Ecological departure analysis of TNC-mapped GDEs in Nevada (Badik et al. 2019)

Report

Nevada

Publication date: October 1, 2019

File format: PDF

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This report shares an analysis of eleven previously mapped landscales to 1) describe the condition of groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) across the mapped areas; 2) identify causes of degradations of GDEs; and 3) identify management actions that may improve GDE condition.

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Subject Tags

  • Land management
  • Groundwater
  • Ecosystem management

Description

This white paper describes an analysis of ecological departure on 11 landscapes previously mapped by The Nature Conservancy to 1) describe the condition of groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) across the mapped areas; 2) identify causes of degradations among the landscapes and GDE types; and 3) identify management actions that may be used to improve GDE condition. The approach used defined the natural range of variation (NRV) for GDE communities which was then used to estimate ecological departure as a metric to measure how much a system varies from the expected NRV conditions. The report also shares some approaches for restoring Nevada's GDEs. 

Citation

Badik KJ, Saito L, Byer S, Provencher L. 2019. Ecological Departure of TNC-Mapped Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems. Reno: The Nature Conservancy. 

TNC Authors

  • Kevin Badik
    Nevada Rangeland Ecologist
    The Nature Conservancy
    Email: kevin.badik@tnc.org

  • Laurel Saito
    Nevada Water Strategy Director
    The Nature Conservancy
    Email: laurel.saito@tnc.org

  • Sarah Byer
    Nevada Spatial / GIS Analyst
    The Nature Conservancy
    Email: sarah.byer@tnc.org

  • Louis Provencher
    Nevada Director of Science
    The Nature Conservancy