Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide
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United States Department of Agriculture Terrestrial Ecological Forest Service Unit Inventory Gen. Tech. Report W0-68 Technical Guide: September 2005 Landscape and Land Unit Scales United States Department of Agriculture Terrestrial Ecological Forest Service Unit Inventory Gen. Tech. Report W0-68 Technical Guide: September 2005 Landscape and Land Unit Scales Acknowledgments 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). 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. Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide i 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. ii Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide Foreword 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). Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide iii iv Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide Contents Chapter 1. TEUI Protocol Framework . .1 1.1 Overview and Purpose . .1 1.2 Background and Business Needs . .2 1.2.1 Background . .2 1.2.2 Business Needs . .3 1.3 Key Concepts . .3 1.3.1 The National Hierarchy Framework of Ecological Units . .5 1.3.2 Classification, Map Unit Design, and Map Unit Delineation . .6 1.3.3 Geology . .9 1.3.4 Geomorphology . .10 1.3.5 Soil . .13 1.3.6 Vegetation . .14 1.4 Roles and Responsibilities . .31 1.4.1 National Responsibilities . .31 1.4.2 Regional Responsibilities . .32 1.4.3 Forest Responsibilities . .32 1.5 Relationship to Other Federal Inventory and Monitoring Programs . .33 1.5.1 Natural Resources Conservation Service . .33 1.6 Quality Control and Assurance . .34 1.7 Change Management . .34 1.7.1 Update Schedule . .34 1.7.2 Process . .34 Chapter 2. Landtype Associations Protocol . .37 2.1 Objective . .37 2.1.1 Business Requirements . .37 2.1.2 Products . .38 2.2 Planning and Design . .38 2.2.1 Map Unit Design . .39 2.2.2 Standards . .40 2.2.3 Map Unit Legend . .40 2.2.4 Delineation Criteria for Landtype Association Map Units . .41 2.3 Mapping Landtype Associations . .42 2.3.1 LTA Mapping Process . .42 2.3.2 Logistics . .46 2.3.3 Personnel Requirements . .48 Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory Technical Guide v 2.4 Data Collection . .48 2.5 Data Storage . .49 2.6 Analysis . .49 2.7 Reporting . .49 Chapter 3. Landtype Protocol . .51 3.1 Objective . .51 3.1.1 Business Requirements . .51 3.1.2 Products . .51 3.2 Planning and Design . .51 3.2.1 Ecological Type Classification and Characterization . .51 3.2.2 Standards . .54 3.2.3 Existing Information Sources . .68 3.2.4 Work Plans . .74 3.2.5 Logistics . .77 3.3 Data Collection . .78 3.3.1 Field Data Collection—Standards and Methods . .78 3.3.2 Field Forms . .80 3.3.3 Integrated Plot Standards . .80 3.4 Data Storage . .82 3.5 Analysis . .83 3.5.1 Data Summaries . .83 3.5.2 Synthesis and Interpretation . .83 3.5.3 Quality Control and Assurance . .93 3.5.4 Quality Control/Quality Assurance Roles and Responsibilities . .93 3.5.5 Correlation of Ecological Types and Units . .94 3.5.6 Mapping and Interpretative Reliability . .95 3.6 Reporting . .96 3.6.1 Format and Content . .96 3.6.2 Accomplishment Reporting and Scheduling . .96 Appendixes Appendix A. Glossary . ..