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U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2011–1232

In cooperation with The University of Arizona, School of Natural Resources and the Environment, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Nauman Geospatial, National Park Service, and the U.S. Marine Corps

An Inventory and Monitoring Plan for a Sonoran Desert Ecosystem: Barry M. Goldwater Range—West

By Miguel L. Villarreal, Charles van Riper III, Robert E. Lovich, Robert L. Palmer, Travis Nauman, Sarah E. Studd, Sam Drake, Abigail S. Rosenberg, Jim Malusa, and Ronald L. Pearce

Thumbnail of and link to report PDF (13.2 MB)Abstract

Marine Corps Air Station Yuma manages the Barry M. Goldwater Range—West, which encompasses approximately 2,800 square kilometers of Sonoran Desert habitat in southwestern Arizona. The Barry M. Goldwater Range is a major U.S. military installation designed as an air combat training location for the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Air Force, but it also includes some of the most pristine desert habitat in the United States. In an effort to ensure the long-term viability of this unique natural resource, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has developed an Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan and Inventory and Monitoring Plan to guide natural resource management of the Barry M. Goldwater Range—West. This Inventory and Monitoring Plan provides a framework for long-term ecosystem monitoring on Barry M. Goldwater Range—West lands by identifying existing and potential threats to ecosystem function, prioritizing resources for monitoring, and providing information and protocols necessary to initiate a long-term ecosystem monitoring program. The Inventory and Monitoring Plan and related protocols were developed through extensive review of existing Sonoran Desert monitoring programs and monitoring literature and through a 2-day workshop with resource managers, monitoring experts, and other stakeholders. The Barry M. Goldwater Range—West Inventory and Monitoring Plan stresses the importance of regional monitoring partnerships and protocol standardization for understanding landscape-scale ecosystem changes in the Sonoran Desert; information and protocols contained within the plan may also be of interest to land managers engaged in large-scale ecosystem monitoring and adaptive management of other arid regions.

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Suggested citation:

Villarreal, M.L., van Riper, Charles, III, Lovich, R.E., Palmer, R.L., Nauman, Travis, Studd, S.E., Drake, Sam, Rosenberg, A.S., Malusa, Jim, and Pearce, R.L., 2011, An inventory and monitoring plan for a Sonoran Desert ecosystem; Barry M. Goldwater Range—West: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2011–1232, 103 p., available at https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2011/1232/.



Contents

Contents

Abstract

Purpose and Scope

1.0 Introduction and Background

2.0 Methods

3.0 Background Information on Monitoring Protocols for the Inventory and Monitoring Plan

4.0 Data Management

5.0 Management Actions as a Result of Inventory and Monitoring

6.0 Programmatic Review of Monitoring and Management Activities

Acknowledgments

References Cited

seven appendixes


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