Southeast Conservation Blueprint [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service] {2023} Full Details

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Title:

Southeast Conservation Blueprint [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service] {2023}

Description:

PRIORITY CATEGORIES The Southeast Blueprint covers 50% of the SECAS geography, as described below. Priorities for a connected network of lands and waters Highest priority: Areas where conservation action would make the biggest impact, based on a suite of natural and cultural resource indicators. This class covers roughly 10% of the Southeast Blueprint geography.High priority: Areas where conservation action would make a big impact, based on a suite of natural and cultural resource indicators. This class covers roughly 15% of the Southeast Blueprint geography.Medium priority: Areas where conservation action would make an above-average impact, based on a suite of natural and cultural resource indicators. This class covers roughly 20% of the Southeast Blueprint geography.Priority connections: Connections between priority areas that cover the shortest distance possible while routing through as much Blueprint priority as possible. This class covers roughly 5% of the Southeast Blueprint geography. COMBINING ZONATION RESULTS WITH CORRIDORS TO CREATE THE SOUTHEAST BLUEPRINT Input Data 2023 combined Zonation results Southeast Blueprint 2023 hubs and corridors Mapping Steps Creating the Inland Continental Blueprint Start with the mosaiced, rebalanced Zonation scores for all continental inland subregions. Clip to the inland continental corridor extent created in the Blueprint 2023 hubs and corridors analysis. In this layer, each pixel in the inland continental Southeast Blueprint geography has a continuous value ranging from 0 to 100 according to its rank by Zonation prioritization, rebalanced by linear rescale. Pixels with values >89 are in the highest tier of indicator value. Select all pixels with values >89 and classify them as "highest priority for a connected network of lands and waters". Pixels with values >74 that aren't already classified as highest priority are in the second-highest tier of indicator value. Select all pixels >74 and ≤89 and classify them as "high priority for a connected network of lands and waters". Pixels with values >55 that aren't already classified as highest or high priority are in the third-highest tier of indicator values. Select all pixels >55 and ≤74 and classify them as "medium priority for a connected network of lands and waters". This makes up the first portion of the medium priority class. Add to the medium priority class any inland hubs used in the connectivity analysis that that were not already classified as highest, high, or medium priority in the steps above. This ensures that the large patches of protected lands used as hubs in the connectivity analysis can score no lower than medium priority in the Blueprint. This adds an additional 1.3% of total area to the medium priority class. Use the inland continental corridors to fill in the priority connections class. Classify as "priority connections" any pixel identified as a corridor in the inland corridor analysis that is not already assigned to the highest, high or medium priority categories in the steps above. This contributes an additional 5% to the total Blueprint area, ensuring the final Blueprint ultimately covers 50% of the Southeast Blueprint landscape. Creating the Marine/Estuarine Continental Blueprint Start with the mosaiced, rebalanced Zonation results for all continental subregions. Clip to the marine/estuarine corridor extent created in the Blueprint 2023 hubs and corridors analysis. In this layer, each pixel in the marine/estuarine continental Southeast Blueprint geography has a continuous value ranging from 0 to 100 according to its rank in the Zonation output, rebalanced by linear rescale. Pixels with values >90 are in the highest tier of indicator values. Select all pixels with values >90 and classify them as "highest priority for a connected network of lands and waters". Pixels with values >75 that aren't already classified as highest priority are in the second-highest tier of indicator value. Select all pixels >75 and ≤90 and classify them as "high priority for a connected network of lands and waters". Pixels with values > 57 that aren't already classified as highest or high priority are in the third-highest tier of indicator value. Select all pixels >57 and ≤75 and classify them as "medium priority for a connected network of lands and waters". Use the marine/estuarine corridors to fill in the priority connections class. Classify as "priority connections" any pixel identified as a corridor in the marine/estuarine corridor analysis that was not already assigned to the highest, high or medium priority categories in the steps above. This step ensures that the final Blueprint ultimately covers 50% of the Southeast Blueprint landscape. Creating the Caribbean Blueprint Start with the mosaiced, rebalanced Zonation scores for the Caribbean subregion. In this layer, each pixel in the Caribbean Blueprint geography has a continuous value ranging from 0 to 100 according to its rank by Zonation prioritization, rebalanced by linear rescale. Pixels with values >89 are in the highest tier of