In an era of rapid land use changes and shifting climates, it is imperative that land managers and policymakers have actionable and current information available for decision processes. In this work, we seek to meet these needs through new data products and decision support tools built on digital soil mapping, new vegetation cover maps, agency inventory and monitoring data sets, and cutting-edge analytical frameworks. By building on large databases of field observations, available remote sensing, and cloud computing, we are able to create new, decision-relevant information more quickly.
Ecological Site Group maps for the Upper Colorado River Basin
What determines the effectiveness of Pinyon-Juniper clearing treatments?
Background & Importance
An opportunity for achieving this is through analysis of past land management and actions. Here, we apply a technique from the econometric literature that can account for these unplanned actions, called the synthetic control, to assess landscape change and treatment effectiveness.
It is also important to connect existing and new scientific information to lands where decisions are being made. As an extension of our soil mapping work, we and partners from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) are mapping broad land units that share similar land potential & ecological dynamics and then developing synthesis information for the mapped units, including decision support tools.
Our current focus for these efforts is the Upper Colorado River Basin and fire fuels management, sage grouse habitats, and energy development.
Soil Property and Class Maps of the Conterminous United States at 100-Meter Spatial Resolution
30m Resolution soil maps for the Colorado River Basin
Below are other science projects associated with this research.
Wind Erosion and Dust Emissions on the Colorado Plateau
Southwest Energy Exploration, Development, and Reclamation (SWEDR)
Below are USGS data associated with this research.
Aeolian mass flux data for the Colorado Plateau
Geodatabase of oil and gas pads and roads within the Bureau of Land Management's Carlsbad Field Office administrative boundary, New Mexico
Soil family particle size class map for Colorado River Basin above Lake Mead
Soil geomorphic unit and ecological site group maps for the rangelands of the Upper Colorado River Basin region
Predictive soil property maps with prediction uncertainty at 30-meter resolution for the Colorado River Basin above Lake Mead
5-year Relative Fractional Vegetation Cover at Abandoned Energy Development Sites on the Colorado Plateau
Automated Reference Toolset (ART)Data
Below are publications associated with this research.
Biophysical factors control invasive annual grass hot spots in the Mojave Desert
Synergistic soil, land use, and climate influences on wind erosion on the Colorado Plateau: Implications for management
Livestock removal increases plant cover across a heterogeneous dryland landscape on the Colorado Plateau
Assessing vegetation recovery from energy development using a dynamic reference approach
A quantitative soil-geomorphic framework for developing and mapping ecological site groups
What determines the effectiveness of Pinyon-Juniper clearing treatments? Evidence from the remote sensing archive and counter-factual scenarios
Guiding principles for using satellite-derived maps in rangeland management
Sampling design workflows and tools to support adaptive monitoring and management
Regional ensemble modeling reduces uncertainty for digital soil mapping
Evaluating natural experiments in ecology: Using synthetic controls in assessments of remotely sensed land treatments
A hybrid approach for predictive soil property mapping using conventional soil survey data
Digital mapping of ecological land units using a nationally scalable modeling framework
Below are the partners associated with this research.
- Overview
In an era of rapid land use changes and shifting climates, it is imperative that land managers and policymakers have actionable and current information available for decision processes. In this work, we seek to meet these needs through new data products and decision support tools built on digital soil mapping, new vegetation cover maps, agency inventory and monitoring data sets, and cutting-edge analytical frameworks. By building on large databases of field observations, available remote sensing, and cloud computing, we are able to create new, decision-relevant information more quickly.
Ecological Site Group maps for the Upper Colorado River BasinEcological Site Group maps for the Upper Colorado River BasinWhat determines the effectiveness of Pinyon-Juniper clearing treatments?What determines the effectiveness of Pinyon-Juniper clearing treatments?Background & Importance
An opportunity for achieving this is through analysis of past land management and actions. Here, we apply a technique from the econometric literature that can account for these unplanned actions, called the synthetic control, to assess landscape change and treatment effectiveness.
It is also important to connect existing and new scientific information to lands where decisions are being made. As an extension of our soil mapping work, we and partners from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) are mapping broad land units that share similar land potential & ecological dynamics and then developing synthesis information for the mapped units, including decision support tools.
Our current focus for these efforts is the Upper Colorado River Basin and fire fuels management, sage grouse habitats, and energy development.
Soil Property and Class Maps of the Conterminous United States at 100-Meter Spatial ResolutionSoil Property and Class Maps of the Conterminous United States at 100-Meter Spatial Resolution30m Resolution soil maps for the Colorado River Basin30m Resolution soil maps for the Colorado River Basin - Science
Below are other science projects associated with this research.
