The Landscape Toolbox

Starting this spring, we will be hosting a series of online training sessions on tools and products associated with the Landscape Toolbox project. These hour-long web seminars are available free of charge thanks to funding from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust. The 2010 web seminars will focus on tools and techniques for assessment and monitoring of large shrubland, grassland, and savanah landscapes. A PDF flyer for the seminar series is available here.

• April 27 - The Rangeland Assessment and Monitoring Methods Guide
• May 4 - Using the Database for Inventory, Monitoring and Assessment
• June 8 - Assessment and Monitoring Techniques for Evaluating Road Impacts
• July 20 - Practical Tools for Multi-Scale Sample Design and Selection

All seminars will take place at 2:00pm (MDT), and recordings of the seminars will be available here following each one. Each web seminar is elgible for one continuing education unit (CEU) from the Society for Range Management. Registration for the web seminars is required and can be done online at http://www.landscapetoolbox.org/train/register.

In continuing with the integration of the Landscape Toolbox project with the work going on at the USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range, we are pleased to announce the release of the newest version of the Rangeland Database and Field Entry System - Version 1.5.

The Rangeland Database and Field Data Entry System was developed by the USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range to increase the speed and precision of data entry in both the field and office and organize and store field data. Developed in Microsoft Access to be easy to use, fast, and flexible, the Rangeland Database supports data entry and storage for 16 different quantitative and qualitative assessment and monitoring methods.

You can find more information on the new version of the Rangeland Database in the Assessment and Monitoring pageof the Landscape Toolbox .

Over the next year, we will be working to more fully integrate the Rangeland Database with other existing Landscape Toolbox tools as well as those in development. We'll have more information on this process soon.

Cheers-

Jason Karl, Ph.D.
Landscape Toolbox Project Lead
USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range