Exhibit 2l SAMPLE Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory_Monitoring Technical_Guide.pdf

United States Department of Agriculture

Forest Service

Gen. Tech.

Report W0-68

September 2005

Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide:

Landscape and Land Unit Scales

United States Department of Agriculture

Forest Service

Gen. Tech.

Report W0-68

September 2005

Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide:

Landscape and Land Unit Scales

Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide i

1 Soil and Water Program Manager, Bridger-Teton National Forest, Jackson, WY.

2 Natural Resource Information System (NRIS) Terra Program Coordinator, Intermountain Region, Ogden, UT.

3 Ecologist, NRIS Terra Staff, Washington Office, Sandy, OR.

4 Ecologist, Pacific Northwest Region, Portland, OR.

5 Ecologist, Eastern Region, Milwaukee, WI.

6 Ecologist, Intermountain Region, Ogden, UT.

7 Soil Scientist, NRIS Terra Staff, Washington Office, Sandy, OR.

8 Supervisory Soil Scientist, Southwest Region, Phoenix, AZ.

9 Assistant Province Geologist, Sierra National Forest, Pacific Southwest Region, Clovis, CA.

10 Geologist, NRIS Terra Staff, Washington Office, Sandy, OR.

11 Ecologist, North Central Research Station, Rhinelander, WI.

12 Regional Soil Scientist, Southwest Region, Albuquerque, NM.

Special thanks and recognition are extended to the following persons who contributed extensively to the content and preparation of the document:

• The Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Update Team for many hours of hard work.

• Regional program managers for providing comments.

• Jim Keys, National Coordinator for Integrated Resource Inventories, for his sponsorship.

The following is the proper citation for this document:

Winthers, E.1; Fallon, D.2; Haglund, J.3; DeMeo, T.4; Nowacki, G.5; Tart, D.6; Ferwerda, M.7; Robertson, G.8; Gallegos, A.9; Rorick, A.10; Cleland, D. T.11; Robbie, W.12 2005.

Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory technical guide. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Washington Office, Ecosystem Management

Coordination Staff. 245 p.

Cover Photo: Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery (30 m) and digital orthophoto quad-rangles were fused together to produce this high-resolution image of the Beartooth

Mountains on the Custer National Forest near Red Lodge, Montana. Rock Creek drainage is in the center and Red Lodge Ski Area to the right. This perspective view was generated by draping the merged imagery over a digital elevation model (10 m).

Acknowledgments ii Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orienta-tion, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individ-ual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for com-munication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact

USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence

Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202)

720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide iii

This technical guide provides instruction and information on the development of the

Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory (TEUI) for lands administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. It provides a set of national standards, suggested method-ologies, and a list of criteria for defining, describing, and classifying terrestrial ecological units and types.

The TEUI Technical Guide provides the standard for development of terrestrial ecological units at the landtype association, landtype, and landtype phase levels of the National

Hierarchy Framework of Ecological Units (Cleland et al. 1997).

The TEUI Technical Guide is not intended to replace the correlation process of the

National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS). It relies on the NCSS process to ensure quality control of all TEUI products, particularly soils data.

The following references may be useful in development of the TEUI and supplement the direction contained in this technical guide:

• Draft Forest Service Manual 1940, Resource Inventories and

Monitoring and Ecosystem Assessments (in press).

• Draft Forest Service Handbook 1909.xx, Resource Inventories and

Monitoring and Ecosystem Assessments (in press).

• National Soil Survey Handbook (USDA NRCS 2003b).

• Soil Survey Manual (USDA NRCS Revised 1993).

• Keys to Soil Taxonomy (USDA NRCS 2003a).

• National Forestry Handbook (USDA NRCS 2004).

• National Forestry Manual (USDA NRCS 2000).

• Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils, Ver. 2.0

(Schoeneberger et al. 2002).

