Glossary of EOV Terms

Technical terms commonly used in the EOV protocol

Total Area: Total hectares of the property

Exclusion Area: Non-verifiable area due to topography, management, etc. Example: Rocks, water bodies, mature forests.

Verifiable Area = Total Area minus the Exclusion Area(s)

Represented Area: The number of hectares of each strata that is represented by a given LTM or STM site.

Ecological Health Index (EHI Score): The numeric score that EOV-enrolled land receives after completion of data gathering and filling of the regionally calibrated Evaluation Matrix (leading indicators only). Scores show the numerical distance to the potential of ecosystem processes of the ecoregion, expressed by the reference area.

Ecological indicators: Attributes of soil surface and vegetation that reveal the effectiveness of ecosystem processes and ecosystem health. They are included on the Evaluation Matrix where they are given an EHI score.

Ecoregion: Area that contains characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural communities and species. The biodiversity of flora, fauna, and environments that characterize an ecological region tends to be distinct from that of other ecological regions. Ecological regions are the result of climate, geology, and landforms. They have a defined degree of brittleness and therefore have different responses to management tools.

Evaluation Matrix: A matrix of up to 15 biological indicators (rows) and five possible situations of each indicator. Determines the score for a particular site in a way that is contextualized for a specific ecoregion.

Functional Groups: A set of plant species that share the same type and ecological role. The relative proportion of functional groups of plants determines the state of the land. This includes warm-season grasses, cool-season grasses, forbs/legumes, and shrubs/trees.

HUB Verifier: A HUB Verifier is an Accredited Field Professional with the Savory Institute and working in close association with a Hub in a given region. They are trained in EOV to be able to do the preparatory work in an ecoregion including understanding and diagramming the states of land that can occur in an ecoregion, the ways to transition between states, the functional groups of plants in that ecoregion, installing reference area LTM sites, and the development of the Evaluation Matrix for the ecoregion. They also perform verification and auditing of monitoring done by EOV Monitors.

Lagging indicator: Lagging indicators are largely captured in LTM and outcome indicators. Unlike leading indicators, when we know lagging Indicator values there is little chance to make corrections quickly. Evaluating these lagging indicators can be expensive and require Long Term Monitoring to be performed. However, it provides us with strong scientific validation of the functioning of the ecosystem processes.

Leading Indicator: leading indicators are those that usually change before others, and therefore have some predictive value about the direction of changes. Leading indicators are useful for documenting and influencing management and are largely covered in Short Term ecological monitoring.

Long-Term Monitoring (LTM): Baseline monitoring in year 0 and repeated every five years. Quantitative estimations that combine , with benchmark LTM sites where plant composition and soil cover are assessed, along with EHI and water infiltration.

Master Verifier: Master Verifiers are a select group involved in the further development and refinement of the EOV methodology. Master Verifiers provide training to Hub Verifiers.

Reference Area: LTM site in any land base (within or outside producer network) that is the best-known expression of biodiversity, site stability, and good ecosystem functioning for a given state in an ecoregion. It may or may not be inside the land base being verified. These areas are benchmark points for the relevant states for the rest of the LTM sites in that ecoregion. The concept of reference areas is dynamic, as proper management can generate new reference areas and change the parameters of what can be achieved.

Short-Term Monitoring (STM): Done across each land base annually in multiple paddocks. Provides a score for each paddock and a weighted average for the farm. The weighted average is used in the EOV verification of the farm.

State: States are alternative assemblages of functional groups and plant species, that determine physiognomy (appearance), soil attributes, and ecosystem function inside an ecoregion. For example, grassland, grassland/shrubland, shrubland, cropland, and savanna could be the states within a given ecoregion.

Strata: An area of a land base that has similar properties in terms of soil and vegetation. Each strata will be represented by at least one long term monitoring site. Short term monitoring sites will be located on the land base proportional to the strata (ie if a strata represents 20% of the land base, then 20% of the STM sites will be located in that strata).

Transitions: Transitions represent the change of vegetation and soil from one state to another. If grasslands switch from one state to one that represents lower ecosystem health, that transition is undesirable. Conversely, land regeneration could be defined as the management of transitions to create the most vibrant and effective state in terms of ecological health and productivity. Transitions are always caused by the intended or accidental use of tools: technology, fire, rest, and living organisms. A transition catalog describes how the management of each tool promotes transitions.