Potential Impacts of Energy Development on Shrublands in Western North America

Impending rapid development of the abundant energy resources found in western North America may have dramatic consequences for its terrestrial ecosystems. We used lease and license data to provide an approximate estimate of direct and indirect potential impacts from renewable and non-renewable energy development on each of five major terrestrial ecosystems and completed more detailed analyses for shrubland ecosystems. We found that energy development could impact up to 21 percent (96 million ha) of the five major ecosystems in western North America. The highest overall predicted impacts as a percent of the ecosystem type are to boreal forest (23-32 percent), shrublands (6-24 percent), and grasslands (9-21 percent). In absolute terms, the largest potential impacts are to shrublands (9.9 to 41.1 million ha). Oil, gas, wind, solar, and geothermal development each have their greatest potential impacts on shrublands. The impacts to shrublands occur in all ecological regions across western North America, but potential impacts are greatest in the North American Deserts (up to 27 percent or 25.8 million ha), Great Plains (up to 24 percent or 8.9 million ha), and Northern Forests (up to 47 percent or 4.3 million ha). Conventional oil and gas development accounts for the largest proportion of the potential impact in all three of these regions. Some states or provinces may experience particularly large impacts to shrublands, including Alberta and Wyoming, where potential for oil and gas development is especially high, and New Mexico, where solar development could potentially affect large areas of shrubland. Understanding the scale of anticipated impacts to these ecosystems through this type of coarse-scale analysis may help to catalyze policy makers to engage in proactive planning

The social geography of southern Wyoming : important places, development, and natural resource management

16 pagesIn Wyoming, we know where to find natural resources. We can follow pronghorns, elk and deer on their seasonal migrations. But we have not had the same information about which places people care about and why. We created social maps for 3 counties and describe that process in this report. People agreed on important places and where development should occur. . . . We surveyed residents of Albany, Carbon, and Sweetwater counties in 2010. Most participants reported that fish and wildlife habitat, availability of water, and open spaces and scenic views are extremely or very important to them

Mapping Oil and Gas Development Potential in the US Intermountain West and Estimating Impacts to Species

Many studies have quantified the indirect effect of hydrocarbon-based economies on climate change and biodiversity, concluding that a significant proportion of species will be threatened with extinction. However, few studies have measured the direct effect of new energy production infrastructure on species persistence. in the western US and translate the build-out scenarios into estimated impacts on sage-grouse. We project that future oil and gas development will cause a 7–19 percent decline from 2007 sage-grouse lek population counts and impact 3.7 million ha of sagebrush shrublands and 1.1 million ha of grasslands in the study area.Maps of where oil and gas development is anticipated in the US Intermountain West can be used by decision-makers intent on minimizing impacts to sage-grouse. This analysis also provides a general framework for using predictive models and build-out scenarios to anticipate impacts to species. These predictive models and build-out scenarios allow tradeoffs to be considered between species conservation and energy development prior to implementation

Modeling landscape change and evaluating ecological effects of landscape composition and configuration in northern Idaho /by Amy Lynne Pocewicz.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Idaho, November 2006

An empirical evaluation of workshop versus survey PPGIS methods

Two common approaches for collecting spatial information through public participation geographic information systems (PPGIS) include small-group workshops and broader-scale, household sampling. We evaluate the two approaches using empirical PPGIS data for the Chugach National Forest planning process where both approaches were implemented in spring of 2012. Results from a larger PPGIS survey completed in 1998 were also included in the study for comparison. We examined the spatial concurrence of the data generated by the two approaches (workshop versussurvey) on multiple spatial attributes (landscape values) using three analytical methods-subsampling, resampling, and hotspot analysis. We found little to weak spatial association from the two participatory mapping methods on most landscape values. These results may be attributed to less spatial data for the workshops and to differences in measurement and sampling between the two approaches. The empirical results of low spatial concurrence raise important questions about the use of workshop participatory GIS for planning decision support. We discuss the implications and supporting rationale for using participatory mapping in community meetings

Employing lidar data to identify butterfly habitat characteristics of four contrasting butterfly species across a diverse landscape

Lidar and orthophotograph-derived land cover are combined with in situ vegetation measurements to assess habitat characteristics typifying four species of butterflies with differing habitat preferences across a large spatial extent (~30,000 ha) in northern Idaho, USA. Lidar data are employed to characterize both vegetation structure and topography, whereas digital orthophotographs and in situ vegetation measurements are employed to quantify surrounding land use and larval host plant cover, respectively. Non-metricmultidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordination identified nine environmental variables that were strongly related to butterfly species composition and community structure. Logistic and standard regression models were developed based on these variables to predict the presence and density of each butterfly species, respectively. We found that lidar-derived variables described more butterfly habitat characteristics than orthophotograph-derived variables or ground measurements, demonstrating the value of lidar in describing diverse habitat characteristics. However, the strongest models observed in our study use both the local- and landscape-scale variables derived from both remote-sensing data and in situ ground measurements. We conclude that combining lidar and other remotely sensed data with in situ vegetation measurements allows for an effective in-depth, large-area evaluation of local- and landscape-scale butterfly habitat structure across a diverse ecosystem. © 2012 Taylor & Francis

Oil and gas simulation results for the two scenarios.

<p>This map illustrates the location and extent of expected development in the two scenarios. Areas in orange depict growth for the anticipated scenario. Areas in red depict growth for the unrestrained scenario. Bar graphs show the quantity of development projected for each scenario. Core areas for sage-grouse are shown to highlight expected areas of future conflict (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0007400#pone.0007400-Doherty1" target="_blank">[46]</a>).</p

Area of expected development for each scenario.

<p>Area (sq km) is divided into development rights sold (black) and development rights available (light gray).</p