Foreword iv Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide

Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide v

Chapter 1. TEUI Protocol Framework

1.1 Overview and Purpose

1.2 Background and Business Needs

1.2.1 Background

1.2.2 Business Needs

1.3 Key Concepts

1.3.1 The National Hierarchy Framework of Ecological Units

1.3.2 Classification, Map Unit Design, and Map Unit Delineation

1.3.3 Geology

1.3.4 Geomorphology

1.3.5 Soil

1.3.6 Vegetation

1.4 Roles and Responsibilities

1.4.1 National Responsibilities

1.4.2 Regional Responsibilities

1.4.3 Forest Responsibilities

1.5 Relationship to Other Federal Inventory and Monitoring Programs

1.5.1 Natural Resources Conservation Service

1.6 Quality Control and Assurance

1.7 Change Management

1.7.1 Update Schedule

1.7.2 Process

Chapter 2. Landtype Associations Protocol

2.1 Objective

2.1.1 Business Requirements

2.1.2 Products

2.2 Planning and Design

2.2.1 Map Unit Design

2.2.2 Standards

2.2.3 Map Unit Legend

2.2.4 Delineation Criteria for Landtype Association Map Units

2.3 Mapping Landtype Associations

2.3.1 LTA Mapping Process

2.3.2 Logistics

2.3.3 Personnel Requirements

Contents vi Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide

2.4 Data Collection

2.5 Data Storage

2.6 Analysis

2.7 Reporting

Chapter 3. Landtype Protocol

3.1 Objective

3.1.1 Business Requirements

3.1.2 Products

3.2 Planning and Design

3.2.1 Ecological Type Classification and Characterization

3.2.2 Standards

3.2.3 Existing Information Sources

3.2.4 Work Plans

3.2.5 Logistics

3.3 Data Collection

3.3.1 Field Data Collection—Standards and Methods

3.3.2 Field Forms

3.3.3 Integrated Plot Standards

3.4 Data Storage

3.5 Analysis

3.5.1 Data Summaries

3.5.2 Synthesis and Interpretation

3.5.3 Quality Control and Assurance

3.5.4 Quality Control/Quality Assurance Roles and Responsibilities

3.5.5 Correlation of Ecological Types and Units

3.5.6 Mapping and Interpretative Reliability

3.6 Reporting

3.6.1 Format and Content

3.6.2 Accomplishment Reporting and Scheduling

Appendixes

Appendix A. Glossary

Appendix B. Literature Cited

Appendix C. Vegetation Ocular Forms and Codes

Appendix D. Geology and Geomorphology Form

Appendix E. Soil Pedon Description

Appendix F. TEUI Documentation

Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide vii

Appendix G. List of Reviewers

Appendix H. Field Equipment

Appendix I. Personnel Requirements

List of Figures

Figure 1.1. Relationship of Forest Service manual and handbook direction to technical guides

Figure 1.2. General relationships of landscape elements

Figure 1.3. Broad application of the state and transition concepts

Figure 1.4. Specific, or narrow, application of states within each state (box) representing one phase or seral stage of vegetation development

Figure 3.1. Example of connotative legend

Figure 3.2. Original soil survey mapping

Figure 3.3. Original soil survey mapping with image in background

Figure 3.4. Black lines represent new delineations meeting TEUI criteria

Figure 3.5. Final TEUI map

Figure 3.6. Typical analysis flow for community data

Figure 3.7. Selecting an analysis technique

List of Tables

Table 1.1. Suggested level of detail used for classification and mapping at the landscape and land-unit levels of the National Hierarchy

Table 1.2. Potential natural vegetation hierarchy examples

Table 2.1. Comparison of elements for ecological units at landscape and land-unit scales

Table 2.2. Required and recommended attributes (elements) to describe landtype association map units

Table 3.1. Suggested level of detail used for classification and mapping at the landscape and land-unit scales

Table 3.2. Examples of ecological type names

Table 3.3. Minimum levels of documentation for landtypes

Table 3.4. Examples of ecological unit names for landtypes

Table 3.5. Sampling intensity levels

Table 3.6. Data attributes used in analysis, display, and interpretation

Table 3.7. Recommended soil interpretations for landtypes viii Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide

Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide 1

1.1 Overview and Purpose

The purpose of this technical guide is to provide specific direction and guidance for conducting Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory (TEUI) at the landscape and land-unit scales. TEUI seeks to classify ecological types and map terrestrial ecological units (TEUs) to a consistent standard throughout National Forest System lands. The objectives, policies, and responsibilities for TEUI are contained in Forest Service Manual (FSM) 1940. U.S.

Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service policy dictates that ecological units be used in natural resource inventory, monitoring, and evaluation; in land management planning; and in making predictions and interpretations for management of National

Forest System lands.

This guide is one among several recently established by the new FSM 1940 and Forest

Service Handbook (FSH) 1900 series direction. This direction consolidates many outdated and redundant handbooks scattered throughout the directive system for all program areas responsible for conducting inventory and monitoring activities.

The new chapter in FSM 1940, “Resource Inventories and Monitoring,” establishes the management framework for all integrated inventories. It codifies the broad authorities, management objectives (results), policies, responsibilities (duties and delegations), and standards that govern how the agency designs, develops, tests, conducts, reports, uses, and evaluates resource inventory systems and data. The chapter requires field units to use the various technical guides intended to provide detailed instructions for conducting inventory and monitoring work (Connolly 2001).

The new FSH 1900 series, “Resource Inventories and Monitoring,” covers the data stan-dards, procedures, practices, and other protocols that govern all our resource inventory and monitoring efforts. The handbook consolidates relevant inventory and monitoring direction from existing handbooks. It does not contain detailed instructions, templates, or other information contained in technical guides (Connolly 2001).

Figure 1.1 provides a graphical sketch of the relationship of manual and handbook direction to technical guides. The technical guides contain the detailed instructions and procedures on how to conduct specific inventory and monitoring activities. They are designed to be flexible so that updates and improvements can be made annually, or as needed based on best available science. All technical guides share the same overall format and outline as identified in the FSH 1900 series.

Chapter 1. TEUI Protocol Framework

This guide contains three chapters and several appendixes on the following subjects:

• Chapter 1 provides an overview of TEUI concepts including background information, key concepts, and roles and responsibilities.

