Middle Southeast Blueprint 2020 was released in October 2020. This framework is a major departure from the original Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozarks (GCPO) Blueprint and needs to be vetted through workshops and partner review.
Middle Southeast Blueprint 2020 is the combined Conservation Value Index from the Middle Southeast Blueprint 2020 folder. The final Conservation Value Index is based on aquatic and terrestrial indices: the distribution of species groups, habitat condition relative to desired condition, conservation hubs based on partner priority areas, protected areas serving as conservation network anchors (terrestrial systems only), and risk of future change. This final Conservation Value Index layer used as Middle Southeast Blueprint 2020 is based on combining the terrestrial and aquatic indices for each pixel as described in detail below.
Note: This layer was used as the input to Southeast Blueprint 2021 for the Middle Southeast subregion.
Terrestrial input data (5 indices)
- The Species Index for terrestrial ecosystems
- Terrestrial Habitat Condition Index
- Conservation Hubs (partner focus areas)
- Conservation Network Anchors (protected lands)
- The Risk Index
The underlying indices are not currently available online. More information about how each index is developed is available in the Middle Southeast Blueprint 2020 Development Process.
Combining the terrestrial inputs into a terrestrial Conservation Value Index
The 5 inputs are combined as “barcodes” (e.g. 12241) in order of Species Index, Habitat Index, Hub, Anchor, then Risk Index. The terrestrial barcode is contained in the “T_Barcode” field of the terrestrial CVI dataset.
The barcodes are then placed into 4 Action Classes and associated subcategories that characterize the existing network of lands and waters. The Action Classes are captured in the “T_ActCat” and “T_Class” fields of the terrestrial CVI dataset.
- Maintain (1): Areas with a high concentration of Federal trust species (Species Index=3) & highly intact landscapes (Habitat Index=4)
- Enhance (2a-d): Areas with a high concentration of Federal trust species (Species Index=3) & moderately fragmented landscapes (Habitat Index=3), OR highly intact landscapes (Habitat Index=4) with a low or moderate concentration of Federal trust species (Species Index<3)
- Restore (3a-c): Areas with a moderate or high concentration of Federal trust species (Species Index>1) & highly fragmented landscapes (Habitat Index=2), OR moderately fragmented landscapes (Habitat Index=3) with low concentration of Federal trust species (Species Index=1)
- Low Return on Investment (4a-e): All other combinations of Species Index & Habitat Index scores
Within each class, the barcodes are ranked in descending order for each variable in succession (Species, Habitat, Hub, Anchor, then Risk) and assigned a Conservation Value Index score between 0 (low) and 216 (maximum number of unique terrestrial barcode combinations). In other words, pixels with the highest-ranked barcode receive a terrestrial score of 216. Pixels with the lowest-ranked barcode receive a score of 1, while pixels with non-habitat (urban areas and reservoirs) receive a score of 0. The terrestrial CVI score is contained in the “T_CVI” field of the terrestrial CVI dataset.
Aquatic input data (4 indices)
- The Species Index for aquatic ecosystems
- The Habitat Condition Index for aquatic ecosystems
- Conservation Hubs (partner focus areas)
- The Risk Index
The underlying indices are not currently available online. More information about how each index is developed is available in the Middle Southeast Blueprint 2020 Development Process.
Combining the aquatic inputs into an aquatic Conservation Value Index
The 4 inputs are combined as “barcodes” (e.g. 2421) in order of Species Index, Habitat Index, Hub, then Risk Index. The aquatic barcode is contained in the “A_Barcode” field of the aquatic CVI dataset.
The bar codes are then placed into 4 Action Classes and associated subcategories that characterize the existing network of lands and waters. The Action Classes are captured in the “A_ActCat” and “A_Class” fields of the aquatic CVI dataset.
- Maintain (1): Areas with a high concentration of Federal trust species (Species Index=3) & highly intact landscapes (Habitat Index=4)
- Enhance (2a-d): Areas with a high concentration of Federal trust species (Species Index=3) & moderately fragmented landscapes (Habitat Index=3), OR highly intact landscapes (Habitat Index=4) with a low or moderate concentration of Federal trust species (Species Index<3)
- Restore (3a-c): Areas with a moderate or high concentration of Federal trust species (Species Index>1) & highly fragmented landscapes (Habitat Index=2), OR moderately fragmented landscapes (Habitat Index=3) with a low concentration of Federal trust species (Species Index=1)
- Low Return on Investment (4a-e): All other combinations of Species Index & Habitat Index scores
Within each class, the bar codes are ranked in descending order for each variable in succession (Species, Habitat, Hub, then Risk) and assigned a Conservation Value Index score between 0 (low) and 144 (maximum number of unique aquatic bar code combinations). In other words, pixels with the highest-ranked bar code receive an aquatic score of 144. Pixels with the lowest-ranked bar code receive a score of 1, while pixels with non-habitat (upland areas, urban areas, and reservoirs) receive a score of 0. The aquatic CVI score is contained in the “A_CVI” field of the aquatic CVI dataset.
Combining aquatic and terrestrial values to create the final Conservation Value Index/Middle Southeast Blueprint 2020
After terrestrial and aquatic CVI scores are computed as described above, the scores are standardized. Each pixel’s terrestrial CVI score is standardized relative to the other scores within its terrestrial planning unit (roughly EPA Omernik Level 3 Ecoregions). Similarly, the aquatic CVI scores are standardized relative to the other scores within each aquatic planning unit (HUC 4 watersheds). Each pixel is then assigned the higher of the two standardized terrestrial and aquatic CVI scores. The higher value becomes that pixel’s score on the combined Conservation Value Index.
To compute the final Middle Southeast Blueprint values, the combined CVI is then stratified into high (top 30%), moderate (next 20%), and low (bottom 50%) CV categories based on calculating the cumulative area from high to low CV values within each combined planning unit. The high value category becomes “high conservation value” in the Middle Southeast Blueprint, and the moderate category becomes “medium conservation value” in the Middle Southeast Blueprint. The high value category becomes “high conservation value” in the Middle Southeast Blueprint, and the moderate category becomes “medium conservation value” in the Middle Southeast Blueprint.
The Middle Southeast Blueprint 2020 values are found in the “M_SEBcode” field of the combined CVI dataset as follows:
- 0 = Unavailable (urban areas and open water)
- 1 = High CV
- 2 = Medium CV
- 3 = Low CV
