Assessing Rangelands

U.S. Department of the Interior 

U.S. Geological Survey 

Overview

Rangelands are natural ecosystems 

where the native vegetation consists 

predominantly of grasses, grass-like 

plants, forbs, or shrubs. Rangelands 

include natural grasslands, savannas, 

shrublands, oak and pinyon-juniper 

woodlands, many deserts, tundra, alpine 

communities, marshes, and wet 

meadows.

It is important for land managers and

technical assistance specialists to be able

to assess the health of rangelands in 

order to know where to focus management efforts. Rangeland health is “the 

degree to which the integrity of the soil, 

vegetation, water, and air, as well as the 

ecological processes of the rangeland 

ecosystem, are balanced and sustained.” 

Integrity in this context means the 

“maintenance of the functional attributes 

characteristic of a locale, including 

normal variability.”

Ecological processes functioning

within a normal range of variation 

support a diverse mixture of plant and 

animal communities. These ecological 

processes include:

the water cycle—the capture, storage, 

and redistribution of precipitation;

energy flow—conversion of sunlight 

to plant and animal matter; and

nutrient cycles—the cycle of nutrients 

such as nitrogen and phosphorus 

through the physical and biotic 

components of the environment.

interpreting and assessing rangeland 

health. In the past, indicators used in 

rangeland monitoring and resource 

inventories by land managers and 

technical assistance agencies have 

focused on vegetation (e.g., production, 

composition, density) or soil stability 

and were used to indicate rangeland 

condition or livestock carrying capacity. 

Such single indicator assessments are 

inadequate to determine rangeland 

health because they do not reflect nor 

assess the complexity of ecological 

processes. Rather than a single indicator,

a suite of key indicators should be used 

for an assessment. In this system, 17 

indicators are used to gauge the three 

rangeland health attributes: soil/site 

stability, hydrologic function, and the 

integrity of the biotic community of 

selected rangeland ecological sites. 

Due to the complexity of ecological 

processes and their interrelationships, it

is usually difficult or expensive to 

directly measure site integrity and the 

status of ecological processes. Therefore, biological and physical attributes 

are often used to indicate the functional 

status of ecological processes and site 

integrity. 

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS),

Agricultural Research Service (ARS), 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM), 

and Natural Resources Conservation 

Service (NRCS) developed a technique 

to assess rangeland health. Because 

rangelands are complex ecosystems, 

it is difficult to attain a single rating 

of rangeland health. This technique 

assesses separately three attributes of 

rangeland health (see box).

Indicators are components of a 

system whose characteristics (e.g., 

presence or absence, quantity, distribution) are used as an index of an attribute 

that is too difficult, inconvenient, or 

expensive to measure. Several indicators 

must be used to gain an understanding 

about each attribute of rangeland health. 

By using a qualitative, observational 

procedure, the functional status of such 

indicators can be assessed. 

This fast assessment technique 

includes both plant and soil indicators 

that can help educate the public, private 

landowners, and agency personnel about 

Abstract

It is important for land managers and 

technical assistance specialists to be 

able to assess the health of rangelands

in order to know where to focus 

management efforts. The complexity of

ecological processes, and the inherent

expense of directly measuring site 

integrity, suggests a need for an 

evaluation process that focuses instead 

on biological and physical attributes. 

In a collaborative effort, the USGS, 

ARS, BLM, and NRCS have jointly 

developed a system in which 17 

indicators are used to gauge three 

attributes of rangeland health. A 

qualitative, observational procedure 

provides an assessment of the functional 

status of these indicators. This quick 

assessment technique, by providing an

understanding about each attribute, 

helps interpret rangeland health. 

 Rangeland Health Attributes

Soil/site stability—the capacity of

the site to limit redistribution

and loss of soil resources 

(including nutrients and organic 

matter) by wind and water.

Hydrologic function—the capacity

of the site to capture, store, and

safely release water from 

rainfall, run-on, and snowmelt 

(where relevant), to resist a 

reduction in this capacity, and to 

recover this capacity following 

degradation.

Integrity of the biotic community—

the capacity of the site to support 

characteristic functional and 

structural communities in the 

context of normal variability, to 

resist loss of this function and 

structure due to disturbance, and 

to recover following disturbance.

USGS FS-125-02

October 2002
Reference

Pellant, M., P. Shaver, D.A. Pyke, and J.E. 

Herrick. 2000. Interpreting indicators of 

rangeland health, version 3. Interagency 

Technical Reference 1734-6, USDI, Bureau 

of Land Management, National Science and 

Technology Center, Denver, CO.

To obtain a copy of the technical reference, 

send an e-mail request to:

fresc_outreach@usgs.gov.

For more information contact:

David Pyke

USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem 

Science Center

3200 SW Jefferson Way

Corvallis, OR 97331

david_a_pyke@usgs.gov

Intended Applications

Qualitative assessments of rangeland 

health, in association with quantitative monitoring and inventory 

information, provide early warnings

to land managers of resource 

problems on upland rangelands. 

Qualitative assessments are intended 

to provide a preliminary evaluation of 

soil/site stability, hydrologic function, 

and integrity of the biotic community 

(at the ecological site level). They 

can also help land managers identify

areas that are potentially at risk 

of degradation and be used as a 

communication tool to help explain 

fundamental ecological concepts to a 

wide variety of audiences in the field. 

We strongly encourage land managers to initiate quantitative monitoring 

techniques when rangeland health 

attributes are rated at or below 

moderate deviation from that expected for the site. These monitoring

procedures should focus on the 

attributes and indicators of concern. 

Such assessments are used to identify

resource problems; however, the 

technique was not designed to 

identify the causes of these problems. 

Management decisions, therefore, 

should not be made solely from 

results of these assessments. This 

procedure has been developed for use 

by experienced, knowledgeable land 

managers only.

What the collaboration team is doing: 

• publishing manuscript — Pyke, D.A., J.E. Herrick, P. Shaver, and M. Pellant. 2002. 

 Rangeland health attributes and indicators for qualititative management. Journal of 

 Range Management 55(6)

• working to develop quantitative protocols

• teaching a training course about how to use the assessment techniques through the BLM 

 National Training Center

• investigating the potential of using these assessments as part of a national assessment such 

 as the Natural Resources Conservation Service National Resources Inventory

Amount of bare ground is slightly less than expected 

given the site potential and recent weather.

Desert grassland site where grasses promote 

infiltration and minimize runoff.

Sagebrush-perennial bunchgrass site near potential. 

Native annual grasses are a minor component of the 

vegetative mix.

Amount of bare ground is excessive relative to site 

potential and recent weather.

Degraded desert grassland site where runoff has 

dramatically increased due to conversion from grass 

to shrubs.

Perennial bunchgrasses have been replaced with 

cheatgrass, an exotic annual grass. Accelerated 

erosion is also evident.

Pictures on the left visually represent the expected conditions at the site, whereas the pictures on the right 

show conditions that deviate from what is expected.

Evaluation Process

Step 1 — Identify the evaluation area. Verify soil and ecological site identification.

Step 2 — Obtain, if it exists, or develop a Reference Worksheet using the ecological site 

 description, data, and knowledgable experts. Then visit several reference areas 

to observe the indicators on these sites.

Step 3 — Obtain, if it exists, or develop the Indicator Evaluation Matrix for the ecological site.

Step 4 — Return to the evaluation area and complete the Site Characterization Worksheets.

Step 5 — Rate the 17 indicators on the evaluation area.

Step 6 — Determine the functional status of the three rangeland health attributes. Soil Stability Hydrologic Function Integrity of Biotic Community

Examples of Indicators