RAMPS: Restoration Assessment & Monitoring Program for the Southwest Active
Land Enhancement Information Portal & Decision Support Center
Science briefs, RAMPS program updates and more!
The Restoration Assessment and Monitoring Program for the Southwest (RAMPS) seeks to assist U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and other land management agencies in developing successful techniques for improving land condition in dryland ecosystems of the southwestern United States. Invasion by non-native species, wildfire, drought, and other disturbances are growing rapidly in extent and frequency, creating novel ecosystem conditions that can outpace the knowledge base of local land managers. These growing problems often cross administrative boundaries, requiring agencies to proactively work together. In light of these challenges, managers can benefit from collaborative, innovative, and dynamic approaches to sharing information. To meet this need, RAMPS has created a hub for science-based information and tools to help managers identify effective and resource-efficient strategies to successfully restore degraded areas.
RAMPS Research
The latest in drylands restoration
Research for management
Read & use in 10 minutes!
Arid Grassland Climate Adaptation Menu
Seed Technology Training Course
RestoreNet - Guidance for revegetation in the SW
RAMPS SOLUTIONS FOR MANAGING CHALLENGING DRYLAND ECOSYSTEMS
Stakeholder engagement
PROBLEM: The importance of knowledge sharing and collaboration is well-understood. The importance of knowledge sharing and collaboration is well-understood. However, managers and scientists are often time-limited and intentions to build partnerships suffers as a result.
SOLUTION: RAMPS projects are multi-disciplinary, collaborative, and co-created. RAMPS identifies systemic gaps in restoration knowledge and develops projects and creative solutions that create new insight using scientifically-credible research. Through these solutions, RAMPS increases skills, knowledge, and expertise needed to manage public lands across the Southwest.
EXAMPLES: Symposia and meetings, peer-to-peer knowledge sharing, facilitation and collaboration, training and education
Research
PROBLEM: Several obstacles prevent land managers from implementing successful land treatments, including a lack of: information on costs relative to outcomes, post-treatment monitoring data, and science-informed innovation.
SOLUTION: RAMPS uses state-of-the-art scientific analysis and tools to increase the efficacy of land treatments across waterlimited ecosystems and finds innovative approaches to mitigate large disturbances. Through these solutions, RAMPS ensures progress in planning and implementing projects, and provides guidance and support for monitoring and adaptive management.
EXAMPLES: Data synthesis and integration, cost-benefit analysis, site re-visits, experimentation, energy development and reclamation best management practices, invasive species management, wildfire recovery
Decision support
PROBLEM: Scientific advancements can be difficult for land managers to access and incorporate into their project planning.
SOLUTION: RAMPS provides decision support via tools, protocols, and science delivery portals. This support distills scientific findings into readily accessible information on when, where, and how to restore. Through these solutions, RAMPS helps bridge the science-land management gap.
EXAMPLES:RAMPS news and information, decision-support tools, newsletters and social media, information briefs, guidance on restoration techniques, and monitoring guidance
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
RAMPS is publishing papers relevant to land management and improving the condition of ecosystems in the Southwest. For quick briefs of these papers, visit the RAMPS Land Enhancement Information Portal.
Stand density, drought, and herbivory constrain ponderosa pine regeneration pulse
Gaps and hotspots in the state of knowledge of pinyon-juniper communities
Climate-driven shifts in soil temperature and moisture regimes suggest opportunities to enhance assessments of dryland resilience and resistance
Supporting the development and use of native plant materials for restoration on the Colorado Plateau (Fiscal Year 18 Report)
Assessing rangeland health under climate variability and change
Increasing temperature seasonality may overwhelm shifts in soil moisture to favor shrub grass dominance in Colorado Plateau drylands
Influence of climate, post‐treatment weather extremes, and soil factors on vegetation recovery after restoration treatments in the southwestern US
Adapting management to a changing world: Warm temperatures, dry soil, and interannual variability limit restoration success of a dominant woody shrub in temperate drylands
Life history characteristics may be as important as climate projections for defining range shifts: An example for common tree species in the intermountain western US
Beyond traditional ecological restoration on the Colorado Plateau
Landscape pivot points and responses to water balance in national parks of the southwest US
Long-term trends in restoration and associated land treatments in the southwestern United States
The Restoration Assessment and Monitoring Program for the Southwest (RAMPS) supports land management by offering the latest science relevant that can be incorporated into decision making today.
Below are partners associated with this project.
- Overview
The Restoration Assessment and Monitoring Program for the Southwest (RAMPS) seeks to assist U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and other land management agencies in developing successful techniques for improving land condition in dryland ecosystems of the southwestern United States. Invasion by non-native species, wildfire, drought, and other disturbances are growing rapidly in extent and frequency, creating novel ecosystem conditions that can outpace the knowledge base of local land managers. These growing problems often cross administrative boundaries, requiring agencies to proactively work together. In light of these challenges, managers can benefit from collaborative, innovative, and dynamic approaches to sharing information. To meet this need, RAMPS has created a hub for science-based information and tools to help managers identify effective and resource-efficient strategies to successfully restore degraded areas.
