We will work with Landscape Conservation Cooperative partners to (1) edge match the Oklahoma and Texas Ecological Systems (ECS) data sets, (2) complete an enduring features (ecological site type; geophysical setting) data set for Oklahoma, (3) create a process for up-dating the ECS data set by detecting land cover change and modeling the revised ECS types, and (4) collect field data to characterize grassland composition in the Texas panhandle and adjacent Oklahoma. MoRAP staff will complete the first three tasks by leveraging knowledge, skills, and data on-hand from earlier work on the statewide ECS data sets. Staff from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) will complete task #4 in Texas and Oklahoma, respectively, using identical data collection protocols. Edge matching will involve reconciling gaps and overlaps between the state data sets, as well as merging naming and conceptual differences. Enduring features will be mapped mainly from digital soils data sets and manipulation of digital elevation models, and will involve filling in missing digital soils data as needed. Development of the up-date process will involve providing keys to map ECS types based on enduring features and land cover. Field data collection will involve georeferenced virtual plots collected in a uniform, repeatable way. Deliverables will include the seamless ECS and enduring features data sets together with technical reports documenting all aspects of data production and a final project report suitable for a variety of audiences, including decision makers, landowners, and conservation organizations. This project was co-funded by multiple Landscape Conservation Cooperatives: Gulf Coast Praire LCC and the Great Plains LCC.
