mjrubino/USNVC-Analyses: Quantifying the Representation of Plant Communities in the Protected Areas of the U.S.

To monitor how well plant communities of the U.S. are being conserved we need core datasets at the appropriate thematic, spatial and temporal resolution. The recent release of the LANDFIRE Existing Vegetation Dataset (2016 Remap) with a legend based on the Group level of the U.S. National Vegetation Classification allowed us to assess the conservation status of plant communities of the U.S. By combining the Group level map with the Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US Ver 2.01) we were able to quantify the level of representation. Because the classification is hierarchical, we can generalize the analysis to describe management and conservation patterns at each of the higher levels of the classification as well (Class, Subclass, Formation, Division, and Macrogroup).

We assembled attributes from the spatial data in a coded workflow using Python (version 3.6)(Python Software Foundation) and the pandas library (version 1.1.2)(pandas development team 2020). In the workflow, documented in a Jupyter notebook, we conducted analyses to quantify representation of plant communities throughout CONUS. We compiled raster cell counts in the spatial data using four summarizations: • Percent of mapped area designated protected (PAD Status 1 & 2) and multiple use (PAD Status 1, 2, & 3) for USNVC Groups across five USNVC Classes • Areal extent of protected (PAD Status 1 & 2), and multiple use (PAD Status 1, 2, & 3) of five USNVC Classes by land manager (Bureau of Land Management; USDA Forest Service; National Park Service; US Fish & Wildlife Service; Other Federal, State; and Other) • Protection level (PAD Status 1 & 2) of USNVC Groups and Macrogroups within four percentage categories (< 1% Protected, 1 – 17% Protected, 17 – 30% Protected, > 30% Protected) across Level II Ecoregions • Protection percentage (PAD Status 1 & 2, PAD Status 3, PAD Status 4-Converted, PAD Status 4-Not Converted) of lands within Level II Ecoregions where "Converted" are lands that have been converted to intensive uses (agriculture, urban, etc...) and "Not Converted" are lands representing natural, ruderal or plantation vegetation.