Common Name. Typical Shrub Type. R&R Rating. Cryic/Xeric-Typic. Cold/moist. Mountain big sagebrush, mountain brush. High. Cryic/Xeric bordering on Aridic.
Tapping soil survey information for resilience and resistance assessments
Jeremy Maestas, Sagebrush Ecosystem Specialist Steve Campbell, Soil Scientist NRCS West National Technology Support Center - Portland, OR
What are Soil Surveys? • Process of classifying soil types and other soil properties in a given area • Data mostly acquired by field sampling and remote sensing • Used to predict or estimate the potentials and limitations of soils • Disseminated through reports, maps, etc.
Soil Survey Product Sources • SSURGO – Soil Survey Geographic • Most detailed product produced by the National Cooperative Soil Survey • Information collected through field inventory and interpretation at scales ~ 1:24,000
• STATSGO2 - General Soil Map of the United States • Broad-based inventory of soils and non-soil areas that occur in a repeatable pattern on the landscape • Created by generalizing more detailed soil survey maps at a scale of 1:250,000 • Where more detailed soil survey maps were not available, data on geology, topography, vegetation, and climate were assembled and related to Land Remote Sensing Satellite (LANDSAT) images
Wyoming big sagebrush
Wyoming big sagebrush
Mesic-Aridic, bordering on Xeric
Frigid-Aridic
Warm and Dry
Big sagebrush spp., Pinyon-Juniper potential
Mesic-Xeric
Mountain big sagebrush, PinyonJuniper potential
Mountain big sagebrush, other mountain shrubs
Frigid-Xeric
Cryic-Xeric
Soil temperature/moisture gradient
Cold and Moist
Moisture regimes are further subdivided into Moisture Subclasses
In English Please… Temperature
Moisture
Mesic = Warm Frigid = Cool Cryic = Cold
Aridic = Dry Xeric = Moist Ustic = Summer Moist
Depicting the environmental gradient • Soil Temperature and Moisture Regimes • Reflects dominant condition • Helps us visualize potential R&R
(Chambers et al. 2014, Maestas et al. 2016)
Simplified Tool for Landscape Triage Soil Temperature and Moisture Regime - Moisture Subclass
Common Name
Cryic/Xeric-Typic
Cold/moist
Cryic/Xeric bordering on Aridic
Cold/moist bordering on dry
Frigid/Xeric-Typic
Cool/moist
Cryic/Aridic bordering on Xeric
Cold/dry bordering on moist
Cryic/Aridic-Typic Frigid/Xeric bordering on Aridic
Cold/dry Cool/moist bordering on dry
Frigid/Aridic-Typic
Cool/dry
Frigid/Aridic bordering on Xeric
Cool/dry bordering on moist
Mesic/Xeric-Typic
Warm/moist
Mesic/Xeric bordering on Aridic
Warm/moist bordering on dry
Mesic/Aridic bordering on Xeric
Warm/dry bordering on moist
Mesic/Aridic-Typic
Warm/dry
Typical Shrub Type Mountain big sagebrush, mountain brush Mountain big sagebrush Mountain big sagebrush, mountain brush Mountain big sagebrush, low sagebrush Low sagebrush Mountain big sagebrush Mountain/Wyoming big sagebrush, low sagebrush Mountain/Wyoming big sagebrush, low sagebrush Wyoming big sagebrush, basin big sagebrush Wyoming big sagebrush, black sagebrush Wyoming big sagebrush, basin big sagebrush Salt desert shrub
R&R Rating High High High High Moderate Moderate Moderate Moderate Moderate Low Low Low
Relative R&R across the Western Range
http://map.sagegrouseinitiative.com
Applying R&R Concepts to the Eastern Range (In progress)
Information for Site-Scale Planning
• Ecological Site Descriptions (ESDs) • Web Soil Survey Soils Report
• • • •
Physiographic, climatic, and soil features Plant community characteristics State-and-transition models Site interpretations
An ecological site is a distinctive kind of land with specific physical characteristics that differs from other kinds of land in its ability to produce a distinctive kind and amount of vegetation
Soils Factors on R&R Score Sheet (GTR-322 & 338)
Web Soil Survey R&R Soils Report
Considerations • Right tools, right scale • Unable to verify every soil polygon in the field especially in large rangeland settings
Regional/ Landscape > 1:100K
• Soil map units almost always include components or inclusions that are too small to be practically delineated • Field verify wherever possible
Site < 1:24K
Acknowledgements • Jeanne Chambers, Mike Pellant, Rick Miller • WAFWA Wildfire and Invasives Working Group • NRCS soil survey staff
R&R Index for Western Range: http://map.sagegrouseinitiative.com Web Soil Survey: http://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/ Ecological Site Descriptions: https://esis.sc.egov.usda.gov/
Photo courtesy: Gabriella Coughlin