• Chapter 2 provides detailed information on conducting TEUI at the landtype association (LTA) level.

• Chapter 3 provides detailed instruction on conducting TEUI at the landtype

(LT) and landtype phase (LTP) levels.

• Appendixes contain various field forms and detailed descriptions of data elements used in the protocols. Also included are a list of citations, a glossary, and other pertinent information.

Figure 1.1. Relationship of Forest Service manual and handbook direction to technical guides.

1.2 Background and Business Needs

1.2.1 Background

Ecological classification and mapping systems are designed to stratify landscapes at multiple scales so we can understand the arrangement, pattern, and capabilities of ecosystems. With this knowledge, we strive to make informed decisions about the management of public lands throughout the United States. Wertz and Arnold (1972) developed one of the first such systems in the Northern Rocky Mountain region in 1968.

Their Land Systems Inventory (LSI) provided a method by which land with similar hazards and capabilities could be inventoried or categorized into repeating map units. A system

2 Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide

FSM 1940

TEUI

Technical Guide

AEUI

Technical Guide, Draft

Northern Goshawk Inventory and Monitoring Technical Guide

Existing Vegetation Classification and Mapping

Technical Guide

Social and Economic Technical Guide, Draft

Others

Replaces inventory direction in FSM series 1900-2000 and titles 2500 and 6600; FSH 1909.14, 1909.17, 2090.11, 2509.16, 6609.15, and others.

FSH

1900 series

Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide 3 such as LSI was especially necessary after the National Environmental Policy Act of

1970 required an inventory of all forest lands related to the identified roadless areas.

The Cascade Ranger District of the Boise National Forest was the first to implement LSI in 1968; by 1980, many LSIs had been completed throughout the region. In their 1972 publication Land Systems Inventory, Wertz and Arnold also introduced a hierarchy of ecological units including sections, subsections, LTAs, and LTs.

This hierarchy was later refined by Cleland et al. (1997) to become known as “The

National Hierarchy of Ecological Units.” The Province of British Columbia (2001) developed a similar hierarchy land classification system in 1985 called the Ecoregion

Classification System. At the detailed ecosystem level, ecosystem units are mapped using the Terrestrial Ecosystem Mapping (TEM) methodology. The TEM methodology stratifies the landscape into map units according to a combination of ecological features, primarily climate, physiography, surficial material, bedrock geology, soil, and vegetation

(Province of British Columbia 1998). These concepts and methods of ecological mapping form the basis for the TEUI at the land unit and landscape scales. This technical guide borrows from these original principles and concepts, refining them yet again to meet more specific guidelines and data standards.

1.2.2 Business Needs

TEUI, in combination with other standard resource layers, provides the basis for selecting suitable areas for major kinds of land-use activities, identifying areas that need more intensive investigation, evaluating various land management alternatives, and predicting the effects of a given activity on resource health or condition. TEUI maps, data, descrip-tions, and management interpretations provide basic land capability information necessary for ecological assessments; project planning; watershed and landscape analysis; forest plan revisions; and implementation and monitoring of forest plans. The information provided can be used for activities such as assessing resource conditions, conducting environmental analyses, defining and establishing desired conditions, and managing and monitoring natural resources.

1.3 Key Concepts

To implement ecosystem management, we need basic information about the nature and distribution of ecosystems (Cleland et al. 1997). An ecosystem consists of a community of organisms and their physical environment, which together form an interacting system or unit, and occupy an identifiable space (Lincoln et al. 1998, SRM 1998). TEUI includes classification and mapping of ecosystems. Ecological classification provides basic informa-tion about the nature of ecosystems and mapping depicts the distribution of ecosystems.

TEUI endeavors to classify and map ecosystems based on biotic and abiotic factors that comprise the physical environment. These factors are referred to as landscape elements and are illustrated in figure 1.2, which diagrams the influence of landscape elements on each other. The diagram is arranged in four levels. The elements at the top (bedrock geology, regional climate, and geomorphic processes) are largely independent variables

(Daubenmire 1978). The elements in each level of the diagram are influenced by the elements in the levels above; the farther apart the levels, the less direct the influence.

If a close relationship is established between independent and dependent variables, then the independent variables may be useful predictors of the dependent variables (Webster and Oliver 1990). In figure 1.2, the variables of bedrock, geomorphic process, and regional climate do not typically have a close enough relationship with soil and PNV to be useful predictors (as illustrated in figure 1.2 by their distance from the soil and PNV elements). Landform, surficial geology, local climate, and morphometry more directly influence soil and PNV development, and thus are typically better proxy indicators of soil and vegetation, and consequently ecological types. The relative importance of these factors varies across ecoregions and may vary within an inventory area. TEUI requires determining and documenting the importance and relationship of these factors.

Figure 1.2. General relationships of landscape elements.

