Grassland Effectiveness Monitoring (GEM) Protocol
Channel: Conservation and Adaptation Resources Toolbox
Date: 2022-03-03

Grassland Effectiveness Monitoring (GEM) Protocol: A Rapid Approach to Evaluate Grassland Management Activities & Monitor Grassland Condition

For decades the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program (PFW, USFWS) has been implementing grassland improvement projects across private lands via incentive-based programs. While some post-treatment monitoring has been implemented, USFWS has lacked a standardized protocol needed to quantify treatment success and compare grassland conditions across management activities. PFW and Science Applications formed a partnership with USGS and the Oaks and Prairies Joint Venture to develop a standardized Grassland Effectiveness Monitoring (GEM) protocol to determine biological outcomes of various grassland improvement projects. An overarching goal is to develop a shareable, transferable protocol that provides a pathway for data sharing to compare grassland condition across the greater landscape. GEM surveys are based on a rapid field assessment that can be implemented at three effort levels, yielding scientific data and results that can be integrated with other resource surveys, sampling, or assessments to characterize impacts to broader communities such as grassland birds, pollinators, or livestock and game species.

Presented by: Daniel Bunting, Fish and Wildlife Service Science Applications and Don Wilhelm, Fish and Wildlife Service Partners for Fish and Wildlife Southwest Region (AZ, NM, OK, and TX)

March 1st 2022

Contact Ariel Léger arielleger@arizona.edu or Matt Grabau matthew_grabau@fws.gov for more information about CCAST's Grassland Community of Practice