RAMPS ResearchThe latest in drylands restoration
Research for managementRead & use in 10 minutes!
Arid Grassland Climate Adaptation MenuArid Grassland Climate Adaptation MenuSeed Technology Training CourseSeed Technology Training CourseRestoreNet - Guidance for revegetation in the SWRestoreNet - Guidance for revegetation in the SWRAMPS SOLUTIONS FOR MANAGING CHALLENGING DRYLAND ECOSYSTEMS
Stakeholder engagement
PROBLEM: The importance of knowledge sharing and collaboration is well-understood. The importance of knowledge sharing and collaboration is well-understood. However, managers and scientists are often time-limited and intentions to build partnerships suffers as a result.SOLUTION: RAMPS projects are multi-disciplinary, collaborative, and co-created. RAMPS identifies systemic gaps in restoration knowledge and develops projects and creative solutions that create new insight using scientifically-credible research. Through these solutions, RAMPS increases skills, knowledge, and expertise needed to manage public lands across the Southwest.
EXAMPLES: Symposia and meetings, peer-to-peer knowledge sharing, facilitation and collaboration, training and education
Research
PROBLEM: Several obstacles prevent land managers from implementing successful land treatments, including a lack of: information on costs relative to outcomes, post-treatment monitoring data, and science-informed innovation.SOLUTION: RAMPS uses state-of-the-art scientific analysis and tools to increase the efficacy of land treatments across waterlimited ecosystems and finds innovative approaches to mitigate large disturbances. Through these solutions, RAMPS ensures progress in planning and implementing projects, and provides guidance and support for monitoring and adaptive management.
EXAMPLES: Data synthesis and integration, cost-benefit analysis, site re-visits, experimentation, energy development and reclamation best management practices, invasive species management, wildfire recovery
Decision support
PROBLEM: Scientific advancements can be difficult for land managers to access and incorporate into their project planning.SOLUTION: RAMPS provides decision support via tools, protocols, and science delivery portals. This support distills scientific findings into readily accessible information on when, where, and how to restore. Through these solutions, RAMPS helps bridge the science-land management gap.
EXAMPLES:RAMPS news and information, decision-support tools, newsletters and social media, information briefs, guidance on restoration techniques, and monitoring guidance
- Science
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 20 - Publications
RAMPS is publishing papers relevant to land management and improving the condition of ecosystems in the Southwest. For quick briefs of these papers, visit the RAMPS Land Enhancement Information Portal.
Filter Total Items: 46Stand density, drought, and herbivory constrain ponderosa pine regeneration pulse
Trees in dry forests often regenerate in episodic pulses when wet periods coincide with ample seed production. Factors leading to success or failure of regeneration pulses are poorly understood. We investigated the impacts of stand thinning on survival and growth of the 2013 cohort of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Douglas ex P. Lawson & C. Lawson) seedlings in northern Arizona, United States. WeAuthorsThomas E. Kolb, Kelsey Flathers, John Bradford, Caitlin M. Andrews, Lance A. Asherin, W. Keith MoserGaps and hotspots in the state of knowledge of pinyon-juniper communities
Pinyon-juniper (PJ) plant communities cover a large area across North America and provide critical habitat for wildlife, biodiversity and ecosystem functions, and rich cultural resources. These communities occur across a variety of environmental gradients, disturbance regimes, structural conditions and species compositions, including three species of juniper and two species of pinyon. PJ communitiAuthorsJessica A. Hartsell, Stella M. Copeland, Seth M. Munson, Bradley J. Butterfield, John B. BradfordClimate-driven shifts in soil temperature and moisture regimes suggest opportunities to enhance assessments of dryland resilience and resistance
Assessing landscape patterns in climate vulnerability, as well as resilience and resistance to drought, disturbance, and invasive species, requires appropriate metrics of relevant environmental conditions. In dryland systems of western North America, soil temperature and moisture regimes have been widely utilized as an indicator of resilience to disturbance and resistance to invasive plant speciesAuthorsJohn B. Bradford, Daniel R. Schlaepfer, William K. Lauenroth, Kyle A. Palmquist, Jeanne C. Chambers, Jeremy D. Maestas, Steven B. CampbellSupporting the development and use of native plant materials for restoration on the Colorado Plateau (Fiscal Year 18 Report)
Introduction A primary focus of the Colorado Plateau Native Plant Program (CPNPP) is to identify and develop appropriate native plant materials (NPMs) for current and future restoration projects. Multiple efforts have characterized the myriad challenges inherent in providing appropriate seed resources to enable effective, widespread restoration and identified a broad suite of research activities tAuthorsRobert Massatti, Daniel Winkler, Sasha Reed, Michael Duniway, Seth Munson, John BradfordAssessing rangeland health under climate variability and change