4 Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide

Bedrock geology

Geomorphic processses

Landforms

Morphometry (elev., aspect, slope)

Regional climate

Local climate

Surficial geology (parent material)

Soil PNV

Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide 5

1.3.1 The National Hierarchy Framework of Ecological Units

The National Hierarchy Framework of Ecological Units (hereafter referred to as the

National Hierarchy) is a land classification hierarchy that provides a framework for developing TEUs at continental to local scales. Since this is a nested hierarchy, finer-level classes are descendants of higher-level classes and have their characteristics. The hierarchy framework is organized into four “planning and analysis” scales, which are described by eight levels of ecological units. The levels in the National Hierarchy at each planning scale are described below (Cleland et al. 1997) and represented in table 1.1.

This technical guide, however, only focuses on the landscape and land-unit scales. Hence, we will not discuss standards and methods for ecoregion and subregion ecological inventories.

Ecoregion

The ecoregion scale comprises three levels of ecological units (domain, division, and province), which are recognized by differences in global, continental, and national climatic regimes and gross physiography.

Subregion

The subregion scale comprises two levels of ecological units (section and subsection) characterized by combinations of regional climate, geomorphic process, topography, and stratigraphy.

Landscape

The landscape scale contains the LTA level. The LTA depicts broad patterns of soil families or subgroups, potential natural vegetation (PNV) series, and, on occasion, show successional dynamics. Top-down delineation uses other abiotic factors in addition to, or in lieu of, soils and PNV. These factors may include dominant geomorphic process, landforms, surficial and near-surface geologic formations, and local climatic effects.

The relative utility of these elements for delineating the LTA varies with ecological province. The LTA can also be designed and delineated bottom-up by aggregating the

LT based on the above factors.

Land Unit

The land-unit scale comprises two levels of ecological units (LT and LTP) characterized by repeating patterns of one or more ecological types. LTs and LTPs represent the largest scale (land unit) and most detailed levels of the National Hierarchy.

6 Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide

LTs are subdivisions of LTAs. They can be used to refine top-down LTAs in which they occur based on comparison of their component ecological types and incorporation of their finer scale delineations. Composition of LTs can be summarized to describe the composition of LTAs.

Table 1.1. Suggested level of detail used for classification and mapping at the landscape and land-unit levels of the National Hierarchy (modified from Cleland et al. 1997).

Planning and Ecological Potential natural analysis scale unit levels Geology Geomorphology Soil vegetation

Landscape Landtype Primary Geomorphic process and Great group and Series and subseries association lithology or subprocess types subgroup (LTA) groups of secondary lithology

Land unit Landtype Secondary Landforms, element Subgroups, Subseries and (LT) lithology landforms, and morphometry families, and series plant associations

Landtype Secondary Landforms, element Series and phases Plant associations phase (LTP) lithology landforms, and morphometry of series and plant association phases

1.3.2 Classification, Map Unit Design, and Map Unit Delineation

The purpose of TEUI is to classify ecosystem types and map land areas with similar capabilities and potentials for management (Cleland et al. 1997). Because of their man-agement significance, soils and vegetation, including historic and potential, form the primary criteria for classifying ecosystems and designing ecological map units at finer scales. Other landscape elements are driving factors in the development of soils and vegetation and are used primarily as delineators of ecological units at these scales. In areas where geologic hazards limit management options, bedrock and/or surficial geology may become classification and design criteria.

Relationship of Classification and Mapping

Soil scientists and vegetation ecologists have long sought to have their respective products serve as the basis of fine-level units (Nowacki 2003).

Soil science has emphasized soil classification and mappings of soil components on the landscape, while vegetation ecology has focused on classification using multivariate methods. TEUI is an attempt to combine the strengths of these two disciplines and more fully integrate climatic and geologic factors to more effectively classify and map ecosystems.

Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide 7

Multivariate analysis is also helpful in developing ecological classifications when relation-ships between PNV, existing vegetation, soils, and other landscape elements are obscured by other ecological or biological phenomena. These may include climate change and vegetation inertia (Collinson 1988, Pielou 1991), changes in a species indicator value because of genetic variation and geographic changes in associated species (Mueller-

Dombois and Ellenberg 1974), and differing rates of soil and vegetation development following large geologic or geomorphic events (Pielou 1991). Multivariate analysis can also focus on specific soil properties instead of soil taxonomy, which still has many inherent agricultural biases (USDA Soil Conservation Service 1994).

The above issues make multivariate analysis essential for ecological classification at the

LT and LTP levels. It can also be useful in developing ecological classifications for bottom-up LTAs.

Cleland et al. (1997) indicate that at coarse scales ecosystem landscape elements can be analyzed and mapped separately, and then combined using the Geographic Information

System (GIS) to produce ecological unit maps. At fine scales, landscape elements are evaluated simultaneously to classify ecological types, which are then used to design ecological map units. This process is used because of the importance of biotic factors, the level of discernible detail, the number of landscape elements, and the number of variables used to characterize elements progressively increase at finer scales (Cleland et

al. 1997).

Map Unit Delineation

PNV and soils share an important property in relation to mapping. Neither can generally be seen on aerial photos, satellite imagery, or digital elevation maps. Soil cannot be seen because it is underground. PNV often cannot be seen because existing vegetation is usually not at potential because of natural or human disturbances. Moreover, it can be difficult to identify plant species other than trees on photos or imagery.

