Bedrock and Surficial Geology (1:500,000) - Geologic Formations for the Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative
Dates
Publication Date
2011
Summary
The Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative (GPLCC, https://www.fws.gov/science/catalog) is a partnership that provides applied science and decision support tools to assist natural resource managers conserve plants, fish and wildlife in the mid- and short-grass prairie of the southern Great Plains. It is part of a national network of public-private partnerships — known as Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs, http://www.fws.gov/science/shc/lcc.html) — that work collaboratively across jurisdictions and political boundaries to leverage resources and share science capacity. The Great Plains LCC identifies science priorities for the region and helps foster science that addresses these priorities to support wildlife conservation [...]
Summary
The Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative (GPLCC, https://www.fws.gov/science/catalog) is a partnership that provides applied science and decision support tools to assist natural resource managers conserve plants, fish and wildlife in the mid- and short-grass prairie of the southern Great Plains. It is part of a national network of public-private partnerships — known as Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs, http://www.fws.gov/science/shc/lcc.html) — that work collaboratively across jurisdictions and political boundaries to leverage resources and share science capacity. The Great Plains LCC identifies science priorities for the region and helps foster science that addresses these priorities to support wildlife conservation throughout the Great Plains region. It also assists partners in building their own capacity to address scientific challenges associated with our rapidly changing environment. These data were compiled because the information did not previously exist as a single resource for the GPLCC area. They are intended to inform local and regional conservation and management strategies with a complete regional perspective. Abstract provided by original data sources: "This open-file report presents the results of the USGS Mineral Resources Program activity to compile a national-scale geologic map database to support national and regional level projects, including mineral resource and geo- environmental assessments. The only comprehensive sources of regional- and national-scale geologic maps are state geologic maps with scales ranging from 1:100,000 to 1:1,000,000. Digital versions of these state maps form the core of what is presented here. Because no adequate geologic map exists for the state of Alaska, it is being compiled in regional blocks that also form part of this national database. It is expected that this series will completed by approximately the end of 2007. These maps and databases are being released in blocks of states or, in the case of Alaska, as compiled blocks of 1:250,000-scale quadrangles as chapters in this series. For Alaska, formal maps as well as databases are being published here, whereas for the conterminous U.S. only state databases and preview graphics are presented, because published maps for most states already exist. For Alaska these regional compilations will form the base for compiling a new geologic map of the state. As documented in Chapter A, standards for the conterminous U.S. are somewhat different than those for Alaska and Hawaii." Data were the best available at the time of compilation (2011) with current information represented by a combination of national-scale datasets and state or other regional data (e.g. soils) that could be reasonably aggregated.
This geologic dataset was one of several abiotic layers to provide best available conditions representing the landscape. The data collected and compiled for the Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative (GPLCC) will inform regional-scale landscape assessments with spatially explicit representation of natural resource, habitat, conservation, management and other social and environmental values. Preliminary analyses will summarize spatial statistics, and data are ultimately expected to directly inform species and habitat distribution models and vulnerability assessments. Future research efforts applying these data may include regional hydrologic modeling, wetland habitat vulnerability and connectivity assessments, species distribution modeling, and investigation of interactions among land use, land cover and prairie habitat distributions. A simple summary of the data and discussion of potential applications and implications for future work (e.g., species distribution modeling and vulnerability assessments) will accompany the distribution of these data via the Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative (GPLCC). Purpose provided by original data sources: "A primary goal of this work is to develop geologic map datasets with standardized structure and attribution. The database design and standards are documented in Chapter A of this series. The intent is that contiguous databases can be merged seamlessly and without any additional effort. In addition to a common database structure, the conterminous U.S. state databases (the contiguous 48 states) have been fitted to a set of standard state boundaries so that, when states are merged, they match without slivers or overlap. No attempt has been made to reconcile differences in mapping across state boundaries."
Communities
Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative
LC MAP - Landscape Conservation Management and Analysis Portal
