Grassland Decision Support Tools Part-I: Existing and Emerging Vegetation Tools (1)
Presenters: Elise Gornish (UArizona Cooperative Extension), Austin Rutherford (UArizona Archer Lab), Amanda Haverland (American Bird Conservancy)
Elise will introduce the EcoRestore Portal, Arizona’s one-stop online shop for the all resources needed to plan, implement and maintain a restoration project. EcoRestore is geared to a variety of users, including Master Gardeners, Restoration Practitioners, Land Managers, and folks who just like native plants.
Amanda will Present Tree-Age (pronounced like triage). Tree-age will estimate the effect woody (eastern redcedar, mesquite, etc.) on grassland birds at both landscape and project scales. Biologists when consulting with landowners about potential brush management practices that are designed to benefit wildlife, and to provide information to conservation planning efforts at the state and regional level.
Austin Rutherford will present the work he and his collaborators have been working on as part of his dissertation to develop an interactive mapping decision support tool that will assist land managers in southern Arizona evaluate a site’s susceptibility to shrub encroachment.