Vegetation Modeling on the Ladder Ranch,

New Mexico

3D rendering of the Ladder Ranch

Introduction

The Ladder Ranch is a 156, 000 acre property in Sierra County, New Mexico. It is a large and relatively floristically unknown piece of land adjacent to the Black Mountain Range. The Ranch is privately owned by Ted Turner who is a keenly interested in having a floristic inventory carried out on the land. The Ranch has a rich potential for diverse plant communities due, in part, to the occurrence of persistent and intermittent streams, and little anthropogenic degradation.

Starting in spring of 2015 I will be starting the collection of plant specimens from throughout the Ladder. The use of GIS and mapping is critical for the collection and spatial analysis of the property.