Biosurvey news, spring 2012

              Biosurvey News
The Newsletter of the Oklahoma Biological Survey
Spring 2012
Systematic inventories and standardized
classifications of the nation's biological
resources are prerequisites to efficient
natural resource stewardship. Resource
professionals in Oklahoma, representing
federal, state and nonprofit entities, have
identified the need for a contemporary,
scalable land cover dataset. Such a land
cover dataset has an assortment of
potential utilities for resource management,
from habitat assessment to climate change
monitoring.
The last statewide land cover dataset for
Oklahoma was released in 2001. However, it
was based on Landsat TM satellite imagery
from 1991 to1993. In addition to the age of the source material, an accuracy assessment indicated the
data suffers from poor land cover predictability. Moreover, the vegetation classification was based upon
an older schema (UNESCO 1973), predating more recent efforts to standardize land cover classification
by the Federal Geographic Data Committee's National Vegetation Classification Standard (FGDC 1997;
2008) or the recently devised Ecological Systems classification by NatureServe. The true shortcoming
of many state-level vegetation land cover maps produced in the 1980s and 1990s due to lack of
classification standardization became evident when attempts were made to join each state into a
seamless national map.
To reconcile the need for an updated land cover map, the Oklahoma Geographic Information Council
formed an ad hoc Landcover Workgroup in January 2010. Working group members include federal,
state, and tribal agencies and non-governmental organizations. Participating organizations include the
Oklahoma Biological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Oklahoma Office of
Geographic Information, Oklahoma Water Resources Board, Oklahoma Chapter of the Nature
Conservancy, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Center for Spatial Analysis at the University of
Oklahoma, Playa Lakes Joint Venture, and Chickasaw Nation. Together, they collaborated to establish
project priorities and methodologies, to identify data availability, and to discuss potential funding
opportunities. Representatives from the Oklahoma Biological Survey volunteered to take the lead on
attempting to secure funding and the creation of the new land cover dataset.
Continued on page 4
An Updated Land Cover Map for Oklahoma
The phase 1 classification area in relationship to Omernik's Level
III ecoregions. Map courtesy of Todd Fagin.