Texas Ecological Systems
Database Project
Data access at:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/landwater/land/maps/gis/tescp/index.phtml
Project Goals
• Increase resolution of landcover mapping for Texas
• Use field data to validate project
• Integrate High Plains mapping with Texas Ecological
Mapping Systems Data
Texas Ecological
Mapping Systems
Database Project
Phase 6
September 2013
Phase 1
Available Now
Phase LPC
February 2012
Phase 2
Available Now
Phase 5
September 2012
Phase 3
Available Now
Phase 4
September 2011
Floyd – Motley Area Bing Maps
Floyd – Motley Area EMS
Products/Enduring Value
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Potential natural vegetation
Existing vegetation using an improved classification
Improved Ecological Systems interpretations for High Plains
Abiotic Site Type Data
Ground truth dataset (1,000+ Points in High Plains / 10,000+ Points
Statewide)
• User will build their own added value:
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Context (local, regional, statewide)
Management options
Conservation opportunity areas
Ecological significance and risk (riverine/aquatics as well)
Species habitat modeling
Development of educational and interpretive materials
Change detection
Field Data Collected includes:
•Top 3 dominant species in Tree, Shrub, Herbaceous and
Succulent Strata
•Percent Woody and Herbaceous Cover
•Includes % Live Oak, Shrub, Tree, other Evergreen
•Landcover and Mapping System
•Reference photo
Current Extent of
Texas Ecological
Mapping System Data
3-date TM
Satellite Imagery
(30m resolution)
Environmental data (slope,
aspect, elevation,
solar insolation)
Training data from air
photos plus ground
data
Classify Land Cover
(e.g. cold deciduous forest)
Draft Mapping Targets
(NatureServe Ecological
Systems)
Assign Information using soils,
ecoregions, geology, ecological site type,
hydrology (“modeling”)
Create Map with Named Mapping Units
(e.g. West Gulf Coastal Plain Bottomland
Seasonally Flooded Forest)
Provide Interpretation of Mapping Units
(booklet, summary statistics by ecoregion, etc.)
Design and Execute Presentation
Land use data (NRCS
Common Land Units)
Modeling Inputs
•National Agricultural Imagery Program 2010 Ortho-imagery
•TPWD Generated Image Objects
•Multi-date Landsat TM5 Imagery
•TPWD Developed Landcover Data (12 Classes)
•1:24k National Hydrologic Data
•National Elevation Dataset 10m DEMs
•Playa Lakes Joint Venture Probable Playa Layer
•TPWD Updated Common Land Unit Data
•TPWD Modified Natural Resource Conservation Service SSURGO Data
Ecological Mapping Systems
ID Number
Ecosystem Name
Mapping System Name
Common Name
MoRAP
No.
Notes:
CES303.659
Central Mixed Grass Prairie
Central Mixed Grass Prairie
Rolling Plains: Mixed Grass
Prairie
307 How far west? 77 on caprock? 77E in Canadian
breaks for sure.
