Applicability of Montreal Process Criterion 2 — productive capacity — to rangeland sustainability

Abstract

Rangelands provide habitat for a wide array of plants and animals and forage for both domestic and wild herbivores. Estimating the cumulative area of rangeland in a country (Indicator 10) is complicated by how rangeland is defined and the scale at which range sites occur and are classified. Determining biomass production available for p i n g (Indicator 11) including plantations and seedings of native and exotic plants including cultivars (Indicator 12), and the amount of sustainable annual biomass removal (Indicator 13), and the removal of non-rangeland (E non-livestock) products (Indicator 14) is also difficult. Nevertheless, these indicators are just as applicable for monitoring sustainable management of rangelands as they are for forests. Productivity also varies with seral stage. Inclusion of multiple seral stages across the landscape generally increases the diversity of plant and animal species that occupy the landscape. Sometimes degraded landscapes require restorative practices; plant materials are available for rehabilitation plantings.

Rangeland resource trends in the United States: A technical document supporting the 2000 USDA Forest Service RPA Assessment

“…Monitoring and documenting these indicators are diffi cult, and have not been adequate (McArthur et al 2000). However, given the projection that livestock utilization of grazing land will decrease in the PC, RM, and NO Assessment Regions and not change signifi cantly in the Southern Assessment Region (Van Tassell et al 1999), we can expect that the overall U.S. productive capacity will not be degraded.…”

“…From a national perspective, measures of rangeland health are found within two Montreal Process criteria, Criterion 2, productive capacity, and Criterion 3, maintenance of ecosystem health (McArthur et al 2000, Joyce et al 2000. Factors to be evaluated within these domains include the total biomass from rangeland available for grazing, removal of rangeland biomass and other products compared to the level determined to be sustainable, the infl uences of processes or agents beyond the range of historic variation, effects of air pollutants on rangeland function, and the area of rangeland with diminished biological components.…”