Ecological Land Survey, Classification, and Mapping

Natural resource managers and scientists today are confronted with a number of challenges, not the least of which is managing and monitoring a diverse range of physical and biological elements across vast landscapes in a rapidly changing world.  Ecological land surveys (ELS) provide a powerful tool for natural resource managers and scientists by integrating both biological and physical landscape components into comprehensive field survey, classification, and mapping products.

With over 35 years of experience working in Alaska, ABR has developed an experienced ELS team.  To date, we’ve surveyed vegetation and soils in Alaska on over 40 million acres (an area larger than the state of Georgia!).  Our ELS services and products have been used by the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Air Force and Army, and the oil and gas industry. Our ELS approach is a rapid (e.g. ~4 million acres/year mapped, Arctic Network of National Parks), comprehensive, multi-parameter mapping process that saves money by combining field survey, GIS and database functions, while creating a common base map for integrated linework. We also offer cutting edge satellite image processing for large-scale mapping efforts where hand delineations are not feasible. 

An ELS involves initial field surveys to inventory, classify, and map basic components of the landscape (terrain, surface-forms, vegetation, soils, and hydrology) followed by the classification and organization of land characteristics at various scales arranged hierarchically, ranging from ecotypes to ecosystems. Next, our soil and vegetation scientists work closely with our strong interdisciplinary team here at ABR to develop a variety of derivative maps, including wetland, wildlife habitat, and soils maps, just to name a few.

ELS products may include:

• Biodiversity/Gap Analysis (species composition, soils)
• Coastal Stability
• Disturbance and Restoration Analysis (plant structure and composition, soils, hydrology, fire, trails)
• Ecosystem, habitat type, and vegetation classifications
• Fire Management (structure, site moisture, topography, climate)
• Floodplain Frequency and Management (geomorphology)
• Forest Inventory (site index, basal area, trees per acre)
• Land cover (vegetation, soils, and terrain units)
• Landscape Change (fire, geomorphic processes)
• Mitigation plans for proposed activities
• Permafrost Stability
• Risk Assessment (vegetation, soils, hydrology)
• Satellite and photographic interpretation and analyses
• Soil survey and analysis, including mapping, detailed stratigraphic descriptions, and taxonomic classification
• Wetlands and Functional Assessments
• Wildlife Habitat Analysis (use, diversity, predictive modeling)

For more information, contact Aaron Wells (awells@abrinc.com)

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