RANGELAND HEALTH IN A CHANGING WORLD Rangeland health is an integrated metric that describes a complex suite of ecosystem properties and processes as applied to resource management. While the concept of “healthy” landscapes has a long history, the term “rangeland health” was codified in the US in 1994 as part of an effort to move towards a national, data driven, rangeland condition assessment (NatAuthorsJohn B. Bradford, Michael C. Duniway, Seth M. MunsonIncreasing temperature seasonality may overwhelm shifts in soil moisture to favor shrub grass dominance in Colorado Plateau drylands
Ecosystems in the southwestern U.S. are hotspots for climate change, and are predicted to experience continued warming and drying. In these water-limited systems, the balance between herbaceous and woody plant abundance impacts biodiversity and ecosystem processes, highlighting the need to understand how climate change will influence functional composition. However, variability in topo-edaphic coAuthorsJennifer R. Gremer, Caitlin M. Andrews, Jodi R. Norris, Lisa P. Thomas, Seth M. Munson, Michael C. Duniway, John B. BradfordInfluence of climate, post‐treatment weather extremes, and soil factors on vegetation recovery after restoration treatments in the southwestern US
AimsUnderstanding the conditions associated with dryland vegetation recovery after restoration treatments is challenging due to a lack of monitoring data and high environmental variability over time and space. Tracking recovery trajectories with satellite‐based vegetation indices can strengthen predictions of restoration outcomes across broad areas with varying environmental conditions.LocationSouAuthorsStella M. Copeland, Seth M. Munson, John B. Bradford, Bradley J. ButterfieldAdapting management to a changing world: Warm temperatures, dry soil, and interannual variability limit restoration success of a dominant woody shrub in temperate drylands
Restoration and rehabilitation of native vegetation in dryland ecosystems, which encompass over 40% of terrestrial ecosystems, is a common challenge that continues to grow as wildfire and biological invasions transform dryland plant communities. The difficulty in part stems from low and variable precipitation, combined with limited understanding about how weather conditions influence restoration oAuthorsRobert K. Shriver, Caitlin M. Andrews, David S. Pilliod, Robert Arkle, Justin L. Welty, Matthew J. Germino, Michael C. Duniway, David A. Pyke, John B. BradfordLife history characteristics may be as important as climate projections for defining range shifts: An example for common tree species in the intermountain western US
AimPredictions of future suitable habitat for plant species with climate change are known to be affected by uncertainty associated with statistical approaches, climate models and occurrence records. However, life history characteristics related to dispersal and establishment processes as well as sensitivity to barriers created by land‐use may also play important roles in shaping future distributioAuthorsStella M. Copeland, John B. Bradford, Michael C. Duniway, Bradley J. ButterfieldBeyond traditional ecological restoration on the Colorado Plateau
The Colorado Plateau is one of North America's five major deserts, encompassing 340,000 km2 of the western U.S., and offering many opportunities for restoration relevant to researchers and land managers in drylands around the globe. The Colorado Plateau is comprised of vast tracts of public land managed by local, state, and federal agencies that oversee a wide range of activities (e.g., mineral anAuthorsDaniel E. Winkler, Dana M. Backer, Jayne Belnap, John B. Bradford, Bradley J. Butterfield, Stella M. Copeland, Michael C. Duniway, Akasha M. Faist, Stephen E. Fick, Scott L. Jensen, Andrea T. Kramer, Rebecca Mann, Robert Massatti, Molly L. McCormick, Seth M. Munson, Peggy Olwell, Steve D. Parr, Alix Pfennigwerth, Adrienne M. Pilmanis, Bryce A. Richardson, Ella Samuel, Kathy See, Kristina E. Young, Sasha C. ReedLandscape pivot points and responses to water balance in national parks of the southwest US
A recent drying trend that is expected to continue in the southwestern US underscores the need for site‐specific and near real‐time understanding of vegetation vulnerability so that land management actions can be implemented at the right time and place.We related the annual integrated normalized difference vegetation index (iNDVI), a proxy for vegetation production, to water balance across landscaAuthorsDavid P. Thoma, Seth M. Munson, Dana L. WitwickiLong-term trends in restoration and associated land treatments in the southwestern United States
Restoration treatments, such as revegetation with seeding or invasive species removal, have been applied on U.S. public lands for decades. Temporal trends in these management actions have not been extensively summarized previously, particularly in the southwestern United States where invasive plant species, drought, and fire have altered dryland ecosystems. We assessed long-term (1940–2010) trendsAuthorsStella M. Copeland, Seth M. Munson, David S. Pilliod, Justin L. Welty, John B. Bradford, Bradley J. Butterfield - News
The Restoration Assessment and Monitoring Program for the Southwest (RAMPS) supports land management by offering the latest science relevant that can be incorporated into decision making today.
Filter Total Items: 15 - Partners
Below are partners associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 36