Because soils and PNV cannot be delineated directly, we rely on other landscape elements, as surrogates, such as landform, morphometry, and surficial geology in combination with existing vegetation to map them. Those elements serve as map unit delineation criteria, but not necessarily as map unit design criteria. Map unit design involves deciding which elements we want to depict spatially and how detailed, both thematically and spatially, that depiction will be. Map unit delineation criteria are selected to implement the map unit design.

8 Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide

Ecological Classification

An ecological type is a category of land with a distinctive combination of landscape elements, differing from other types in the kind and amount of vegetation it can produce and in its ability to respond to management actions and natural disturbances. The eco-logical classification process is used to define, quantify, and document relationships among abiotic landscape elements, existing vegetation types, and PNV types. These relationships are used to develop a classification of ecological types. Different combinations of landscape elements that do not differ in PNV, successional dynamics, or management capabilities do not always constitute separate ecological types.

Traditionally, landscape elements have been classified separately. Some classifications deal with qualitative attributes, while others emphasize quantitative attributes.

Classification of ecological types requires integration of numerous qualitative and quantitative attributes. The methods of multivariate analysis are best suited for this task.

However, use of an interdisciplinary team to select analysis variables is required to ensure the process is objective.

Gauch (1982) states that, “multivariate analysis is the branch of mathematics that deals with the examination of numerous variables simultaneously. The need for multivariate analysis arises whenever more than one characteristic is measured on a number of indi-viduals, and relationships among the characteristics make it necessary for them to be studied simultaneously. The purpose of multivariate analysis is to treat multivariate data as a whole, summarizing the data and revealing their structure.” Put another way, multivariate analysis is used “to make large, unwieldy masses of multivariate field data comprehensible and interpretable” (Pielou 1984).

In summary, classification of ecological types organizes knowledge about relationships between ecosystem elements and the significance of those elements and relationships for land management. This knowledge can be used to design ecological map units that

“identify land . . . areas at different levels of resolution that have similar capabilities and potentials for management” (Cleland et al. 1997). Ecological classification can help determine both the thematic and spatial resolution needed to address management issues. Once the detail level of the map units has been determined, the relationships documented in the ecological classification can be used to select delineation criteria for those map units. Thus, classification of ecological types can greatly improve both map unit design and map unit delineation.

Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide 9

1.3.3 Geology

Geology is an important element of TEUI because it is one of the abiotic elements and the foundation for the biotic elements. Geology greatly influences soil formation, provides nutrients for plant uptake, and often affects water transport and availability. Geologic information is essential for predicting the occurrences and distributions of ecological types. The geology element of TEUI should be documented during the mapping and classification procedures. Initial data should be collected as part of the literature search step during the initial steps of TEUI.

The primary sources for existing geologic data and maps are the U.S. Geological Survey

(USGS) and State geological surveys. Local university geology departments may also have an archive of unpublished mapping for the inventory area.

Bedrock and Surficial Geology Classification and Description

Both bedrock and surficial geology are described for each ecological type. Bedrock data collection will conform to the standards described in Geology in the Field (Compton

1985), sections 1-4, 3-1, 3-2, 3-5, 3-6, 5-1, 5-2, and 5-3 with additional guidance from chapters 6 and 7. Surficial materials data collection will conform to the Soil Survey

Manual (1993, 73–80).

Describe and classify bedrock geology by lithology (i.e., rock class or name) using

Classification of Rocks (Travis 1955). In addition, if the bedrock’s stratigraphy (i.e., for-mation or member, and geologic age) is known or suspected to correlate with ecosystem character and function, it must also be determined.

Lithology and Surficial Materials

TEUI uses primary and secondary lithology as defining elements. Primary lithology is the class to which a rock belongs: igneous extrusive, igneous intrusive, sedimentary, or metamorphic. Secondary lithology is the specific rock type (e.g., basalt, granite, sandstone, gneiss); each implies one and only one primary lithology. If TEUI is composed of many rock types (e.g., a mix of basalt, andesite, and tuff), it may be best to classify at the primary lithology level (e.g., igneous extrusive).

Bedrock characteristics (i.e., texture, weathering, chemistry, fracture interval, competence, structure type, azimuth, and inclination) will be described for those integrated plots where bedrock is encountered and for “stops” on geologic traverses. See appendix D, Geology and Geomorphology Form.

10 Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide

Surficial materials are in the “unconsolidated” primary lithology class. They are defined as nonlithified deposits lying on bedrock or occurring on or near the Earth’s surface.

Surficial materials are characterized by their depositional environment (“kind”) and the rock type (secondary lithology) from which they came (“origin”). Some examples: glacial till from granite, alluvium from sedimentary rocks, landslide deposit from limestone, and volcanic ash of basalt composition. Another important factor in characterization is the material’s texture (e.g., bouldery, sandy, clayey). Texture terms are applied during the integrated-plot description. Multiple surficial materials, if present, should be noted

(e.g., loess, over colluvium, over residuum). See appendix D.

