ASSESSING AND MONITORING THE HEALTH OF WESTERN RANGELAND WATERSHEDS

摘要

The most important function of watershed in the western U.S. is the capacity to retain soil and water, thereby providing stability in hydrologic head and minimizing stream sediment loads. Long-term soil and water retention varies directly with vegetation cover. Data on ground cover and plant species composition were collected from 129 sites in the Rio Grande drainage of south-central New Mexico. This area was previously assessed by classification of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometry(AVHRR)imagery.