Name: BLM FIAT Potential Ecosystem Resilience and Resistance in Sagebrush Habitat
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Type: Raster Layer
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Description: A 30 meter integer grid representing ecosystem resilience and resistance in sagebrush habitat. “Resilience” and “resistance” to rangeland fire is the basis of the Fire and Invasive Assessment Tool (FIAT) analysis project. In simple terms, “resilience” is the ability of an area to recover from a disturbance, such as wildfire or drought. “Resistance” is the ability of an area of land to remain largely unchanged in the face of stress, disturbance, or invasive species. A resilient, resistant landscape will have integrity and be less susceptible to conversion to invasive annual grasses and landscape-scale, high-intensity fires and their effects. This raster was derived from the unique combinations of two datasets. The first dataset represents soil moisture and temperature regimes based on NRCS gSSURGO, STATSGO, and state SSURGO soil survey sources. The second dataset represents classes of sagebrush cover percentage. FIAT was developed using a process designed to identify strategies that ameliorate threats to Greater Sage-Grouse (GRSG; Centrocercus urophasianus) and their habitats. While the assessment is applicable across the range of sage-grouse, the analysis is limited to Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Management Agencies’ (WAFWA) Management Zones III, IV, and V (roughly the Great Basin region) because of the significant issues associated with invasive annual grasses and the high level of wildfires in this region. It incorporates emerging science, regional findings, and local data in identifying management opportunities that counter detrimental ecological trends in wildfire, invasive annual grasses, and conifer expansion. The purpose of the assessment is to identify potential project areas and management strategies in highly valued greater sage-grouse habitats which, if implemented, would reduce the threats to greater sage-grouse.
Copyright Text: U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Data created by the Bureau of Land Management with the Fire and Invasive Assessment Tool (FIAT) project.