State Reports - Missouri Missouri GAP is finally coming down the home stretch! Land Cover The Missouri Resource Assessment Partnership (MoRAP) is generating the land cover map for the Missouri GAP project. We have divided the state into groups of 6 to 9 counties and have buffered these groups to create tiles within which the land cover map will be delivered. This enables us to compare the modeling of the vertebrate species between tiles (utilizing the overlap area) and assess the process of land cover generalization for the purposes of QA/QC. The vegetation classification via TM image analysis has been taken to the subclass or group level of the NVCS. Some land cover classes will be at the formation or alliance levels. Further definition of formation or alliance associations will be done through the use of ancillary data (i.e., NWI, landscape, floodplains, etc.). The GRC is planning on creating 2-ha, 5-ha, 20-ha, 40-ha, and 100-ha versions of the land cover map. Animal Modeling The GRC now has received all the information we will use in this first-pass version of the Missouri GAP analysis. Range maps and point distributions for reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals have been compiled and tiled to USGS 7.5 minute quadrangles. Museum records have been obtained for birds and mammals as a means of spot-checking these species groups. We have also examined the national perspective on the avian species that occur in Missouri to provide a perspective on Missouri’s role nationally for those species. The Missouri Department of Conservation was very important to our success with the Breeding Bird Atlas information. The modeling criteria are drafted, and procedures tested for implementation. Criteria for modeling are established. In addition to the land-cover-derived data layers to be used in the habitat associations, we are also looking to use many abiotic, land form, and ancillary data sets within the vertebrate modeling framework. We have also implemented a home-range-driven landscape perspective/species view of its environment. Stewardship The GRC and MoRAP have compiled a stewardship layer for use in GAP analysis. Units for which information were obtained include National Forest, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Army Corps of Engineers, Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, The Nature Conservancy, University, County/City, Army/Air Force bases, and the National Guard. Management status has been assigned to the majority of these tracts. Analysis The GRC is compiling a risk database to be used in conjunction with these data to conduct the analysis at the state level. A risk surface(s) is/are being created for the state addressing population, social, economic, and land use change information that could be used by decision makers as an aid in evaluating the GAP information in the context of development and policy change. |