GCP Connecting advanced land cover for improved biological planning and conservation design

NOTE: This funding opportunity is open only to those who submitted a statement of interest and were invited to submit a full proposal.

Project Need: The Gulf Coast Prairie Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC) identified focal species to help focus Partnership efforts on priority conservation and associated science needs, including the development of landscape conservation design products that aid decision-making for conservation delivery actions. In order to improve biological planning and landscape conservation design efforts to implement State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs) for the benefit of Gulf Coast Prairie LCC focal species and an ongoing Great Plains LCC landscape conservation design pilot project, both Partnerships require seamless and consistent land cover data in Oklahoma and Texas and processes and systems to detect and validate changes in land cover over time. 

Project Description: Covering eleven percent (11%) of the total land area of the contiguous US (lower 48 states) this effort will produce seamless and consistent land cover data through a process of bridging and improving existing land cover data and other spatial data for Oklahoma and Texas that are fully compatible for planning and modeling purposes for focal species - habitat efforts.

The activities conducted through this project will at least include standardizing and linking existing data products for Oklahoma and Texas in the following ways.

1. Edge matching: a complete and thorough review and connection of the Oklahoma Ecological Mapping Systems and Texas Ecological Mapping Systems datasets to ensure compatibility. This will at least include ensuring a cross walk of land cover terminology and descriptions, filling gaps between the datasets, and making land cover connections across borders congruent. This will include at least a field data collection effort in Western OK / Eastern TX Panhandle area to document differences and drive any update efforts to assist in edge matching. 
2. Complete and connect enduring features (e.g., soils, elevation, geology and landform) to the Oklahoma land cover data consistent with Texas land cover data. This will include at least filling in gaps in SSURGO soils data in Oklahoma that will aid land cover discrimination.
3. Create a process and protocol for detecting and validating change in land cover consistent with those in place by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). This will at least include object development and a standardization of change detection process.
4. A field data collection effort to document grassland composition using TPWD Grassland Landscape documentation procedures in Eastern Texas Panhandle and adjacent areas of Oklahoma in support of edge matching and change detection and update procedures.

A successful applicant will demonstrate documented buy in from and cooperation with TPWD and Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation with funding to support meetings and data collection,

This project will set the stage for fine resolution landscape conservation design efforts to aid decision-making for conservation delivery actions (e.g. restoring grassland habitats) by the Great Plains LCC, Gulf Coast Prairie LCC and others.