Stratigraphy

According to Salvador (1994), “Stratigraphy is the description of all rock bodies forming the Earth’s crust, and their organization into distinctive, useful, mappable units based on their inherent properties or attributes. It includes the classification, naming, and correlation of these units to establish their relationship in space and succession in time.” At the land unit scale, this description usually consists of a geologic age and a stratigraphic-unit name followed by a specific rock type, or by the term “formation” if the unit contains more than one rock type. Formations may be divided into “members” or aggregated into a “group.”

When a formal stratigraphic map unit exists, it may be used to help describe a TEU. The primary sources for stratigraphy are published geologic maps that conform to the USGS

Code of Stratigraphic Nomenclature. Refer to the legend and geologic map unit descriptions to identify the geologic time units and formations in an area.

Stratigraphic names, descriptions, ages, and references should be included in the TEUI manuscript, and incorporated in regional code tables of the corporate database. It is important to note that variations in lithology and thicknesses of specific stratigraphic units may exist within a survey area, or in regional settings. Therefore, one description of a particular lithology may not represent those strata across a survey area.

1.3.4 Geomorphology

The primary reference and data standards for the geomorphology components used in the development of TEUI are contained in the USDA Forest Service publication A

Geomorphic Classification System, version 1.4 (Haskins et al. 1998).

Geomorphology, as described in the above publication, includes three primary components:

1. Geomorphic Process. The dominant internal or external geologic force that has inter-acted with the existing geologic structural framework to shape the Earth’s surface.

Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide 11

2. Landform. “Any physical feature of the Earth’s surface, having a characteristic, rec-ognizable shape and produced by natural causes” (Bates and Jackson 1980, 1987).

3. Morphometry. “The measurement and mathematical analysis of the configuration of the Earth’s surface and of the shape and dimensions of landforms” (Bates and

Jackson 1980, 1987).

Landform, in this classification hierarchy, is directly linked to geomorphic process.

Process is implied by selection of a particular landform. A landform choice, therefore, carries with it the process that was responsible for its development (reflected in the list of valid values found in appendix D).

Morphometry is used to quantify the land surface and describe further the variability in landforms. It can be used to predict changes in slope hydrology, soils, and plant com-munities. The following measurements or characterizations are elements of morphometry:

relief, elevation, aspect, slope gradient, slope position, slope shape, slope complexity, landform width, dissection frequency, dissection depth, drainage pattern, and drainage density. Not all parameters are applicable at all levels. In addition, these parameters can be expressed as ranges of values, averages, or means. See appendix D for definitions.

Geomorphic Process

The appearance of a landscape is a result of the geomorphic processes that have shaped it in the past, and that continue to shape it today. The history of a landscape may be complex, with many geomorphic processes overprinting one another. This overprinting occurs when two or more dissimilar geomorphic processes have operated on an area at different times because of the influences of climatic change and/or tectonics. Such complexity is documented using geomorphic generation, which identifies the status of all the processes that operated on any given location.

The Great Sand Dunes National Monument in southern Colorado represents an easily understood example of landscape (and landform) correlation with generations of geo-morphic processes. The sand dunes occupy a portion of the still-active Rio Grande rift along the margin of the San Luis Valley, which was formed by tectonic and fluvial geomorphic processes. The present day landscape, however, is dominated by eolian

(dune-forming) processes.

Landforms may be characteristic of a combination of geomorphic processes; for example, talus forms by weathering, erosion, and downslope movement. Landforms also may be characteristic of more than one geomorphic process. Canyons form through fluvial processes but also are typically characterized by mass wasting (landslides and rock falls).

12 Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide

Determination of the geomorphic generation of each landform will identify the relation-ship between the landforms and the status of the process, which formed or continues to form the landforms. The appropriate terms used to identify geomorphic generation are active, dormant, and relict.

Appendix D lists the valid values to be used in TEUI classification and characterization.

Use in Mapping

The National Soil Survey Handbook (NSSH), part 627.02, (USDA NRCS 2003b) describes the delineation of major landform units and landform components as a prelim-inary procedure in field mapping. The next step is the identification, description, and classification of the kinds of soils associated with the landform components. The NSSH

(USDA NRCS 2003b) states that because “soil patterns commonly coincide with major landforms and individual soils with individual landform components, the objective of identifying and understanding the relationship between landforms and soils is to enable a soil scientist to predict the kind of soil on the landform.”

The relatively larger scale of the landform component is often useful for stratifying the landscape into segments having similar climate, physiography, geomorphology, and parent materials from which further predictable delineations of geology, soils, and PNV can be made.

Application

In complex landscapes, the landform often serves as the primary delineation criterion for identifying TEUs. Landforms and morphometry are important in defining the way water and materials translocate over and through watersheds. Landforms and morphometry are important for influencing watershed storm precipitation response, sediment routing, erosion rates and volumes, groundwater and materials storage and recharge, and duration and intensity of solar radiation.

