Including Condition into Ecological Maps Changes Everything—A Study of Ecological Condition in the Conterminous United States

In 2021, the Biden administration signed an executive order to protect 30% of American lands by 2030. Accomplishing this ambitious goal in the U.S. requires understanding the relative contribution of public and private lands toward supporting biodiversity. New approaches are needed because existing...

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Autores principales:	Kevin B. Knight, Patrick J. Comer, Brian R. Pickard, Doria R. Gordon, Theodore Toombs
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	landscape ecology conservation habitat quality conservation planning Agriculture S
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/3ff59bf83a224b409e920b6e809c972d
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:3ff59bf83a224b409e920b6e809c972d2021-11-25T18:09:15ZIncluding Condition into Ecological Maps Changes Everything—A Study of Ecological Condition in the Conterminous United States10.3390/land101111452073-445Xhttps://doaj.org/article/3ff59bf83a224b409e920b6e809c972d2021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/11/1145https://doaj.org/toc/2073-445XIn 2021, the Biden administration signed an executive order to protect 30% of American lands by 2030. Accomplishing this ambitious goal in the U.S. requires understanding the relative contribution of public and private lands toward supporting biodiversity. New approaches are needed because existing approaches focus on quantity of habitat without incorporating quality. To fill this need, we developed a 30 m resolution national habitat condition index (HCI) that integrates quality and quantity measures of habitat. We hypothesized that including an evaluation of the quality of habitat at landscape scales, both in conservation-focused preserves and working lands would provide a better assessment of the value of geographies for conservation. We divided the conterminous U.S. by major land cover type and into natural and cultivated lands and then spatially mapped multiple anthropogenic stressors, proximity to aquatic habitat, and vegetation departure from expected natural disturbance regimes. Each map layer was then scored for site impact and distance decay and combined into a final national index. Field observations providing scored relative ecological conditions were used for HCI calibration and validation at both CONUS and regional scales. Finally, we evaluate lands by management (conservation versus working lands) and ownership (public versus private) testing the value of these lands for conservation. While we found regional differences across CONUS, functional habitat was largely independent of protection status: working lands provide clear habitat and other values. These results are relevant for guiding strategies to achieve the U.S. 30 by 30 goals. Where similar data exist in other countries, analogous modeling could be used to meet their national conservation commitments.Kevin B. KnightPatrick J. ComerBrian R. PickardDoria R. GordonTheodore ToombsMDPI AGarticlelandscape ecologyconservationhabitat qualityconservation planningAgricultureSENLand, Vol 10, Iss 1145, p 1145 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	landscape ecology conservation habitat quality conservation planning Agriculture S
spellingShingle	landscape ecology conservation habitat quality conservation planning Agriculture S Kevin B. Knight Patrick J. Comer Brian R. Pickard Doria R. Gordon Theodore Toombs Including Condition into Ecological Maps Changes Everything—A Study of Ecological Condition in the Conterminous United States
description	In 2021, the Biden administration signed an executive order to protect 30% of American lands by 2030. Accomplishing this ambitious goal in the U.S. requires understanding the relative contribution of public and private lands toward supporting biodiversity. New approaches are needed because existing approaches focus on quantity of habitat without incorporating quality. To fill this need, we developed a 30 m resolution national habitat condition index (HCI) that integrates quality and quantity measures of habitat. We hypothesized that including an evaluation of the quality of habitat at landscape scales, both in conservation-focused preserves and working lands would provide a better assessment of the value of geographies for conservation. We divided the conterminous U.S. by major land cover type and into natural and cultivated lands and then spatially mapped multiple anthropogenic stressors, proximity to aquatic habitat, and vegetation departure from expected natural disturbance regimes. Each map layer was then scored for site impact and distance decay and combined into a final national index. Field observations providing scored relative ecological conditions were used for HCI calibration and validation at both CONUS and regional scales. Finally, we evaluate lands by management (conservation versus working lands) and ownership (public versus private) testing the value of these lands for conservation. While we found regional differences across CONUS, functional habitat was largely independent of protection status: working lands provide clear habitat and other values. These results are relevant for guiding strategies to achieve the U.S. 30 by 30 goals. Where similar data exist in other countries, analogous modeling could be used to meet their national conservation commitments.
format	article
author	Kevin B. Knight Patrick J. Comer Brian R. Pickard Doria R. Gordon Theodore Toombs
author_facet	Kevin B. Knight Patrick J. Comer Brian R. Pickard Doria R. Gordon Theodore Toombs
author_sort	Kevin B. Knight
title	Including Condition into Ecological Maps Changes Everything—A Study of Ecological Condition in the Conterminous United States
title_short	Including Condition into Ecological Maps Changes Everything—A Study of Ecological Condition in the Conterminous United States
title_full	Including Condition into Ecological Maps Changes Everything—A Study of Ecological Condition in the Conterminous United States
title_fullStr	Including Condition into Ecological Maps Changes Everything—A Study of Ecological Condition in the Conterminous United States
title_full_unstemmed	Including Condition into Ecological Maps Changes Everything—A Study of Ecological Condition in the Conterminous United States
title_sort	including condition into ecological maps changes everything—a study of ecological condition in the conterminous united states
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/3ff59bf83a224b409e920b6e809c972d
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Including Condition into Ecological Maps Changes Everything—A Study of Ecological Condition in the Conterminous United States

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