indicator value. Select all pixels with values >89 and classify them as "highest priority for a connected network of lands and waters". Pixels with values >74 that aren't already classified as highest priority are in the second-highest tier of indicator value. Select all pixels >74 and ≤89 and classify them as "high priority for a connected network of lands and waters". Pixels with values >54 that aren't already classified as highest or high priority are in the third-highest tier of indicator value. Select all pixels >54 and ≤74 and classify them as "medium priority for a connected network of lands and waters". This makes up the first portion of the medium priority class. Add to the medium priority class any hubs used in the Caribbean connectivity analysis that that were not already classified as highest, high, or medium priority in the steps above. This ensures that the large patches of protected lands used as hubs in the connectivity analysis can score no lower than medium priority in the Blueprint. This adds an additional 1% of total area to the medium priority class. Use the Caribbean corridors to fill in the priority connections class. Classify as "priority connections" any pixel identified as a corridor in the corridor analysis that is not already assigned to the highest, high or medium priority categories in the steps above. This contributes an additional 5% to the total Blueprint area, ensuring the final Blueprint ultimately covers 50% of the Southeast Blueprint landscape. Combining the Inland Continental, Marine/Estuarine Continental, and Caribbean Components into Southeast Blueprint 2023 As a final step, combine the inland continental, marine/estuarine continental, and Caribbean results into a single raster representing final Southeast Blueprint 2023. Do this using the ArcGIS-Cell Statistics "MAXIMUM" function. Note: For more details on the mapping steps, code used to create this layer is availablein the Southeast Blueprint 2023 Data Download orCaribbean-only Southeast Blueprint 2023 Data Downloadunder > 6_Code. KNOWN ISSUESContinental Terrestrial - Uplands Some managed grasslands are underprioritized. Examples include Prairie Wildlife grasslands west of Vinton, MS; Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge in TX; Caddo National Grassland in TX; Lyndon B. Johnson National Grassland in TX; Black Kettle National Grassland in OK; restored glades on the eastern and northern edge of Ozark National Forest in AR; areas along Pretty Ridge Rd. east of Cove Lake in KY; May Prairie State Natural Area in TN; Bark Camp Barrens Wildlife Management Area in TN; DuPont State Forest and some surrounding areas in NC; and the Voice of America site east of Chicod, NC. Improvements to the fire frequency and grassland indicators could fix this in the future. Some important riverscour grasslands downstream of major dams are underprioritized (e.g., part of the Rockcastle River in Daniel Boone National Forest in KY). Improvements to the reservoir mask, which currently removes these areas from the prioritization, could fix this in the future. Some pastures are overprioritized in TX and OK. Examples include an area of small-parcel improved pastures southeast of Austin, TX; an area of non-native pasture east of Cherokee, OK; an area of non-native pasture east of Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge in OK; and non-native pastures east of Cashion, OK. This could be fixed in the future with improvements to the Great Plains perennial grasslands indicator. Parts of some important ecological corridors are underprioritized. Examples include parts of the corridor between Ocmulgee Mounds National Historic Park and Bond Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in GA; parts of the corridor between Fort Campbell, Land Between the Lakes, and Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge in KY and TN; some of the areas from Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge to Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in NC; multiple corridors coming out of Okefenokee Swamp in GA; and the Osceola to Ocala corridor in FL. Improvements to prioritization methods and indicators will likely fix these in the future. Some upland areas in large habitat patches that are fragmented by dirt roads are underprioritized. This issue impacts parts of some national forests and military bases. Improvements to the intact habitat cores indicator and/or new prioritization methods currently under investigation will likely fix this in the future. Some patches of open pine with good local conditions are underprioritized. Examples include parts of Yellow River Marsh Preserve State Park in FL; important gopher tortoise habitat in an area just east of Mauk, GA; Fort Rucker in AL; an area east of Bexley, MS; and Daniel Boone National Forest in KY. Ongoing updates to the fire frequency indicator could continue to improve this issue in future updates. Some parts of small, low-elevation islands are underprioritized. The exact boundaries of these highly dynamic islands can be hard to predict. The boundaries used in the islands indicator and areas used for critical habitat of key island species don't always align perfectly—especially in the most dynamic parts of the island. A potential improvement to address this is under investigation. Examples include Tybee Bar in