CES302.746.9
Chihuahuan – Sonoran Desert
Bottomland and Swale Grassland
Desert Swale Grassland
Chihuahuan Desert: Tobosa
Grassland
407
CES303.725
LLano Estacado Caprock Escarpment and LEC Escarpment and Breaks Deciduous
Breaks Shrubland and Steppe
Shrubland
Rolling Plains: Breaks
Deciduous Shrubland
2106 Use for 78B and 77E Rough Breaks ESDs and Very
Shallow ESDs
CES303.725
LLano Estacado Caprock Escarpment and LEC Escarpment and Breaks Great Plains
Breaks Shrubland and Steppe
Canyon
Rolling Plains: Breaks Canyon
2100 Use for 78B and 77E Rough Breaks ESDs and Very
Shallow ESDs -- this is barren
CES303.725
LLano Estacado Caprock Escarpment and LEC Escarpment and Breaks Juniper
Breaks Shrubland and Steppe
Shrubland
Rolling Plains: Breaks Juniper
Shrubland
2105 Use for 78B and 77E Rough Breaks ESDs and Very
Shallow ESDs
CES303.665
Western Great Plains Cliff and Outcrop WGP Cliff
High Plains: Cliff
3100
> 100% slope grass / barren in 77s and 78s
CES303.665
Western Great Plains Cliff and Outcrop WGP Wooded Cliff
High Plains: Wooded Cliff
3104
CES306.835
Southern Rocky Mountain PinyonJuniper
SRM Pinyon-Juniper Woodland
High Plains:Pinyon Juniper
Woodland
11101
Southern Rocky Mountain PinyonJuniper
SRM Pinyon-Juniper Shrubland
High Plains:Pinyon Juniper
Woodland
11105
CES303.666
Western Great Plains Closed
Depressional Wetland
WGP Playa Emergent Marsh
High Plains: Playa Marsh
6908
CES303.666
Western Great Plains Closed
Depressional Wetland
WGP Playa Grassland
High Plains: Playa Grassland
6907
CES303.666
Western Great Plains Closed
Depressional Wetland
WGP Playa Lakes
High Plains: Playa Lake
6900
CES303.675
Western Great Plains Open Freshwater
WGP Emergent Marsh
Depressional Wetland
High Plains: Depressional
Marsh
3808 Marsh in Bottomland ESD's and Wet Bottomland
ESD's
CES303.675
Western Great Plains Open Freshwater
WGP Wet Prairie
Depressional Wetland
High Plains: Depressional Wet
Prairie
3807
CES303.675
Western Great Plains Open Freshwater
WGP Wet Shrubland
Depressional Wetland
High Plains: Depressional Wet
Shrubland
3806
>100% slope shrub / forest
CES306.835
> 20% - north facing slopes in 70Bs -- CEG Forest
> 20% - north facing slopes in 70Bs -- EG Shrub
Grassland in Wet Bottomland ESDs
Shrubs in Wet Bottomland ESDs
Object Generation Steps – Raw NAIP
Object Generation Steps – PCA
Object Generation Steps _ PCA 10m
Object Generation Steps – PCA zoom
Object Generation Steps – PCA 10m zoom
Object Generation Steps – ERDAS Imagine Objective
Object Generation Steps _ PCA 10m and Objects
Object Generation Steps _ PCA 10m and Objects zoom
SSURGO Soils:
•Extensive clean-up of soils
•Edge match ESD across county boundaries
•Make sure ESD spatial distribution makes
sense
SSURGO Soils
Ecological Site
Descriptions
Before TPWD
modification
TPWD Modified ESDs
Landcover Classes
1. Barren
2. Agriculture
3. Deciduous Woodland and Forest
4. Deciduous Shrub
5. Coniferous Evergreen Shrub
6. High Intensity Urban
7. Low Intensity Urban
8. Marsh
9. Mixed Woodland and Forest
10. Open Water
11. Dense Deciduous Shrub
12. Grassland
Floyd – Motley Area Landsat
Floyd – Motley Area Landcover
Floyd – Motley Area Riparian
Floyd – Motley Area Slope Zones
Floyd – Motley Area TPWD Modified ESDs
Floyd – Motley Area SSURGO Map Units
Floyd – Motley Area PLJV Probable Playas
Floyd – Motley Area EMS
Ecological Modeling Interpretation
