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ECOREGIONAL GAP ANALYSIS OF THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES: THE SOUTHWEST REGIONAL GAP ANALYSIS PROJECT FINAL REPORT
Citation:
Prior-Magee, J., K. Boykin, D. F. BRADFORD, W. G. KEPNER, J. Lowry, D. Schrupp, K. Thomas, AND B. Thompson. ECOREGIONAL GAP ANALYSIS OF THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES: THE SOUTHWEST REGIONAL GAP ANALYSIS PROJECT FINAL REPORT. USGS, Corvallis, OR, 2007.
Impact/Purpose:
Healthy Communities and Ecosystems - by providing ecosystem research and methods development at multiple scales, utilizing landscape ecology and associated techniques
Description:
The Gap Analysis Program is a national program with the mission of developing key datasets needed to assess biological diversity across the nation. The primary objectives of the Gap Analysis Program are: (1) Land Cover Mapping – to map the distributions of natural communities; (2) Animal Habitat Modeling and Mapping – to map the predicted habitat of native animal species; (3) Stewardship Mapping – to map the degree of management for biodiversity maintenance of land tracts focusing on intent; (4) Gap Analysis – to analyze the representation of biotic elements in the conservation network to identify “gaps” in long-term security; and (5) Data Distribution – to provide this information to the public and those entities charged with land use research, policy, planning, and management. The Southwest Regional Gap Analysis Project (SWReGAP) was a mapping and assessment of biodiversity for the five-state region encompassing Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The area comprises approximately 150 million hectares (560,000 square miles) representing 1/5 the coterminous United States. The primary objective of the project was to use a coordinated approach to create detailed, seamless maps of the land cover, habitat for native terrestrial vertebrate species, land stewardship, and management status for the Southwest region. This information was analyzed to identify animal species habitats and natural land cover types that are underrepresented on land managed for their long term conservation. SWReGAP was a multi-institutional effort with scientists based in all five southwest states. Regional land cover mapping activities were coordinated by the Remote Sensing/GIS Lab at Utah State University. Animal habitat modeling, stewardship mapping, and gap analysis activities were coordinated for the region by the U.S. Geological Survey’s New Mexico Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at New Mexico State University. Other institutional partners included: U.S. Geological Survey’s Southwest Biological Science Center/Colorado Plateau Research Station, Colorado Division of Wildlife, Bureau of Land Management/National Science and Technology Center, Natural Resource Ecology Lab at Colorado State University, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency/National Exposure Research Laboratory, and NatureServe.