GA, Lanark Reef in FL, and the Chandeleur Islands off of LA. Within the Interior Plateau subregion, planted pine areas are being overprioritized when they are part of intact habitat cores. Potential indicator improvements to fix this are under investigation. Some recently developed areas are overprioritized (e.g., a solar field near Wedgefield, FL and the Moncure Megasite in NC). Updated landcover and indicator updates based on newer landcover should fix this issue. Some new conservation areas where restoration has only started recently are underprioritized. Examples include Wolfe Creek Forest in FL, an airfield north of Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park in FL, and the Wolf River corridor in MS. Updated landcover and indicator updates based on newer landcover should fix this issue. Some important urban natural areas are underprioritized. For example, an area east of Puryear Park in St. Petersburg, FL; Kapok Park in Clearwater, FL; the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance education hub in Atlanta, GA; Lost Corner Preserve in Sandy Springs, GA; part of Chattahoochee River National Recreation area in GA; and part of Simpsonwood Park in Peachtree Corners, GA. Improvements in indicators related to urban natural areas could fix this in the future. Culturally important historic areas are underprioritized through the Blueprint. This is particularly true in areas outside of the Piedmont, Atlantic Coastal Plain, and East Gulf Coastal Plain subregions. Even within these subregions, where there is an indicator for these areas, there are significant gaps. Some low-urban historic areas in these subregions are underprioritized because 1) they are not yet part of the National Register of Historic Places (e.g., Lost Island Farm on Roanoke Island, the likely landing site for the Lost Colony at the mouth of the Chowan River, and Native American sites on the Dan River near the NC/VA border), 2) because their location isn't publicly shared (e.g., sensitive archeological sites), or because 3) the GIS depiction of their spatial boundaries has significant errors (e.g., sites in GA and AL). Some areas with important ecological communities are underprioritized in TX and OK (e.g., shinnery oak scrub). Some upland areas in the Upper Coastal Plain of GA are overprioritized. Improvements in prioritization methods could improve this in the future. The Trail Ridge area east of Okefenokee Swamp in GA, which has significant longleaf restoration potential and is an important movement corridor for longleaf-associated species, is underprioritized. Improvements in prioritization methods could improve this in the future. Some small patches of pine rocklands habitat in South FL are underprioritized. Some small or newer quarries are overprioritized (e.g., American Stone Quarry near Chapel Hill, NC). While most quarries are classified correctly as developed, smaller or newer ones don't have large enough areas of barren landcover in the 2019 National Land Cover Database to be filtered out in the resilient terrestrialsites indicator. If not identified as non-natural, quarries tend to score very highly on landscape diversity given all the elevation change that happens within them. This issue could be fixed in a future update to theresilient terrestrialsitesindicator. Terrestrial - Wetlands Some important wetlands are underpriorized. Examples include the east and west sides of Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge in AR; Ten Mile Pond Conservation Area in MO; the southeast part of Big Oak Tree State Park in MO; xerohydric flatwoods in Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge in KY; white fringeless orchid habitat in Daniel Boone National Forest in KY; wetlands just east of Macedonia, TN; depressional wetlands southeast of Raeford, NC; the Stony Run wetlands in Northeast Dunn, NC; the Tar River wetlands in Northeast Greenville, NC; and a section of the Waccamaw River floodplain between Edward E Burroughs Hwy and SC 31 in SC. Improvements to indicators and prioritization methods could fix these in the future. Some ephemeral wetlands are underprioritized. New prioritization methods under investigation for next year could address this. A small set of bottomland forest areas in areas flooded by dams are underprioritized (e.g., the area between Summerfield and Faircloth, LA and the Little River wetlands in Millwood Recreation Area in AR). These areas are misidentified as open water reservoirs in the current reservoir mask. Improvements to that mask for future Blueprints are under investigation. Some inland areas that play particularly important buffering roles for key offshore habitats are underprioritized (e.g., St. Joseph Bay State Buffer Preserve in FL). New prioritization methods under investigation for next year could address this. Sections of the Everglades on either side of US Hwy 41 are underprioritized. Indicator improvements under investigation could fix this in the future. Important Carolina bays are often included in large patches of medium priority, but the bays and nearby areas should be higher priority. Different methods for resolving this issue are under investigation. Some important areas of tidal freshwater marsh are underprioritized (e.g., Mackay National Wildlife Refuge). Indicators that better represent waterfowl habitat needs