Partial Legend of Mapped Types
Code
Ecosystem Name
Mapping System Name
Common Name
307 Central Mixedgrass Prairie
Central Mixedgrass Prairie
Rolling Plains: Mixed Grass Prairie
407 Chihuahuan – Sonoran Desert Bottomland and Swale Grassland
Desert Swale Grassland
Southwest: Tobosa Grassland
2100 LLano Estacado Caprock Escarpment and Breaks Shrubland and Steppe
LEC Escarpment and Breaks Great Plains Canyon
Rolling Plains: Breaks Canyon
2105 LLano Estacado Caprock Escarpment and Breaks Shrubland and Steppe
LEC Escarpment and Breaks Juniper Shrubland
Rolling Plains: Breaks Juniper Shrubland
2106 LLano Estacado Caprock Escarpment and Breaks Shrubland and Steppe
LEC Escarpment and Breaks Deciduous Shrubland
Rolling Plains: Breaks Deciduous Shrubland
2503 Western Great Plains Floodplain
WGP Floodplain Mixed Deciduous-Evergreen Forest and Woodland
High Plains: Floodplain Hardwood / Juniper Forest
2504 Western Great Plains Floodplain
WGP Floodplain Deciduous Forest and Woodland
High Plains: Floodplain Hardwood Forest
2505 Western Great Plains Floodplain
WGP Floodplain Juniper Shrubland
High Plains: Floodplain Juniper Shrubland
2506 Western Great Plains Floodplain
WGP Floodplain Deciduous Shrubland
High Plains: Floodplain Deciduous Shrubland
2507 Western Great Plains Floodplain
WGP Floodplain Herbaceous Vegetation
High Plains: Floodplain Herbaceous Vegetation
2603 Western Great Plains Wooded Draw and Ravine
WGP Wooded Ravine Mixed Deciduous-Juniper Woodland
High Plains: Mixed Hardwood/Juniper Wooded Ravine
2604 Western Great Plains Wooded Draw and Ravine
WGP Wooded Ravine Cold Deciduous Woodland
High Plains: Hardwood Wooded Ravine
2703 Western Great Plains Riparian
WGP Riparian Mixed Deciduous-Evergreen Forest and Woodland
High Plains: Riparian Hardwood/Juniper Forest
2704 Western Great Plains Riparian
WGP Riparian Deciduous Forest and Woodland
High Plains: Riparian Hardwood Forest
2705 Western Great Plains Riparian
WGP Riparian Juniper Shrubland
High Plains: Riparian Juniper Shrubland
2706 Western Great Plains Riparian
WGP Riparian Deciduous Shrubland
High Plains: Riparian Deciduous Shrubland
2707 Western Great Plains Riparian
WGP Riparian Herbaceous Vegetation
High Plains: Riparian Herbaceous Vegetation
2717 Western Great Plains Riparian
WGP Riparian Emergent Marsh
High Plains: Riparian Emergent Marsh
2800 Western Great Plains Sandhill Steppe
Western Great Plains Sandhill Steppe Active Dune
High Plains: Active Sand Dunes
2805 Western Great Plains Sandhill Steppe
WGP Sandhill Sand Sage Shrubland
High Plains: Sandy Deciduous Shrubland
2806 Western Great Plains Sandhill Steppe
WGP Sandhill Shinnery Shrubland
High Plains: Sandy Shinnery Shrubland
2810 Western Great Plains Sandhill Steppe
WGP Sandhill Sand Sage Dunelands
High Plains: Sandhill Deciduous Shrub Duneland
2816 Western Great Plains Sandhill Steppe
WGP Sandhill Shinnery Dunelands
High Plains: Sandhill Shinnery Duneland
2907 Western Great Plains Shortgrass Prairie
WGP Shortgrass Prairie
High Plains: Shortgrass Prairie
3100 Western Great Plains Cliff and Outcrop
WGP Cliff
High Plains: Cliff
3104 Western Great Plains Cliff and Outcrop
WGP Wooded Cliff
High Plains: Wooded Cliff
3806 Western Great Plains Open Freshwater Depressional Wetland
WGP Wet Shrubland
High Plains: Depressional Wet Shrubland
3807 Western Great Plains Open Freshwater Depressional Wetland
WGP Wet Prairie