Landforms and their associated geology also enable us uniformly and consistently to predict and interpret properties such as hydrologic behavior, slope stability, and sediment storage, for assessing land-use potential, capabilities, limitations, and hazards.

Geomorphology often changes where natural patterns of the landscape change.

Consideration of whether a change is significant and should be delineated separately from surrounding landforms depends on many factors. For example, changes in morphometry may signal a significant coincidental change in geomorphology.

Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide 13

An understanding of geomorphic processes and their resultant landforms provides the mapper the ability to predict and extrapolate TEUI element distributions.

1.3.5 Soil

The soil element of an ecological type must be described, classified, and characterized according to the standards defined in the Soil Survey Manual (USDA NRCS 1993) and the

NSSH (USDA NRCS 2003b).

Characterization

Document soil properties (both chemical and physical) that are the basis for classification.

Include soil properties that significantly influence ecosystem character and function.

Describe and establish the range of significant soil properties. It may be desirable to phase those soil properties that influence the character or interpretation of each component.

Characterization should be based on observed ranges from all samples collected for that ecological type. Characteristics not observed but estimated or derived (such as available waterholding capacity) should be designated as such and methods documented.

Soil Classification

A national soil classification system provides the definitions and nomenclature necessary for classifying soil. The official soil series descriptions provide definitions, procedures, and nomenclature for establishing soil series. See the NSSH (USDA NRCS 2003b), Part

614. Classify the soils according to the most recent edition of Keys to Soil Taxonomy

(USDA NRCS 2003a). Classify soils at the soil series or family level of soil taxonomy.

For highly variable areas, such as riparian areas, disturbed areas, or steep slopes, classify soils at a higher level of soil taxonomy.

Soil classification is used to provide the following elements:

• A connotative naming system that enables those users familiar with the nomenclature to recognize selected properties of soils.

• A means for understanding the relationships among soils in a given area and among different areas.

• A means of communicating concepts of soil and soil properties.

• A means of projecting experience with soils from one area to another.

• Names that can be used as reference terms to identify map unit components.

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Application

The information assembled about soils in the TEUI map unit descriptions and associated data tables are used to predict or estimate the potentials and limitations of soils for many specific uses. The predictions serve as a basis for judgment about land use and management for areas ranging from small tracts to regions of several million acres. These estimations must be evaluated along with economic, social, and environmental considerations before recommendations for land use and management become valid. Many standard and locally defined interpretations are available from the TEUI (see chapter 3, tables 3.6 and 3.7).

1.3.6 Vegetation

The vegetation element of an ecological type must be described, classified, and charac-terized. Historic vegetation, disturbance regimes, exisiting vegetation, PNV, and state and transition models are typically documented for each ecological type. Guidelines for classifying and mapping ExistingVegetation are described the Existing Vegetation

Classification and Mapping Technical Guide (Brohman and Bryant 2005).

Use in Mapping

Existing vegetation is often used to delineate ecological map units, however, care must be taken, as exisiting vegetation does not always reflect historic or potential vegetation.

Historic vegetation, disturbance regimes, and potential vegetation are typically not mapped because it cannot be readily identified on aerial photography. Rather, the relationship between existing vegetation and association of landscape elements are used to predict these important vegetation characteristics. The text that follows gives guidelines for determining historic vegetation, disturbance regimes, PNV, and developing state and transition models.

Historic Vegetation and Disturbance Regimes

As primary producers of living tissue (biomass), vegetation is a fundamental component of ecosystems. Human and animal existence and welfare are ultimately derived from vegetation. Humans have manipulated vegetation over the course of thousands of years for food and fiber production, and continue to do so. Since resource management largely involves vegetation alteration in one-way or another, successful land stewardship is predicated on understanding various aspects of vegetation: its composition, structure, dynamics (successional changes), and potential.

The Earth’s vegetation is a complex patchwork, reflecting an amalgamation of abiotic and biotic interrelations across time and space. Vegetation communities are a result of

Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide 15 interaction within and among (1) biota (species evolution, adaptation, gene flow, physio-logical traits, competitive abilities, and resiliency; herbivory), (2) physical environments

(e.g., climate, topography, geology, soils), and (3) disturbances (wind, fire, insects, disease, etc.) including human activities. The inherent complexities of vegetation dynamics (e.g., how vegetation originated in an area and how it might change in the future) require several lines of inquiry for adequate understanding. These core components include historic vegetation, disturbance regimes, existing (current) vegetation, and PNV. All are important for understanding vegetation patterns and processes at various spatial and temporal scales and are essential for vegetation management, particularly for preparing desired future conditions, silvicultural prescriptions, and ecological restoration plans.

Historic Vegetation

Vegetation communities are as much a product of past events as they are contemporary processes; thus, ecologists who overlook the past are likely to misinterpret the present

(Whitney 1994, 4). Indeed, “stepping back to look forward” is a rationale way of under-standing the historical milieu that has led to current vegetative conditions (Foster 1998).

