Multiscale guidance and tools for implementing a landscape approach to resource management in the Bureau of Land Management

Carter, Sarah K.; Carr, Natasha B.; Flather, Curtis H.; Fleishman, Erica; Leu, Matthias; Noon, Barry R.; Wood, David J. A.

doi:10.3133/ofr20161207

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…The advisors emphasized the need for an inclusive, transparent, science-based process that would build agency understanding and buy-in for implementation, and indicators that would be feasible to assess (and eventually monitor over time) using existing data, technologies, and resources. BLM also required that the effort be consistent with principles in BLM's assessment, inventory, and monitoring (AIM) Strategy (Toevs et al 2011a(Toevs et al , 2011bTaylor et al 2014) and consider information and lessons learned from a suite of rapid assessments that quantified the amount and distribution of vegetation types, and some connectivity and patch-based metrics, at ecoregional scales across much of the western US (e.g., Comer et al 2013;Carr and Melcher 2017;Wood et al 2016).…”

Section: Application Of the Process To Blmmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…We emphasize that these indicators and analyses for priority vegetation types are only one part of the information needed to inform landscape-level decisions on multiple-use public lands. Data on additional resources of management concern (e.g., soils, surface and ground water) and on anthropogenic and ecological processes that affect resources (e.g., climate, fire, development, invasive species, disease, Wood et al 2016;Carr et al 2016) are also critical. In addition, using indicators of spatial pattern quantified across landscapes together with field-based monitoring metrics that are collected locally has the potential to compensate for the limitations of each: field-based measures lack continuous, spatial pattern information while landscape indicators lack detailed species-level information.…”

Section: The Process For Identifying Indicatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is a growing understanding that successful, long-term resource management and conservation often require prioritizing, coordinating, and implementing actions at landscape scales (e.g., Margules and Sarkar 2007;Lindenmayer et al 2008;Sayer 2009;Clement et al 2014;Carter et al 2020). Landscape approaches to resource management can help achieve sustainable, multifunctional landscapes by considering landscape scales and using resource information collected at multiple spatial scales that is understandable and accessible to all stakeholders (Sayer et al 2013;Freeman et al 2015;Carter et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Monitoring is currently the least developed aspect of landscape approaches to resource management (Reed et al 2016). Assessment and monitoring of natural resources on public lands have traditionally occurred on a project-byproject (site-by-site) basis in association with individual permits or projects (Wood et al 2016), or more recently, across larger management units using survey sampling across field plots (Fancy and Bennetts 2012;Toevs et al 2011b). Such design-based sampling efforts provide critical information on resource conditions locally, and sample measures can be aggregated to provide condition estimates across broader extents (e.g., Karl et al 2016;Yu et al 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some landuse plans for public lands consider landscape ecology concepts such as fragmentation and connectivity (Trammell et al 2018). Resource managers also see clear value in understanding the landscape context of decisions and assessments conducted at local levels (e.g., Wood et al 2016). However, regular use of landscape metrics to inform planning and management decisions on public lands is lacking.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Identifying Policy-relevant Indicators for Assessing Landscape Vegetation Patterns to Inform Planning and Management on Multiple-use Public Lands

Carter

Burris

Domschke

et al. 2021

Environmental Management

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Understanding the structure and composition of landscapes can empower agencies to effectively manage public lands for multiple uses while sustaining land health. Many landscape metrics exist, but they are not often used in public land decision-making. Our objectives were to (1) develop and (2) apply a process for identifying a core set of indicators that public land managers can use to understand landscape-level resource patterns on and around public lands. We first developed a process for identifying indicators that are grounded in policy, feasible to quantify using existing data and resources, and useful for managers. We surveyed landscape monitoring efforts by other agencies, gathered science and agency input on monitoring goals, and quantified the prevalence of potential indicators in agency land health standards to identify five landscape indicators: amount, distribution, patch size, structural connectivity, and diversity of vegetation types. We then conducted pilot applications in four bureau of land management (BLM) field offices in Arizona, California, and Colorado to refine procedures for quantifying the indicators and assess the utility of the indicators for managers. Results highlighted the dominance of upland and the limited extent of riparian/wetland vegetation communities, moderate connectivity of priority vegetation patches, and lower diversity of native vegetation types on BLM compared to non-BLM lands. Agency staff can use the indicators to inform the development of quantitative resource management objectives in land use plans, evaluate progress in meeting those objectives, quantify potential impacts of proposed actions, and as a foundation for an all-lands approach to landscape-level management across public lands.

