use of a network of experimental restoration plots, studying native plant response to rainfall, understanding the effects of land treatment practices, testing the utility of connectivity modifiers, and understanding the effects of drought and climate change are some of the avenues of research contributing to RAMPS.

NAU’s article is title, “Integrated monitoring and seed testing to improve restoration outcomes on the Colorado Plateau.” Read the article here. More information on RAMPS can be found here.

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