The Ecology Core Dataset:

Information to Support
Effective Management in the
Pacific Northwest
Overview of the
Pacific Northwest
Region
• 19 National
Forests
Need for basic terrestrial
ecology data to classify
ecosystems:

1. Grew out of National Forest Management Act of

1976 reforestation requirements

2. In recent years business needs have expanded

to consider wide range of biodiversity assessments
at multiple scales
 Data from the field
• Collected on 400 m2 circular plots
(ocular macroplots or releves)
 Data from the field

• Data comprised of two basic parts:

--Basic environmental data
--Percent areal cover of vascular
plant species
 Data from the field

--Basic environmental data:

Slope, elevation, aspect,
landform, surficial and
bedrock geology, location
 Data from the field

--Percent areal cover of vascular

plant species
Organized by lifeform layers:
Canopy trees, understory
trees,regeneration trees, shrubs,
herbs, graminoids, ferns
Compiling the data: Challenges
• Ecology program in the Region
organized into six areas, each with
autonomous personnel
• Data collection standards difficult to
enforce; data tended to “diverge”
Compiling the data: Challenges
• 40,000 plots: missing data fields,
particularly with location
• Dataset is forest ecosystem-centric
• Deciding on core attributes
 Compiling the data: Response
• National data standards emerged in
1998-99 (NRIS Terra)
• Business needs refined by national
technical guide development
 Compiling the data: Response
• Hired a data management expert on
contract
• Data migrated to a core set based on
standard attributes
• Data dictionary to provide metadata
 Compiling the data:
Results and Delivery
• 40,000 plots migrated to standard
core set
• Posted to open website
(www.reo.gov/ecoshare)
• Data added and edited over time
 Compiling the data:
Some applications
• Eventually migrated to NRIS dataset
• Provided to LANDFIRE and used to
develop their vegetation layers
• Used to develop regional potential
vegetation layer
 Compiling the data:
More applications
• Can search for species occurrences
• Identify wildlife habitat and map
ranges
• Post-fire monitoring (e.g., Biscuit,
Egley)
• Climate change monitoring
 Compiling the data:
Future development
• Complete potential vegetation
mapping in Region
• Support existing mapping vegetation
effort (IMAP)
• Compile structural and soils datasets
 Compiling the data:
Future development
• Vegetation structural dataset: Tree
diameters and heights, snags.
downed wood, etc.
 Lessons Learned
• Data “rescue” and delivery are among the
most important things we can do
• Focus on core attributes to meet business
needs, not all possible attributes
• Location, location, location
 Lessons Learned

• Retain paper data– migration doesn’t

mean discarding old data formats
• Maintain and add to set over time
• Timeliness is important