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Section: Application Of the Process To Blmmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: The Process For Identifying Indicatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Identifying Policy-relevant Indicators for Assessing Landscape Vegetation Patterns to Inform Planning and Management on Multiple-use Public Lands

Carter

Burris

Domschke

et al. 2021

Environmental Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Seed Menus: An integrated decision‐support framework for native plant restoration in the Mojave Desert

Shryock

DeFalco

Esque

2022

Ecology and Evolution

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The combination of ecosystem stressors, rapid climate change, and increasing landscape-scale development has necessitated active restoration across large tracts of disturbed habitats in the arid southwestern United States. In this context, programmatic directives such as the National Seed Strategy for Rehabilitation and Restoration have increasingly emphasized improved restoration practices that promote resilient, diverse plant communities, and enhance native seed reserves. While decision-support tools have been implemented to support genetic diversity by guiding seed transfer decisions based on patterns in local adaptation, less emphasis has been placed on identifying priority seed mixes composed of native species assemblages. Well-designed seed mixes can provide foundational ecosystem services including resilience to disturbance, resistance to invasive species, plant canopy structure to facilitate natural seedling recruitment, and habitat to support wildlife and pollinator communities. Drawing from a newly developed dataset of species distribution models for priority native plant taxa in the Mojave Desert, we created a novel decision support tool by pairing spatial predictions of species habitat with a database of key species traits including life history, flowering characteristics, pollinator relationships, and propagation methods. This publicly available web application, Mojave Seed Menus, helps restoration practitioners generate customized seed mixes for native plant restoration in the Mojave Desert based on project locations. Our application forms part of an integrated Mojave Desert restoration program designed to help practitioners identify species to include in local seed mixes and nursery stock development while accounting for local adaptation by identifying appropriate seed source locations from key restoration species.

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Quantifying Ecological Integrity of Terrestrial Systems to Inform Management of Multiple-Use Public Lands in the United States

Carter

Fleishman

Leinwand

et al. 2019

Environmental Management

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The concept of ecological integrity has been applied widely to management of aquatic systems, but still is considered by many to be too vague and difficult to quantify to be useful for managing terrestrial systems, particularly across broad areas. Extensive public lands in the western United States are managed for diverse uses such as timber harvest, livestock grazing, energy development, and wildlife conservation, some of which may degrade ecological integrity. We propose a method for assessing ecological integrity on multiple-use lands that identifies the components of integrity and levels in the ecological hierarchy where the assessment will focus, and considers existing policies and management objectives. Both natural reference and societally desired environmental conditions are relevant comparison points. We applied the method to evaluate the ecological integrity of shrublands in Nevada, yielding an assessment based on six indicators of ecosystem structure, function, and composition, including resource- and stressor-based indicators measured at multiple scales. Results varied spatially and among indicators. Invasive plant cover and surface development were highest in shrublands in northwest and southeast Nevada. Departure from reference conditions of shrubland area, composition, patch size, and connectivity was highest in central and northern Nevada. Results may inform efforts to control invasive species and restore shrublands on federal lands in Nevada. We suggest that ecological integrity assessments for multiple-use lands be grounded in existing policies and monitoring programs, incorporate resource- and stressor-based metrics, rely on publicly available data collected at multiple spatial scales, and quantify both natural reference and societally desired resource conditions.

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Multiscale guidance and tools for implementing a landscape approach to resource management in the Bureau of Land Management

Cited by 8 publications

References 18 publications

Identifying Policy-relevant Indicators for Assessing Landscape Vegetation Patterns to Inform Planning and Management on Multiple-use Public Lands

Identifying Policy-relevant Indicators for Assessing Landscape Vegetation Patterns to Inform Planning and Management on Multiple-use Public Lands

Seed Menus: An integrated decision‐support framework for native plant restoration in the Mojave Desert

Quantifying Ecological Integrity of Terrestrial Systems to Inform Management of Multiple-Use Public Lands in the United States

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