VegMeasure Software

Abstract

This software has been developed by ICARDA and OSU. Changes in agro-pastoral production systems affect the livelihoods and development of rural communities. Thus it is important for planners and policy makers to be able to document land or ecosystem conditions and trends in relation to managerial actions at specific locations. Quantification of ecosystem parameters that are used for condition and trend assessment has been difficult, time consuming and expensive resulting in very few locations worldwide with detailed records. We report monitoring techniques that can be used at local scales, to speed up the collection, processing and storage of indicators of agroecosystem health. By coupling digital photography, differential global positioning systems technologies, information collected with accessory devices and computer software applied in a strict monitoring protocol enabled rapid sampling and recording geographic position (latitude/longitude) of quadrates (1 to 25 m2) with vegetation, litter and soil parameters.