Not only do stand histories help explain the origin of current forest conditions (Carvell

1986), but knowledge of past or historic vegetation (compositions, structures, dynamics) proves crucial in the restoration of ecological systems that have been negatively altered by human or natural disturbances. Recent compilations by Fulé et al. (1997), Balee (1998), Swetnam et al. (1999), and Egan and Howell (2001) provide overarching principals of historical ecology and its relevance to resource management and ecosystem restoration.

Trends in historic vegetation can be displayed over long time periods spanning thousands of years. The relevance of ecological data diminishes the further back in time one goes due to increasing differences in ecological conditions (e.g., climate, disturbance regimes, species distributions). Thus, a more narrow, ecologically relevant time period is sought in order to capture past vegetation conditions for land management objectives (e.g., doc-ument native communities, assess historic vegetation changes; set ecological restoration goals). A 500-year period immediately preceding European settlement is a reasonable time period for reference conditions. By focusing on vegetation characteristics (composition, structure, and dynamics) of this time period, we document those conditions immediately prior to major landscape changes wrought by European settlement (Whitney 1994).

Historic vegetation can be reconstructed using a variety of approaches, either singly or, more robustly, in combination (Noss 1985; Whitney 1994, chapter 2).

1. Historical Accounts and Notes. Written observations (chronicles, journals, diaries, newspapers, etc.) from early explorers, surveyors, and settlers serve as fundamental descriptions of past vegetation. Examples of early descriptive accounts for interpreting original forests include Bromley (1935, southern New England) and Nelson (1957, Georgia).

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2. Early Land Surveys. This probably represents the best and most frequently used information source for reconstructing pre-European vegetation, especially in forested areas. There are two principal types of land surveys conducted in the United States.

a. The metes and bounds system was the primary land survey method in Colonial

America. This system led to indiscriminate and irregular divisions of the land, often shaped in deference to the owner desires, using trees, rock outcrops, post and stone monuments, river and stream courses, and ridgelines as boundary markers (Ernst 1979, Abrams and Ruffner 1995, Black and Abrams 2001a).

Representative excerpts from early land surveys can be found in Spurr (1951).

Because it was an unintentional vegetation survey, a number of biases and errors may occur in the tree data (Whitney 1994, Black and Abrams 2001a).

Witness-tree data should be used cautiously because of known biases of corner tree selection, including economic value, ease of inscription, size, vigor, longevity, and age. Where it exists, other ancillary data, such as trees marked for road surveys, can be used to assess for bias (Whitney 1994, Burgi and

Russell 2000). Often pre-European forest composition is reconstructed using simple tallies of corner trees. These data, in turn, can be compared to contem-porary vegetation surveys to depict historic vegetation changes (Nowacki and

Abrams 1992, Abrams and Ruffner 1995) or correlated with soil-site factors to document species-environmental relations (Black and Abrams 2001a). The tree data are not as conductive to statistical analysis as later systematic (rectangular) land surveys and thus are less reliable in quantifying pre-European settlement forest conditions.

b. Through the Land Ordinance of 1785, Congress established the rectangular system for surveying public lands (Stewart 1935, Ernst 1979, White 1991).

Designated the General Land Office (GLO) Survey, the majority of the United

States was surveyed via this system, except for the original 13 States, Kentucky, Tennessee, Vermont, and Texas (Ernst 1979). This land survey method consists of a nested grid consisting of townships (6-mile squares), sections (1-mile squares;

640 acres), and quarter sections (0.5-mile squares; 160 acres). Surveyors were instructed to blaze and inscribe two to four “bearing” or “witness” trees (one per compass quadrant) at quarter-section corners. “Line” trees encountered between corners along survey lines were also marked. Pertinent ecological data recorded from these trees, known collectively as “witness trees,” include species, diameter, and distance to the survey corner.

The systematic collection of witness-tree data fosters the use of statistical analyses for forest reconstruction and the detection of possible surveyor biases. The proper

Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide 17 use and limitations of witness-tree data are thoroughly summarized by Hutchinson

(1988), Schulte and Mladenoff (2001), and Whitney and DeCant (2001). Statistical procedures used to assess for surveyor bias and variability have been proposed by

Bourdo (1956), Delcourt and Delcourt (1974), and Manies et al. (2001). Due to landscape heterogeneity and data-point-density limitations, caution needs to be employed when using GLO survey data to recreate pre-European settlement vegeta-tion at fine scales (i.e., less than several townships or areas less than 104 ha) (Manies and Mladenoff 2000). GLO survey data are best compiled to form vegetation units of a quarter mile (160 acres) to 1 mi2 (640 acres) (Delcourt and Decourt 1996). This unit-size is reasonable for assessing post-European settlement changes at the land-scape scale.

GLO survey data often have been extrapolated spatially onto the landscape by cou-pling it to soil surveys forming discrete forest type maps (see Shanks 1953, Lindsey et al. 1965, Crankshaw et al. 1965, Siccama 1971). Substantial improvements in spatially projecting GLO survey data have been made by employing fuzzy logic to produce superior forest type classifications and maps (Brown 1998). Qualitative

GLO survey data provided by written descriptions of…