About

The VegMeasure Project was established in 2000 to improve techniques of vegetation measurement on grazing lands. Our mandate is to develop and promote scientifically sound techniques to monitor vegetation on natural and agronomic landscapes so that managerial systems can be accurately evaluated for ecosystem health and long-term sustainability. We have focused on blending traditional monitoring protocols with modern computer and electronic sensor technologies to improve accuracy and reduce the cost of vegetation sampling. Because we work primarily with landscapes that are managed for both natural ecosystem values and economic output, we have also developed livestock tracking and monitoring devices.

The worldwide challenge of population growth, frequent droughts, high climatic variability, land degradation and widespread poverty adds urgency for accurate measurement of vegetation so that change can be documented. Proper vegetation monitoring also is necessary for honest appraisal of managerial actions, strategies, and resiliency in the context of climatic variability.

Our research is coupled with training activities focused on individuals that are involved with rangeland management, water and land management, integrated crop livestock-rangeland management, and climate change adaptation. This website was created to provide students and professionals with information about ecosystem monitoring throughout the developed and developing world.

This website provides a series of lessons, problem sets, and tools that will improve the process of ecosystem monitoring. Principal contributors to the VegMeasure Project include:

Dr. Mounir Louhaichi Tunis, Tunisia
Dr. Douglas E. Johnson, Corvallis, Oregon, USA
Dr. Larry Larson, La Grande, Oregon, USA
Dr. Patrick E. Clark,  Boise, Idaho, USA
Dr. Michael D. Johnson, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Dr. Adele Woerz, Ft. Mill, South Carolina, USA
Ms. Sawsan Hassan,  Amman, Jordan
Mr. Aaron G Day, Corvallis, Oregon, USA