TY - JOUR T1 - Establishing quantitative benchmarks for soil erosion and ecological monitoring, assessment, and management JF - Ecological Indicators Y1 - 2024 A1 - Webb, N.P. A1 - Edwards, B.L. A1 - Heller, A. A1 - McCord, S.E. A1 - Schallner, J.W. A1 - Treminio, R.S. A1 - Wheeler, B.E. A1 - Stauffer, N.G. A1 - Spiegal, S. A1 - Duniway, M.C. A1 - Traynor, A.C.E. A1 - Kachergis, E. A1 - Houdeshell, C.A. KW - Adaptive management KW - Ecological thresholds KW - Reference site KW - water erosion KW - Wind erosion AB -

Soil erosion can have a multitude of negative impacts on agroecosystems and society and there remains an urgent
need for tools to support its management. Quantitative benchmarks based on holistic understanding of erosion
processes, ecosystem function, and land use objectives can be used with monitoring data and models to inform
assessments and make objective and actionable decisions about erosion management. However, managers
currently lack a framework for establishing benchmarks. Here, we present a framework and evaluation of
different approaches to establishing quantitative benchmarks for soil erosion and ecological monitoring and
assessment that can inform land management decisions. We use monitoring data collected across Chihuahuan
Desert ecosystems in the United States and an aeolian sediment transport model to illustrate how benchmarks
can be established. Approaches include establishing benchmarks from relationships between soil erosion in-
dicators, reference states and land potential, including state-and-transition models, and desired conditions from
existing monitoring data. We discuss the benefits and caveats of the different approaches and show how
combining different benchmarking approaches can help users ensure that benchmarks appropriately reflect
thresholds for soil erosion and achievable management outcomes. We finish by identifying future research needs
to support establishment and application of erosion benchmarks across agroecosystems and recognize the op-
portunity to extend the benchmarking approaches to management of other agroecosystem processes and services.

VL - 159 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Exploring dust emission responses to land cover change using an ecological land classification JF - Aeolian Research Y1 - 2018 A1 - Magda S. Galloza A1 - Nicholas Webb A1 - Max P. Bleiweiss A1 - Craig Winters A1 - Jeffrey E. Herrick A1 - Eldon Ayers KW - Anthropogenic KW - Dust source KW - Ecological sites KW - State-and-transition models KW - Wind erosion AB -

Despite efforts to quantify the impacts of land cover change on wind erosion, assessment uncertainty remains large. We address this uncertainty by evaluating the application of ecological site concepts and state-and-transition models (STMs) for detecting and quantitatively describing the impacts of land cover change on wind erosion. We apply a dust emission model over a rangeland study area in the northern Chihuahuan Desert, New Mexico, USA, and evaluate spatiotemporal patterns of modelled horizontal sediment mass flux and dust emission in the context of ecological sites and their vegetation states; representing a diversity of land cover types. Our results demonstrate how the impacts of land cover change on dust emission can be quantified, compared across land cover classes, and interpreted in the context of an ecological model that encapsulates land management intensity and change. Results also reveal the importance of established weaknesses in the dust model soil characterisation and drag partition scheme, which appeared generally insensitive to the impacts of land cover change. New models that address these weaknesses, coupled with ecological site concepts and field measurements across land cover types, could significantly reduce assessment uncertainties and provide opportunities for identifying land management options.

VL - 32 ER - TY - Generic T1 - Emerging ecological datasets with application for modeling North American dust emissions T2 - American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting Y1 - 2017 A1 - Sarah McCord A1 - Nelson Stauffer A1 - Steve Garman A1 - Nicholas Webb JF - American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting CY - New Orleans, LA VL - 11-15 December, 2017 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Enhancing wind erosion monitoring and assessment for US rangelands JF - Rangelands Y1 - 2017 A1 - Nicholas Webb A1 - Van Zee, J.W. A1 - Karl, J.W. A1 - Herrick, J.E. A1 - Courtright, E.M. A1 - Billings, B.J. A1 - Boyd, R. A1 - Chappell, A. A1 - Duniway, M.C. A1 - Derner, J.D. A1 - Hand, J.K. A1 - Kachergis, E. A1 - McCord, S.E. A1 - Newingham, B.A. A1 - Pierson, F.B. A1 - Steiner, J.L. A1 - Tatarko, J. A1 - Tedela, N.H. A1 - Toledo, D. A1 - Van Pelt, R.S. ER -