Quantifying the Representation of Plant Communities in the Protected Areas of the U.S.: An Analysis Based on the U.S. National Vegetation Classification Groups

Abstract

Plant communities represent the integration of ecological and biological processes and they serve as an important component for the protection of biological diversity. To measure progress towards protection of ecosystems in the United States for various stated conservation targets we need datasets at the appropriate thematic, spatial, and temporal resolution. The recent release of the LANDFIRE Existing Vegetation Data Products (2016 Remap) with a legend based on U.S. National Vegetation Classification allowed us to assess the conservation status of plant communities of the U.S. The map legend is based on the Group level of the USNVC, which characterizes the regional differences in plant communities based on dominant and diagnostic plant species. By combining the Group level map with the Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US Ver 2.1), we quantified the representation of each Group. If the mapped vegetation is assumed to be 100% accurate, using the Aichi Biodiversity target (17% land in protection by 2020) we found that 159 of the 265 natural Groups have less than 17% in GAP Status 1&2 lands and 216 of the 265 Groups fail to meet a 30% representation target. Only four of the twenty ecoregions have > 17% of their extent in Status 1&2 lands. Sixteen ecoregions are dominated by Groups that are under-represented. Most ecoregions have many hectares of natural or ruderal vegetation that could contribute to future conservation efforts and this analysis helps identify specific targets and opportunities for conservation across the U.S.

Rapid Ecological Integrity Assessment Metrics to Restore Wildlife Habitat and Biodiversity for Shortleaf Pine–Oak Ecosystems

“…To classify this variation into ecosystem types, we used the classification of southern open pine woodlands, as developed for the United States National Vegetation Classification (USNVC), a federal standard for classification of the vegetation of the United States [30], and part of the International Vegetation Classification [25,31]. We emphasized types at the USNVC group and alliance levels, the same level(s) at which longleaf pine assessments methods were developed [8] and the level at which wide-scale mapping of vegetation is now available [32]. We developed five SPO groups and one AP group that served as our base units for developing rapid assessment metrics (Table 1, Figure 1).…”

Vegetation Analysis and the Role of Growing Media on the Growth and Yield of Physalis angulata L. in Domestication

“…Plant domestication is an evolutionary process mediated by manufactured selection and evolutionary forces in plant populations (Montero et al, 2021). Domestication supports compatibility in cultivated plants through changes in their survival, reproductive strategies and several reproductive parameters associated with domestication (McKerrow et al, 2021). The treatment of plant spacing and chicken manure and chemical fertilizers in the domestication of P. angulata shows that the wider the spacing, which is 40  60 cm, can increase the number and weight of fruit Vegetation Analysis and the Role of Growing Media on the Growth and Yield of Physalis angulata L. in Domestication planted by up to 463-843% (Zawani and Nikmatullah, 2021).…”