As part of its new science strategy, the USGS is currently striving to develop and mainstream various aspects of ecosystem science. The new ecosystems strategy specifically identifies the development of "national ecosystem maps from a study of the connections between physiographic setting, climate, hydrologic regime, biogeochemistry, ecological processes and biotic interactions" as one of its key goals (USGS, 2007). This strategy also identifies the USGS as the global leader of a process to classify and subsequently map standardized, global ecosystems (USGS, 2007). Moreover, the ecosystems strategy is also closely linked to the Climate Variability and Change strategy as impacts to ecosystems have been identified as a priority focus of climate change studies. In light of this new ecosystems emphasis, the Rocky Mountain Geographic Science Center (RMGSC), in coordination with Roger Sayre, Geographic Analysis and Monitoring Headquarters, has become the technical lead for several ecosystems activities; including the establishment of a global methodology for the mapping of ecosystems, implementation of this methodology for both the contiguous United States and Africa; and implementation of a web-based ecosystem dissemination system.

In addition to supporting specific parts of the USGS Science Strategy, these RMGSC activities are also a key component for a larger global effort to classify and map ecosystems in a standardized, robust, and practical manner which is headed by the USGS as part of The Group on Earth Observation (GEO) process.

The results of these activities will produce standardized geospatial ecosystem models, enabling the use of ecosystem occurrences as the spatial unit of analysis for assessing climate change effects on ecosystems. Spatial data on ecosystem distributions will be useful for many applications, and will facilitate research collaborations on spatially explicit valuation of ecosystem goods and services.

Ecosystems Mapping

A standardized, global ecosystem mapping methodology was finalized in February of 2008. This method is based on the mapping and integration of fundamental ecosystem structural elements, specifically landforms, surficial, lithology, bioclimates, soil moisture, and associated land cover as a proxy for vegetation. This approach promotes ecosystems as unique physical environments and their associated biota, and is a modification of a prototype method to map standardized, continent-wide mapping of the ecosystems of South America (Sayre et al., in press, AAG).

The RMGSC is also responsible for implementing this methodology in order to develop standardized ecosystems for both the contiguous United States and Africa. The first step in the implementation effort for the contiguous United States was the development/acquisition of all of the required data layers (landforms, lithology, isobioclimates, soil moisture index, etc.). Following the completion of these base layers, each was spatially combined based on the established methodology in order to produce a map of ecosystem structure units, or ecosystem footprints, which would then be aggregated and labeled using the Nature Serve Ecological Systems of North America Classification (Comer et al., 2003). The process for applying these labels was developed in coordination with Pat Comer of NatureServe, and is based on the development of a "lookup" table and rulesets linking each unique combination of ecosystem geophysical attribution to the appropriate label. Upon completion of this effort for the contiguous United States, planned for late FY08, the final labeled ecosystems product and each of the base data layers (landforms, surficial lithology, and isobioclimates) will be made available for use by resource management and a variety of research and modeling applications like climate change assessments, ecosystems services quantification and valuation, forecasting future ecosystem condition, etc.

Although the ecosystems effort for Africa is based on the same method used to delineate ecosystem footprints for the contiguous United States, data with a slightly coarser spatial resolution, or from different data sources, will be used. For instance, although the elevation data for use in Africa will also be 30-meter, it's based on reflective surface information instead of bare-earth. Completion of the Africa ecosystems activity is currently scheduled for FY09.

Implementation of a web-based ecosystem dissemination system is one of the final tasks that RMGSC is tasked with for FY08. This involves the continued development of the Global Data Toolset (GDT) to support the viewing, analysis, modeling, and dissemination of both ecosystems data and associated information. Dissemination tools, including a raster download, will be developed to support the delivery of the various ecosystems data layers to both scientists and the public. This system will provide all of the data access and dissemination needs for both the national and global ecosystems data and information.

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