Putting It All Together: An Integrated Assessment.

The National Resource Conservation Service has established teams to review the scientific literature to determine whether desired environmental benefits of conservations practices are documented. Each practice was designed to include maintaining desired species, providing quality herbage, balancing herbage supply through the season, reducing soil erosion, increasing or maintaining soil organic matter and improving water quality. Some included supporting food and habitat needs of wildlife. The national standards are adjusted by each state to meet local conditions. Separate teams evaluated standards for Pasture and Hay Planting, Forage Harvest Management, Prescribed Grazing and Nutrient Management. Some expected outcomes from a specified practice are not documented in the literature and some practices do not lead to the desired outcome in a singular way due to interactions with time and space. For example, good forage production, while minimizing loss of nitrogen to a nearby stream, can be achieved by planting legumes, using appropriate fertilizer management, changing the harvest or grazing practice, or by maintaining a riparian area. Cost-benefit analyses are needed to help select the best practice(s) to adopt. Time factors are also involved, especially when biodiversity is considered. For example, legumes often decrease with time whereas forbs may increase to change wildlife habitat, use of plant nutrients, and grazing or harvest management. These interactions need to be considered, but are hard to research. In addition to environmental benefits, the public is demanding broader ecosystem services such as air quality, aesthetics, biodiversity, and human health. These must be addressed in future conservation practices. Thus, agencies and policy makers should include research support to assess effects of a practice on defined goals for environmental quality and ecosystem services.