Wind Erosion and Dust Emissions on the Colorado Plateau
Wind erosion of soils and dust emissions are a significant resource management challenge on the Colorado Plateau. Loss of topsoil and associated aeolian sediment (wind-driven sediment) movement can lead to reduced soil fertility as well as abrasion and burial of vegetation. Dust in the atmosphere poses a threat to human health, visual resources, and regional water supplies (due to interactions...Southwest Energy Exploration, Development, and Reclamation (SWEDR)
Approximately 35% of the US and approximately 82% of DOI lands are “drylands” found throughout the western US. These lands contain oil, gas, oil shale, shale oil, and tar sand deposits and the exploration for and extraction of these resources has resulted in hundreds of thousands of operating and abandoned wells across the West. These arid and semi-arid lands have unique soil and plant communities... - Data
Below are USGS data associated with this research.
Aeolian mass flux data for the Colorado Plateau
These data were compiled to measure airborne horizontal mass flux of sediments moved by wind across soils, climates, vegetation types, and land uses on the Colorado Plateau. Objectives of our study were to quantify spatial and temporal patterns in wind erosion and further our understanding of how soil and site setting, climate, and land uses are controlling wind erosion and horizontal mass flux. TGeodatabase of oil and gas pads and roads within the Bureau of Land Management's Carlsbad Field Office administrative boundary, New Mexico
This database contains spatial data on the location, number, size and extent of energy-related surface disturbances within the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Carlsbad Field Office (CFO) administrative area. The BLM administers over 2 million acres of surface estate and 3 million acres of mineral estate in the southeastern portion of New Mexico. The BLM requires a thorough and comprehensive reasSoil family particle size class map for Colorado River Basin above Lake Mead
These data were compiled to support analysis of remote sensing data using the Disturbance Automated Reference Toolset (Nauman et al., 2017). The objective of our study was to assess results of pinyon and juniper land treatments. These data represent major soil types as defined primarily by soil texture and depth, but also geology, parent material, and geomorphology for relevant features that distiSoil geomorphic unit and ecological site group maps for the rangelands of the Upper Colorado River Basin region
This data release includes maps characterizing soil geomorphic units (SGUs), climate zones, and ecological site groups that classify landscapes by ecological potential and behavior for use in land management in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB) region. Soil geomorphic units were created by analysis and grouping of ecological sites (ESs), a more detailed local system of ecological units managedPredictive soil property maps with prediction uncertainty at 30-meter resolution for the Colorado River Basin above Lake Mead
These data were compiled to demonstrate new predictive mapping approaches and provide comprehensive gridded 30 meter resolution soil property maps for the Colorado River Basin above Hoover Dam. Random forest models related environmental raster layers representing soil forming factors with field samples to render predictive maps that interpolate between sample locations. Maps represented soil pH, t5-year Relative Fractional Vegetation Cover at Abandoned Energy Development Sites on the Colorado Plateau
This data release contains a single vector shapefile and two text documents with code used to generate the data product. This vector shapefile contains the locations of 365 "plugged and abandoned" well sites from across the Colorado Plateau with their respective relative fractional vegetation cover (RFVC) values. Oil and gas pads are often developed for production, and then capped, reclaimed, anAutomated Reference Toolset (ART)Data
These environmental raster covariate, geospatial vector data, and tabular data were compiled as input data for the Automated Reference Toolset (ART) algorithm. These data are a subset of all the environmetal raster covariate data used in the ART algorithm. Users are advised to read the mansuscript, associated with these data and identified as the larger work citation. It is recommended that data u - Publications
Below are publications associated with this research.
Filter Total Items: 27Biophysical factors control invasive annual grass hot spots in the Mojave Desert
Invasive annual grasses can promote ecosystem state changes and habitat loss in the American Southwest. Non-native annual grasses such as Bromus spp. and Schismus spp. have invaded the Mojave Desert and degraded habitat through increased fire occurrence, severity, and shifting plant community composition. Thus, it is important to identify and characterize the areas where persistent invasion has ocAuthorsTanner Corless Smith, Tara B.B. Bishop, Michael C. Duniway, Miguel L. Villarreal, Anna C Knight, Seth M. Munson, Eric K. Waller, Ryan Jensen, Richard A. GillSynergistic soil, land use, and climate influences on wind erosion on the Colorado Plateau: Implications for management
Two decades of drought in the southwestern USA are spurring concerns about increases in wind erosion, dust emissions, and associated impacts on ecosystems, agriculture, human health, and water supply. Different avenues of investigation into primary drivers of wind erosion and dust have yielded mixed results depending on the spatial and temporal sensitivity of the evidence. We monitored passive aeoAuthorsTravis W. Nauman, Seth M. Munson, Saroj Dhital, Nicholas P. Webb, Michael C. DuniwayLivestock removal increases plant cover across a heterogeneous dryland landscape on the Colorado Plateau
