In 2020, the Middle Southeast Blueprint was updated on several fronts to improve the Southeast Conservation Blueprint for the entire states of Arkansas, Louisiana & Mississippi, as well as portions of Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois. In the 2020 update, the number of Federal trust species distributions used to calculate the Species Index increased from 358 to 956. In addition, the Conservation Hubs (partner focus areas) layer was updated to include Priority Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Areas (PARCAs) for Louisiana and Tennessee. Third, the Risk Index was simplified to a 3-class index from a 4-class index, and the classes were applied to 1-kilometer hexegon landscapes rather [...]
Summary
In 2020, the Middle Southeast Blueprint was updated on several fronts to improve the Southeast Conservation Blueprint for the entire states of Arkansas, Louisiana & Mississippi, as well as portions of Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois.
In the 2020 update, the number of Federal trust species distributions used to calculate the Species Index increased from 358 to 956. In addition, the Conservation Hubs (partner focus areas) layer was updated to include Priority Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Areas (PARCAs) for Louisiana and Tennessee. Third, the Risk Index was simplified to a 3-class index from a 4-class index, and the classes were applied to 1-kilometer hexegon landscapes rather than 30-meter pixels to capture off-site habitat changes associated with urbanization. Finally, the priority order of the various indices in the Conservation Value Index (CVI) "barcode" was adjusted to more accurately reflect the values of partners. Now the priority order of the barcode is: Species-Habitat-Partners-Protection-Risk.