could improve this in the future. The salt marshes on the west side of Swanquarter National Wildlife Refuge seem to be underprioritized. Improved indicator and priority methods could fix this in the future. Species-Specific Some important caves for Ozark big-eared bat, Northern long-eared bat, and Indiana bat are underprioritized. A potential indicator to address this is under investigation. Some important upland habitat for range-restricted species is underprioritized (e.g., Texas kangaroo rat). Indicator improvements under development could fix that in next year's update. Some coastal marsh areas important for diamondback terrapin are underprioritized (e.g., Cedar Point marsh north of Dauphin Island, AL). Some important areas for salamanders in the Appalachians are underprioritized (e.g., the Little River headwaters south of Masseyville, GA). Some islands particularly important for species that don't yet have critical habitat spatially mapped (e.g., red knot) or are not federally listed species (e.g., seabirds, heron rookeries) are underprioritized (e.g., Ogeechee Bar in GA and Walker and Robinson Islands in AL). Some Florida panther habitat that is important for breeding and movement in South FL is underprioritized. Some parts of Cape Sable seaside sparrow critical habitat are being underprioritized. All critical habitat for this species is prioritized in the Blueprint, but it is currently a mix of high and medium priority. Multiple indicator improvements under investigation could fix this in the future. Important areas for beach birds that are not on islands are underprioritized in the FL Peninsula and all other Gulf coast subregions. Some areas that are important for mottled duck nesting in the edge of the Texas Blackland Prairie and West Gulf Coastal Plain subregions are underprioritized. Freshwater Some river sections important for aquatic diversity are underprioritized. This is especially true in WV where the data used are older than in other states. Underprioritized areas include some sections of Shoe Heel Creek in NC that are important for broadtail madtoms and other endemics; Neuse River waterdog habitat in the Trent River near Croatan National Forest in NC; the VA section of the Nottoway River; the lower section of the Little River in NC; some parts of the lower Neuse River in NC; Buck darter streams near Shopville, KY; some sections of the Edisto River in SC; parts of Ashley River northwest of Charleston, SC; an area near the confluence of Black Mingo Creek and the Black River in SC; the headwaters of the Flint River; and sections of the Flint River north and south of the Atlanta airport. Ongoing improvements in the imperiled aquatic species indicators and prioritization methods should improve these issues. Some aquatic areas, particularly smaller rivers and streams, are overprioritized. The imperiled aquatic species indicator is at a subwatershed (HUC12) scale while the species hotspots it seeks to depict are often only a part of that subwatershed. Some important areas for migratory fish in Gulf of Mexico drainages are underprioritized. The source data for the Gulf migratory fish connectivity indicator didn't include migratory fish species that are important for the Mississippi Alluvial Valley and all Gulf coast watersheds west of that subregion. Some important areas for migratory fish in Atlantic drainages (e.g., a section of the St. Mary's River west of I-95) are underprioritized. Updated prioritization methods will likely fix this issue next year. Some open water areas of artificial waterbodies are underprioritized. In some cases, parts of these waterbodies can provide important species habitat (e.g., American crocodile habitat in cooling canals in South FL and waterfowl habitat in parts of some reservoirs). Some river areas are underprioritized in South FL (e.g., the north fork of the St. Lucie River and Ten Mile Creek). Potential aquatic indicator improvements under investigation could fix this in the future. Some canals are overprioritized in South FL. Potential aquatic indicator improvements under investigation could fix this in the future. While the Blueprint tries to not prioritize the open water parts of reservoirs, a small number of small reservoirs were missed in the layer that estimates reservoir locations (e.g., Tired Creek Lake in GA). Marine Mouths of many priority rivers are underprioritized where they transition into the estuarine ecosystem. Improved estuarine indicators should improve this issue in the future. Some marine Blueprint priorities are at a coarser resolution due to the marine birds, sea turtles, and marine mammals indicators. The coarser data results in what looks like parts of large squares or hexagons and unnatural edges in priority. Future improvements in indicator resolution should fix this in the future. Some marine areas in the far eastern part of the Blueprint, particularly beyond the Blake Plateau, may be underprioritized due a lack of survey data for marine birds and mammals in that region. Some important black-capped petrel feeding areas far offshore in the Atlantic are underprioritized. Future improvements in the marine birds indicator should fix this. Some areas along the Atlantic shelf break are overprioritized due to overprediction in deep-sea coral richness models (e.g., select areas east of GA). While the models