Dryland regions have been degraded by invasive species, wildfire, overgrazing, agricultural conversion, energy development, recreational activity, and urban growth. These disturbances and others are accelerated by one of the fastest growing human populations in the country and a pressing background of decreasing water availability due to drought and elevated temperatures that are projected to become more pronounced. Recovery from disturbance in face of global change pressures represents a substantial challenge to agencies that manage large tracts of land because the potential reduction and loss of ecosystem productivity could have large economic, social, and environmental costs. Restoration and rehabilitation practices are critically needed to promote recovery from disturbance, improve the health and integrity of drylands, and ensure the long-term sustainability of ecosystem services.
Background & Importance
Common goals of restoration efforts in degraded landscapes are the establishment of native perennial vegetation and reduction of invasive exotic plants. Native perennial vegetation can protect soil surfaces from erosion, create wildlife habitat, improve water quality, and promote the recovery of soil organic matter and nutrient availability. In contrast, invasive exotic plants can displace native perennial vegetation, suppress species diversity, and limit the carbon sequestration potential of the land. Land managers in drylands of the western U.S. face tremendous challenges to meet revegetation and soil stabilization goals because low water availability limits the establishment of perennial vegetation and variable water availability favors fast-growing exotic plant species that can take advantage of soil moisture for short periods when it is available. This project aims to understand and predict how landscapes in dryland regions recover from large-scale disturbances within the constraints of limited water and rapidly spreading exotic species.
General Methods
We are collecting and synthesizing information on restoration and land treatment practices, and evaluating the impacts these treatments have on the recovery of perennial vegetation, soil stability, and ecosystem function.
Important Results
Current and future research results are demonstrated within the USGS Restoration Assessment and Monitoring Program for the Southwest (RAMPS), which aims to strengthen restoration strategies and outcomes in the southwestern U.S. by providing science and guidance on effective restoration practices to the management community.
Future Directions
Future plans to expand this work include field trials and evaluation of controlled restoration treatments to inform best management practices.
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
RestoreNet: Distributed Field Trial Network for Dryland Restoration
Colorado Plateau Native Plant Program Field Trial Study
New Approaches for Restoring Colorado Plateau Grasslands
RAMPS: Restoration Assessment & Monitoring Program for the Southwest
- Overview
Dryland regions have been degraded by invasive species, wildfire, overgrazing, agricultural conversion, energy development, recreational activity, and urban growth. These disturbances and others are accelerated by one of the fastest growing human populations in the country and a pressing background of decreasing water availability due to drought and elevated temperatures that are projected to become more pronounced. Recovery from disturbance in face of global change pressures represents a substantial challenge to agencies that manage large tracts of land because the potential reduction and loss of ecosystem productivity could have large economic, social, and environmental costs. Restoration and rehabilitation practices are critically needed to promote recovery from disturbance, improve the health and integrity of drylands, and ensure the long-term sustainability of ecosystem services.
Restoration (left panel) following disturbances such as cropping (right panel) can recover ecosystem properties. Photo taken in August 2010, 12 years following a perennial grass seeding treatment in northeastern Colorado. (Credit: Mark Miller, USGS. Public domain.) Background & Importance
Common goals of restoration efforts in degraded landscapes are the establishment of native perennial vegetation and reduction of invasive exotic plants. Native perennial vegetation can protect soil surfaces from erosion, create wildlife habitat, improve water quality, and promote the recovery of soil organic matter and nutrient availability. In contrast, invasive exotic plants can displace native perennial vegetation, suppress species diversity, and limit the carbon sequestration potential of the land. Land managers in drylands of the western U.S. face tremendous challenges to meet revegetation and soil stabilization goals because low water availability limits the establishment of perennial vegetation and variable water availability favors fast-growing exotic plant species that can take advantage of soil moisture for short periods when it is available. This project aims to understand and predict how landscapes in dryland regions recover from large-scale disturbances within the constraints of limited water and rapidly spreading exotic species.
General Methods
We are collecting and synthesizing information on restoration and land treatment practices, and evaluating the impacts these treatments have on the recovery of perennial vegetation, soil stability, and ecosystem function.
Important Results
Current and future research results are demonstrated within the USGS Restoration Assessment and Monitoring Program for the Southwest (RAMPS), which aims to strengthen restoration strategies and outcomes in the southwestern U.S. by providing science and guidance on effective restoration practices to the management community.
Future Directions
Future plans to expand this work include field trials and evaluation of controlled restoration treatments to inform best management practices.
Dryland regions of the southwestern U.S. have been degraded by invasive species, wildfire, overgrazing, agricultural conversion, energy development, recreational activity, and urban growth. This landscape has been severely degraded by the Milford Flat Fire, which occurred in July 2007 and was one of the largest fires in Utah’s history. (Credit: Mark Miller, USGS. Public domain.) - Science
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
RestoreNet: Distributed Field Trial Network for Dryland Restoration
Starting in 2017, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) researchers and land managers are co-producing a network of restoration field trial sites on Department of Interior (DOI) and surrounding lands in the southwestern U.S. The network systematically tests restoration treatments across a broad range of landscape, soil, and climate conditions. Each site in the network is used to test suitable seed mixes...Colorado Plateau Native Plant Program Field Trial Study
In the southwest US, monsoon precipitation increases sharply along a northwest to southeast gradient. Pleuraphis jamesii or galleta grass, is an important C4 grass species that spans across this large range in precipitation pattern. In this study we are assessing the ability of galleta grass to adapt to changes in the seasonality of rainfall (termed “plasticity”). In the fall of 2014, we...New Approaches for Restoring Colorado Plateau Grasslands
Historic over-grazing of arid grasslands in the Intermountain West has led to widespread soil erosion, loss of plant diversity, and invasion by exotic species. Degraded grassland conditions can be very persistent, even after livestock use has ceased. For example, in national parks on the Colorado Plateau, livestock have been excluded for decades, but soil and native plants have not recovered on...RAMPS: Restoration Assessment & Monitoring Program for the Southwest
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... - Publications
- Partners