Integrating remote sensing and local ecological knowledge to monitor rangeland dynamics

Browning trends were widespread as declining trends in NDVI (and NDVI residuals) covered 24% (and 9%) of the landscape, respectively. Local managers' perceptions of pasture degradation better reflected trends seen in NDVI than in climate-controlled NDVI residuals, suggesting patterns in the latter are less apparent to managers. Our approach demonstrated great potential for the integration of two inexpensive and effective methods of rangeland monitoring well-suited to the country's needs. Despite limitations due to terrain, our approach was most successful within the semi-arid steppe where pasture degradation is believed to be most severe. In many parts of the world, sources of long-term spatially extensive data are rare or even non-existent. Thus, paired LEK and remote sensing can contribute to comprehensive and informative assessments of land degradation, especially where contentious management issues intersect with sparse data availability. LEK is a valuable source of complementary information to remote sensing and should be integrated more routinely and formally into landscape monitoring. To aid this endeavor, we synthesize advice for linking LEK and remote sensing across diverse landscape situations.