Ecological Site Descriptions: A Primer

A distinctive kind of land with specific physical characteristics that differs from other kinds of land in its ability to produce a distinctive kind and amount of vegetation, and in its ability to respond to management actions and natural disturbances. Ecological Site Description: Reports with associated data that document the characteristics of an ecological site (including its climate, soils, and state-and-transition model) and the interpretation of its properties related to use and management. History of ecological sites The forest site (yes, the idea came initially from an employee of the USFS) C. F. Korstian (1919) “an area considered as to its physical factors with reference to forest producing power, or the combined effect of the climatic and edaphic conditions of the forest habitat” Focus on potential and climax plant community as the basis for managing forest Used in estimating forest timber production and guidance for species mixes for reseeding sites History of ecological sites Range Condition/Range Sites “Different kinds of rangeland are referred to as range sites…Site is not to be confused with type, because many types of vegetation may successfully occupy the same range site in response to different grazing treatments. Current range condition can be measured only in relation to some known potential condition and the only certain indicator of potential is the site”. (Dyksterhuis 1953) • Set long term carrying capacity • Plant succession as a basis for assessment • Dynamics with regard to factors affecting livestock forage History of ecological sites Condition class