Using the assessment, inventory, and monitoring strategy to measure treatment effectiveness in pinyon-juniper woodlands

Abstract

It is increasingly important to understand how different management actions affect public lands and renewable resources. In response to a lack of standardized monitoring, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) developed the Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) strategy (Toevs et al. 2011). The AIM approach is based on five key elements: 1) a standardized set of core and contingent indicators, 2) a statistically valid sampling design, 3) a structured implementation process, 4) electronic data capture, and 5) integration with remote sensing. This strategy can help to more efficiently meet national, regional, and local resource information needs. The Taos Field Office (TFO) of the BLM has used the AIM protocol for 3 successive years to monitor vegetation treatment effectiveness and to inventory wildlife habitat. Here we discuss the implementation of AIM protocols and use AIM data to describe five, two-needle pinyon pine (Pinus edulis) and oneseed juniper (Juniperus monosperma) treatment areas in and around Taos, New Mexico. The use of AIM data shows us the complex consequences of these management actions and illustrates the advantages of ongoing monitoring at the field office level.

Parent Publication

• Symposium Proceedings on Piñon-Juniper Habitats: Status and Management for Wildlife - 2016

Citation

Laurence-Traynor, Alexander C.; Karl, Jason; Davidson, Zoe M.; Davis, Jessica C. 2020. Using the assessment, inventory, and monitoring strategy to measure treatment effectiveness in pinyon-juniper woodlands. In: Malcolm, Karl; Dykstra, Brian; Johnson, Kristine; Lightfoot, David; Muldavin, Esteban; Ramsey, Marikay. Symposium Proceedings on Pinon-Juniper Habitats: Status and Management for Wildlife - 2016. Proceedings RMRS-P-77. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 119-123.