Practical Applications of Remote Sensing in Range Resources 
Development and Management 
CHARLES E. POULTON?! 
INTRODUCTION 
Since 1962 some of my colleagues, graduate 
students, and I have been engaged in a re- 
search program at Oregon State University 
aimed primarily at the ecological analysis of 
range resources. 
The purpose of this paper is to present some 
of the more practical aspects of what we have 
learned from our work with conventional black 
and white aircraft photography as an aid to the 
decision process in the multiple use and man- 
agement of these resource areas. Many of 
the ideas will also be applicable when using 
the output from all photographic systems and 
from many of the more sophisticated develop- 
ments of the space age. 
WHY REMOTE SENSING OF RANGE 
RESOURCES— 
If we are to capitalize on the full capability 
of remote sensing as a day-to-day working tool 
in the range resources area, it will be worth- 
while to place the range in perspective with 
other related natural resources upon which 
human society depends. Before civilized man 
came on the scene, all food and fiber resources 
on the earth could be classed as range or forest 
except for those existing in water of the earth 
(fig. 1). From these naturally vegetated re- 
source areas, man has carved his agricultural 
cropland—tending always to take the best land 
first. Around these croplands he has built his 
cities, industries, and transportation facilities 
and superimposed his social, economic, and po- 
litical cultures. From the beginning of re- 
corded time, ranges or native pastures have 
been an important contributor to, and compo- 
nent of, this culture. 
Remote sensing and ecology must both be 
considered to provide the high-level decision 
makers in our society with the required under- 
standing—or with the capability to efficiently 
acquire an understanding—of the resource. 
Ecological research, particularly in phytoso- 
ciology and vegetation-soil relationships, pro- 
vides an understanding of the resource that is 
required for multiple use management of natu- 
rally vegetated areas. Phytosociological classi- 
fication of plant communities is essential to 
* Professor of Range Ecology, Oregon State Univer- 
sity, Corvallis, Oreg. The research reported in this 
paper has been conducted with financial support from 
the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of 
the Interior, and the Oregon State Land Board. 
RANGELAND 
7 EROP LAND 
|= 
——— _—“ FORESTS | 
‘| ANIMAL USERS 
RECREATIONAL MAN 
MINERALS 
/ 
/ 
H 
~~! IDOMESTIC WILD 
| [ANIMALS 
ANIMALS. 
INDUSTRIAL MAN 
DEPENDENT COMMUNITIES & NATIONS 
CWATER, FOOD, FIBER AND HARD GOODS) 
FIGURE 1.—Dependence of human culture on naturally 
vegetated resource areas and product flow lines from 
resource to society. 
permit the most meaningful interpretation of 
photo images in range and forest resource 
analysis. These classifications provide the basis 
for legend development in ecological resource 
analysis. Full development of photo interpreta- 
tion capability provides the most efficient 
mechanism for applying this ecological know]l- 
edge to the land in the determination and map- 
ping of site characteristics, potentials, and lim- 
itations. Therefore, the primary purpose of re- 
mote sensing in the ecological analysis of 
range and related resource areas is (1) to in- 
crease efficiency and minimize cost of resource 
analysis for multiple use management and (2) 
to minimize, but not replace, fieldwork in the 
acquisition and mapping of information to 
meet these management-oriented needs. 
Ecological resource analysis, achieved 
through optimum use of remote sensing, pro- 
vides the best possible base upon which to accu- 
mulate data relevant to land uses and prob- 
lems. It provides the only universal and biolog- 
ically sound concept of site upon which to gen- 
eralize or extend the results from research 
and successful management practices. 
To achieve the full spectrum of benefits from 
range resources throughout our country, and 
in the various nations of the world, more com- 
plete and ecologically accurate information 
about the resource is needed in different forms 
and levels of detail for policy, land use plan- 
ning, and resource management decisions 
(fig. 2). 
179 
