MONITORING STANDING HERBAGE ON SANDY ECOLOGICAL SITE ON NEBRASKA AND SOUTH DAKOTA SAND HILLS

Resource categories for monitoring standing herbage by visual obstruction readings (VOR) with management guidelines were developed for the sands ecological site in the Nebraska Sand Hills on the Samuel R. McKelvie National Forest. Clipped vegetation ranged from 122 kg.ha(-1) to 2968 kg.ha(-1). VOR ranged from 0 to 5.6 bands (band = 2.54 cm). Cluster analyses (ISODATA) identified 3 distinct resource categories for management. Resource categories for mean VOR band and standing herbage (kg.ha(-1)) are short (band 1, 585 kg.ha(-1)), intermediate (band 2, 1130 kg.ha(-1)), and tall (band 3.6, 2003 kg.ha(-1)). Band 2 represents residual standing herbage at 40% utilization and is the recommended guideline to maintain or improve the resources. Three transects are required for monitoring areas of 259 ha or less. The guidelines developed provide resource managers a tool for VOR data collection that is simple to use, cost effective, accurate and reliable for monitoring standing herbage for livestock use and wildlife habitat.