Livestock removal is increasingly used as a management option to mitigate the negative impacts of grazing-related disturbances on rangelands. Removal generally increases plant cover, but it is unclear when, where, and by how much plant and soil cover changes can be expected. On the Colorado Plateau, complex geology, topography, soils, and climate all interact to mediate the relationship between laAuthorsBrandon E McNellis, Anna C Knight, Travis W. Nauman, Samuel Norton Chambers, C.W. Brungard, S.E. Fick, C.G. Livensperger, C.G. Borthwick, Michael C. DuniwayAssessing vegetation recovery from energy development using a dynamic reference approach
Ecologically relevant references are useful for evaluating ecosystem recovery, but references that are temporally static may be less useful when environmental conditions and disturbances are spatially and temporally heterogeneous. This challenge is particularly acute for ecosystems dominated by sagebrush (Artemisia spp.), where communities may require decades to recover from disturbance. We demonsAuthorsAdrian P. Monroe, Travis W. Nauman, Cameron L. Aldridge, Michael O'Donnell, Michael C. Duniway, Brian S. Cade, Daniel Manier, Patrick J. AndersonA quantitative soil-geomorphic framework for developing and mapping ecological site groups
Land management decisions need context about how landscapes will respond to different circumstances or actions. As ecologists’ understanding of nonlinear ecological dynamics has evolved into state-and-transition models (STMs), they have put more emphasis on defining and mapping the soil, geomorphological, and climate parameters that mediate these dynamics. The US Department of Agriculture NaturalAuthorsTravis W. Nauman, Samuel S Burch, Joel T. Humphries, Anna C Knight, Michael C. DuniwayWhat determines the effectiveness of Pinyon-Juniper clearing treatments? Evidence from the remote sensing archive and counter-factual scenarios
In the intermountain western US, expansion of Pinyon (Pinus edulis) and Juniper (Juniperus spp.) woodlands (PJ) into grasslands and shrublands is a pervasive phenomenon, and an example of the global trend towards enhanced woody growth in drylands. Due to the perceived impacts of these expansions on ecosystem services related to biodiversity, hydrology, soil stability, fire prevention, and livestocAuthorsStephen E. Fick, Travis W. Nauman, Colby C. Brungard, Michael C. DuniwayGuiding principles for using satellite-derived maps in rangeland management
On the GroundRangeland management has entered a new era with the accessibility and advancement of satellite-derived maps.Maps provide a comprehensive view of rangelands in space and time, and challenge us to think critically about natural variability.Here, we advance the practice of using satellite-derived maps with four guiding principles designed to increase end user confidence and thereby accesAuthorsBrady W Allred, Megan K Creutzburg, John C Carlson, Christopher C Cole, Colin M. Dovichin, Michael C. Duniway, Matthew O. Jones, Jeremy D Maestas, David E. Naugle, Travis W. Nauman, Gregory S Okin, Matthew C Reeves, Matthew B. Rigge, Shannon L Savage, Dirac Twidwell, Daniel R. Uden, Bo ZhouSampling design workflows and tools to support adaptive monitoring and management
On the Ground• Adaptive land management requires monitoring of resource conditions, which requires choices about where and when to monitor a landscape.• Designing a sampling design for a monitoring program can be broken down in to eight steps: identifying questions, defining objectives, selecting reporting units, deciding data collection methods, defining the sample frame, selecting an appropriateAuthorsNelson G. Stauffer, Michael C. Duniway, Jason W. Karl, Travis W. NaumanRegional ensemble modeling reduces uncertainty for digital soil mapping
Recent country and continental-scale digital soil mapping efforts have used a single model to predict soil properties across large regions. However, different ecophysiographic regions within large-extent areas are likely to have different soil-landscape relationships so models built specifically for these regions may more accurately capture these relationships relative to a ‘global’ model. We askAuthorsColby C. Brungard, Travis W. Nauman, Michael C. Duniway, Kari E. Veblen, Kyle C. Nehring, David S. White, Shawn W. Salley, Julius AnchangEvaluating natural experiments in ecology: Using synthetic controls in assessments of remotely sensed land treatments
Many important ecological phenomena occur on large spatial scales and/or are unplanned and thus do not easily fit within analytical frameworks that rely on randomization, replication, and interspersed a priori controls for statistical comparison. Analyses of such large‐scale, natural experiments are common in the health and econometrics literature, where techniques have been developed to derive inAuthorsStephen E. Fick, Travis W. Nauman, Colby C. Brungard, Michael C. DuniwayA hybrid approach for predictive soil property mapping using conventional soil survey data
Soil property maps are important for land management and earth systems modeling. A new hybrid point-disaggregation predictive soil property mapping strategy improved mapping in the Colorado River Basin, and can be applied to other areas with similar data (e.g. conterminous United States). This new approach increased sample size ~6-fold over past efforts. Random forests related environmental rasteAuthorsTravis W. Nauman, Michael C. DuniwayDigital mapping of ecological land units using a nationally scalable modeling framework
Ecological site descriptions (ESDs) and associated state-and-transition models (STMs) provide a nationally consistent classification and information system for defining ecological land units for management applications in the United States. Current spatial representations of ESDs, however, occur via soil mapping and are therefore confined to the spatial resolution used to map soils within a surveyAuthorsJonathan J. Maynard, Travis W. Nauman, Shawn W. Salley, Brandon T. Bestelmeyer, Michael C. Duniway, Curtis J. Talbot, Joel R. Brown - Partners
Below are the partners associated with this research.