Ecoregional Planning in the Northern Great Plains Steppe Northern Great Plains Steppe Ecoregional Planning Team February 4, 1999 Ecoregional Planning in the Northern Great Plains Steppe Northern Great Plains Steppe Ecoregional Conservation Team February 5, 1999 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS.......................................................................................................................... ii LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND APPENDICES.......................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................................... vii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................viii CHAPTER 1: ECOREGIONAL PLANNING IN THE NORTHERN GREAT PLAINS STEPPE ……… ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ........................................................................................................................... 2 1.1.1 Introduction............................................................................................................. 2 1.1.2 The Structure of Ecoregional Planning.................................................................... 2 1.2 The Northern Great Plains Steppe ...................................................................................... 3 1.2.1 The Northern Great Plains Steppe Conservation Goal............................................. 3 1.2.2 An Ecological Description of the Ecoregion ........................................................... 4 1.3 Trends in Biodiversity........................................................................................................... 4 1.4 Ecoregional Planning Team History.................................................................................... 6 CHAPTER 2: ECOREGIONAL ASSESSMENT.................................................................................. 7 2.1 The Assessment Process: Approach and Rationale ........................................................... 8 2.1.1 Information Management ........................................................................................ 8 2.2 Assessment Information Sources ......................................................................................... 8 2.2.1 Natural Heritage/CDC Network Data Base ............................................................. 8 2.2.2 Landscape Analysis................................................................................................. 9 2.2.3 Expert Workshops ................................................................................................. 12 2.2.4 Published Literature .............................................................................................. 13 2.3 Products for Portfolio Assembly ..................................................................................................... 13 2.3.1 Conservation Targets............................................................................................. 13 2.3.2 Information Confidence Levels ............................................................................. 17 2.3.3 Viability Assessment............................................................................................. 17 2.3.4 Ecoregion Conservation Goals .............................................................................. 18 2.3.5 Ecological Backdrop ............................................................................................. 22 iii 2.3.6 Managed Area Identification................................................................................. 22 CHAPTER 3: THE ECOREGIONAL PORTFOLIO DESIGN......................................................... 23 3.1 Background ......................................................................................................................... 24 3.2 Assembling the Portfolio of Sites........................................................................................ 24 3.2.1 Assembly Sequence............................................................................................... 24 3.2.2 Site Mapping ......................................................................................................... 27 3.3 The Resulting Portfolio Design........................................................................................... 27 3.3.1 Meeting Target Conservation Goals...................................................................... 28 CHAPTER 4: FROM ASSEMBLY TO IMPLEMENTATION......................................................... 35 4.1 Introduction......................................................................................................................... 36 4.2 Portfolio Threats Assessment ............................................................................................. 36 4.2.1 Frequency of Occurrence ...................................................................................... 36 4.2.2 Severity of Threat.................................................................................................. 37 4.2.3 Analysis and Abatement of Threats....................................................................... 38 4.3 Feasibility Assessment......................................................................................................... 38 4.4 Site Prioritization for Conservation Action....................................................................... 39 4.4.1 The Prioritization Matrix....................................................................................... 39 4.4.2 Results: Conservation Priorities for the Northern Great Plains Steppe ............................................................................................ 40 4.5 Managed Areas Assessment................................................................................................ 41 4.6 Data Gaps ........................................................................................................................... 44 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND THE ECOREGIONAL ACTION PLAN.............................. 51 5.1 Project Expenses ................................................................................................................. 52 5.2 Lessons Learned.................................................................................................................. 52 5.3 An Action Plan for the Northern Great Plains Steppe ..................................................... 53 5.3.1 Priorities for Conservation Action......................................................................... 53 5.3.2 Evaluating and Charting Progress ......................................................................... 54 5.4 The Next Iteration............................................................................................................... 55 5.4.1 Existing Data......................................................................................................... 55 5.4.2 Filling Data Gaps .................................................................................................. 55 iv LITERATURE CITED........................................................................................................................... 56 APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................................ 58 v TABLES, FIGURES AND APPENDICES TABLES Table 1: Northern Great Plains Steppe Ecological Complexes...................................................... 16 Table 2: Conservation Guidelines for Species Targets.................................................................. 19 Table 3: Occurrence Goal and Number of Occurrences Captured for Primary Conservation Target Species within Sites in the Northern Great Plains Steppe .............. 31 Table 4: Number of Ecological Complexes Selected and Goal for each by Section in The Northern Great Plains Steppe Ecoregion.................................................................. 33 Table 5: Northern Great Plains Steppe Portfolio Threat Analysis ................................................. 37 Table 6: Managed Areas Classification......................................................................................... 43 Table 7: Northern Great Plains Steppe Expenses .......................................................................... 52 FIGURES Figure 1: Ecoregional Planning ........................................................................................................ 3 Figure 2: Northern Great Plains Steppe Ecoregion .......................................................................... 5 Figure 3: Element Occurrences of Primary Conservation Targets.................................................. 10 Figure 4: Untilled Landscapes of the U.S. and Portions of Southern Canada ................................. 11 Figure 5: Expert Workshops Composite Sites ................................................................................ 14 Figure 6: Selection Sequence for Ecological Complexes................................................................ 20 Figure 7: Target Selection Sequence .............................................................................................. 21 Figure 8: Ecological Sections Delineated for the Mixedgrass Ecoregion