Raster layers of optimal protection and restoration sites, ecological status, greater sage-grouse lek abundance, and connectivity to prioritize multi-species, sagebrush ecosystem management across Wyoming, USA

This data release includes a set of 25 rasters representing solutions (and associated input data) to two sagebrush conservation problems that identify optimal sites across the state of Wyoming for protection or restoration action (based on management-relevant inputs and constraints). The arid sagebrush-steppe ecosystems of western North America are undergoing substantial loss and degradation, primarily due to the accelerating effects of climate change, human development, and the spread of invasive species. These systems will require both protection and restoration actions to ensure their functionality and future persistence, however, because funding and resources are limited, so is the capacity to perform these actions. There is a critical need for spatial planning resources to identify priority management sites and evaluate potential tradeoffs, thereby aiding the strategic decision-making process. We created an adaptive spatial conservation prioritization (SCP) framework by significantly expanding the capabilities and scope of an existing SCP tool, the Prioritizing Restoration of Sagebrush Ecosystems Tool (PReSET; Duchardt et al. 2021). The original iteration of PReSET utilized integer linear programming to solve complex, management-relevant, multi-species restoration planning problems while considering varying spatial extents. We built upon the early version of PReSET by developing a multi-pronged strategic management optimization approach focused on 1) identifying priority protection areas based on existing, intact sagebrush sites, and 2) identifying priority restoration areas based on currently degraded sagebrush sites. We leveraged a variety of novel geospatial data products that provide state-wide spatial coverage layers of the delineation of intact and degraded sites, focal species density estimates, and strategically important ecological and management considerations (e.g., sagebrush connectivity, data uncertainty).

The full data release includes the following product groups each found within a .zip folder, as noted:
1. Problem 1 solutions: includes 30-meter (m) resolution rasters of optimal sites for protection (Problem_1_solutions.zip)
2. Problem 2 solutions: includes 30-m resolution rasters of optimal sites for restoration (Problem_2_solutions.zip)
3. Sagebrush ecological status: includes 30-m resolution input rasters of degraded and intact sagebrush sites (Sagebrush_ecological_status.zip)
4. Sagebrush connectivity (2020): includes the current (2020) 30-m resolution input raster of sagebrush connectivity across Wyoming (Sagebrush_connectivity_2020.zip)
5. Lek connectivity loss (1985 to 2020): includes the 30-m resolution input raster of lek connectivity loss from 1985 to 2020 (Lek_connectivity_loss_1985to2020.zip)
6. Greater Sage-grouse (GRSG) lek abundance: includes the 30-m resolution input raster of greater sage-grouse mean lek abundance (GRSG_lek_abundance.zip)

References:
Courtney J. Duchardt, Adrian P. Monroe, Julie A. Heinrichs, Michael S. O'Donnell, David R. Edmunds, Cameron L. Aldridge, Prioritizing restoration areas to conserve multiple sagebrush-associated wildlife species, Biological Conservation, Volume 260, 2021, 109212, ISSN 0006-3207, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109212.