predict high coral richness in these areas, surveys show that they are almost entirely sand. Improvements in the models could fix this in the future. Some important areas of the Charleston Gyre upwelling are underprioritized. While the exact location of the upwelling and its high concentration of nutrients and fish larvae isn't fixed, there are some areas where it commonly occurs that are underprioritized. Some parts of the deeper waters off Onslow Bay, NC, which are important for reef fish and many tropical/subtropical species, are likely underprioritized. Some areas important for corals in the Gulf are underprioritized (e.g., an area east of the West Florida Escarpment that's being considered for a Coral Habitat Area of Particular Concern). Future coral indicator improvements will likely fix this. Some important areas for Rice's whale may be underprioritized. The Blueprint currently covers habitat predicted by the GoMMAPPS model for Rice's whale, but NOAA core distribution polygons cover a much larger area. DeSoto Canyon—an important area for corals, fish and nutrient upwellings south of Pensacola, FL—is underprioritized. Future improvements in coral, fish, or marine bird models could improve this in the future. Parts of important species movement corridors are underprioritized (e.g., a marine mammal corridor southeast of LA, a Kemp's ridley sea turtle corridor near the TX border). Improved corridor methods could fix this in the future. Caribbean Terrestrial - Uplands Parts of some protected areas in the east part of St. Croix in USVI (e.g, Point Udall, Jack and Issac Bay) are underprioritized. Indicator and/or method improvements could fix this in the future. Some relatively undeveloped areas that are important for maintaining water quality in nearby high priority marine areas are underprioritized (e.g., some areas east of the St. Croix cruise terminal in USVI). Improvements to indicators and/or corridor methods could fix this in the future. Some important areas related to Taíno history are underprioritized (e.g., sections of Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve in St. Croix, USVI). Work to better integrate this information into cultural indicators is ongoing. Inland corridors are underrepresented in St. Croix, USVI. Due to the patterns of priority, the estimated corridors are all coastal and marine. Improvements to corridor methods could fix this in the future. Parts of the coastal hills in eastern PR, important for their unique vegetation composition, are underprioritized. Terrestrial - Wetlands The Altona Lagoon area of St. Croix, USVI—an important area for birds, sportfish, and the potential reintroduction of the St. Croix ground lizard—is underprioritized. Species-Specific Some areas important for future Puerto Rican parrot habitat are underprioritized (e.g., northeast of El Yunque in PR; east of Lares, PR). Improvements to species-specific indicators could fix this in the future. Some areas important for rare plants are underprioritized (e.g., east of Lares, PR). Some areas that are important for coquí species in PR may be underprioritized (e.g., Puerto Rican rock frog [Eleutherodcactylus cooki] habitat southwest of El Yunque). Work on a coquí-specific indicator is ongoing. Marine Some important areas for coral reef restoration are underprioritized (e.g., north of Teague Bay in St. Croix, USVI; north of Christiansted in St. Croix, USVI). Better incorporation of restoration in coral indicators could fix this in the future. Some marine areas strongly impacted by point source pollution may be overprioritized (e.g., area of south St. Croix, USVI impacted by Cruzan rum distillery discharge). Some marine corridor routes do not sufficiently account for variation in habitat quality between hubs (e.g., corridors south of Culebra, PR; corridors southwest of the big island of PR).

Creator:

Department of the Interior

Provider:

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Open Data

Resource Class:

Imagery and Web services

Temporal Coverage:

2023

Date Issued:

2023-09-19

Place:

United States

Rights:

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and/or contained herein. While the Service makes every reasonable effort to ensure the accuracy and completeness of data provided for distribution, it may not have the necessary accuracy or completeness required for every possible intended use. The Service recommends that data users consult the associated metadata record to understand the quality and possible limitations of the data. The Service creates metadata records in accordance with the standards endorsed by the Federal Geographic Data Committee. As a result of the above considerations, the Service gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of the data. It is the responsibility of the data user to use the data in a manner consistent with the limitations of geospatial data in general and these data in particular. Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the Service, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made regarding the utility of the data on another system or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. This applies to the use of the data both alone and in aggregate with other data and information.

Access Rights:

Public

Format:

Imagery

Language:

English

Date Added:

2023-10-17