High Plains: Depressional Wet Prairie
3808 Western Great Plains Open Freshwater Depressional Wetland
WGP Emergent Marsh
High Plains: Depressional Marsh
3900 Western Great Plains Saline Depression Wetland
WGP Saline Lakes
High Plains: Saline Lake
3906 Western Great Plains Saline Depression Wetland
WGP Saline Shrubland
High Plains: Fourwing Saltbush Shrubland
3907 Western Great Plains Saline Depression Wetland
WGP Alkali Sacaton Grassland
High Plains: Alkali Sacaton Grassland
Modeling Existing Vegetation Type Using
Ecological Site Types (Ecoclasses) and Landcover
ecoclassid
ecoclassna
Bottomland
Riparian
Slope
CLUCLSCD
lulc
VegNum
VegName
R077CY022TX
Deep Hardland16-21 PZ
0
0
0
0
12
0
R077CY028TX
Limy Upland 16-21 PZ
0
0
0
0
12
0
R077CY028TXS
Limy Upland 16-21 PZ S
0
1
0
0
12
0
R077CY037TXLEC
Very Shallow 16-21 PZ LEC
0
0
20
0
4
0
R077CY022TX
Deep Hardland16-21 PZ
0
0
0
0
4
0
R077CY022TX
Deep Hardland16-21 PZ
0
0
0
2
12
0
R077CY022TX
Deep Hardland16-21 PZ
0
1
0
0
12
0
R077CY022TX
Deep Hardland16-21 PZ
0
0
0
0
4
0
R077CY022TX
Deep Hardland16-21 PZ
0
0
0
0
4
0
R077CY028TXS
Limy Upland 16-21 PZ S
0
0
0
0
3
0
R077CY028TX
Limy Upland 16-21 PZ
0
0
0
0
10
0
R077CY028TXS
Limy Upland 16-21 PZ S
0
1
0
0
10
0
R077CY028TXS
Limy Upland 16-21 PZ S
0
0
0
0
10
0
R077CY028TXS
Limy Upland 16-21 PZ S
0
0
0
0
10
0
R077CY037TXLEC
Very Shallow 16-21 PZ LEC
0
0
20
0
12
0
R077CY037TXLEC
Very Shallow 16-21 PZ LEC
0
1
0
0
12
0
R077CY037TXLEC
Very Shallow 16-21 PZ LEC
0
0
20
0
12
0
R077CY036TX
Sandy Loam 16-21 PZ
0
1
0
0
12
0
R077CY036TX
Sandy Loam 16-21 PZ
0
1
0
0
12
0
R077CY022TX
Deep Hardland16-21 PZ
0
1
0
0
12
0
R077CY022TX
Deep Hardland16-21 PZ
0
0
0
0
12
0
R077CY022TX
Deep Hardland16-21 PZ
0
0
0
0
11
0
R077CY022TX
Deep Hardland16-21 PZ
0
0
0
0
4
0
R077CY022TX
Deep Hardland16-21 PZ
0
0
100
0
4
0
R077CY036TXN
Sandy Loam 16-21 PZ N
0
0
0
0
4
0
R077CY036TXN
Sandy Loam 16-21 PZ N
0
0
0
0
4
0
R077CY036TX
Sandy Loam 16-21 PZ
0
0
0
0
12
0
R077CY036TX
Sandy Loam 16-21 PZ
0
0
0
0
12
0
R077CY036TX
Sandy Loam 16-21 PZ
0
0
0
0
4
0
R077CY036TX
Sandy Loam 16-21 PZ
0
0
0
0
12
0
R077CY036TX
Sandy Loam 16-21 PZ
0
0
0
0
4
0
R077CY036TX
Sandy Loam 16-21 PZ
0
0
0
0
4
0
R077CY036TX
Sandy Loam 16-21 PZ
0
0
0
0
12
0
R077CY036TX
Sandy Loam 16-21 PZ
0
0
0
0
12
0
R077CY036TX
Sandy Loam 16-21 PZ
0
0
0
2
12
0
R077CY036TXN
Sandy Loam 16-21 PZ N
0
0
0
2
2
0
R077CY036TXN
Sandy Loam 16-21 PZ N
0
0
0
2
2
0
R077CY035TX
Sandy 16-21 PZ
0
0
0
2
2
0
R077CY035TX25J
Sandy 16-21 PZ 25J
0
0
0
2
2
0
R077CY035TX
Sandy 16-21 PZ
0
0
0
2
2
0
R077CY036TX
Sandy Loam 16-21 PZ
0
0
0
2
2
0
R077CY026TX
High Lime 16-21 PZ
0
0
0
2
2
0
R077CY037TX
Very Shallow 16-21 PZ
0
0
0
2
2
0
Evolving and Improving Implementation
• Initially implemented in raster. Time consuming and
prone to error introduction.
• Moved to vector, working with attributed polygons.
• Initial models used Excel. Moved to Access to reduce
error introduction through transcription.
• Initial vector models used Model Builder. Moved to
python to make implementation more transparent and
reproducible.
• Improvements result in ability to rapidly iterate
changes in model to visualization in map. Modeling
issues can be quickly visualized and corrected.
Texas Ecological
Mapping Systems
Database Status
April 2011
Data access at:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/landwater/land/maps/gis/tescp/index.phtml