Bruce W. Hoagland

EcoVeg: a new approach to vegetation description and classification

A vegetation classification approach is needed that can describe the diversity of terrestrial ecosystems and their transformations over large time frames, span the full range of spatial and geographic scales across the globe, and provide knowledge of reference conditions and current states of ecosystems required to make decisions about conservation and resource management. We summarize the scientific basis for EcoVeg, a physiognomic-floristic-ecological classification approach that applies to existing vegetation, both cultural (planted and dominated by human processes) and natural (spontaneously formed and dominated by nonhuman ecological processes). The classification is based on a set of vegetation criteria, including physiognomy (growth forms, structure) and floristics (compositional similarity and characteristic species combinations), in conjunction with ecological characteristics, including site factors, disturbance, bioclimate, and biogeography. For natural vegetation, the rationale for the upper le...

Using species distribution models to guide conservation at the state level: the endangered American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus) in Oklahoma

The goal of the Endangered Species Act is to improve the chances of listed species’ survival by increasing population levels (US Fish and Wildlife Service in American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus) recovery plan. Newton Corner, MA, p 80, 1991). If successful, a species will be delisted, but in order to achieve the goal of species recovery the demography, habitat preferences, reproductive biology, and cause of the species decline must be understood. Like many rare invertebrates, information about the endangered American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus) prior to listing consisted of the taxonomic description and morphological characterization. Surveys for N. americanus provide data that can be integrated into spatial models to help predict suitable habitat. Our objective was to model the potential distribution of N. americanus and to evaluate these models ability to generate maps of potential habitat, thus focusing recovering efforts. We chose six modelling algorithms that utilized both presence and absence data from beetle surveys conducted throughout eastern Oklahoma. Using area under the curve (AUC) as our evaluation statistic, we found that ten of the twelve models performed within the AUC index category of “potentially useful” (AUC 0.7–0.9). Models utilizing presence only data performed well compared to models built with presence/absence data. This may indicate the weakness of using absence data to indicate unsuitable habitat. Lack of integration into the model of biotic interactions may also be affecting model performance. To improve model performance, the causes of N. americanus’s endangered status and its population shrinkage should be considered. Although the best models were not highly accurate, the map of suitable habitat can help to inform conservation biologists of areas with a likelihood of N. americanus presence. Overgenerous models can mislead conservation planners in thinking that more areas are highly suitable. If resources are limited for planning preserves and areas of reintroduction, it may be better to be conservative and to limit consideration to the most suitable habitat.

The Vascular Flora of Red Slough and Grassy Slough Wildlife Management Areas, Gulf Coastal Plain, McCurtain County, Oklahoma

Abstract This paper reports the results of an inventory of the vascular plants at the Red Slough and Grassy Slough Wildlife Management Areas in southeastern Oklahoma. A total of 426 taxa of vascular plants in 269 genera and 106 families was collected. The most species were collected from the families Asteraceae (53), Poaceae (42), Cyperaceae (31), and Fabaceae (27). Ninety-nine species were annuals or biennials, and 328 perennials. Ninety-three species of woody plants were present. Twenty-eight species not native to North America were collected representing 6.6% of the flora. Thirty species tracked by the Oklahoma Natural Heritage Inventory were found. The first occurrence in Oklahoma of Anoda cristata, Malvaceae, is reported in this study.

Vascular Flora of Hugo Lake Wildlife Management Area, Choctaw County, Oklahoma

Abstract This paper reports the results of an inventory of the vascular plants at the Hugo Wildlife Management Area in southeastern Oklahoma. A total of 573 specific and interspecific taxa of vascular plants in 359 genera and 113 families were collected. The most commonly collected were of the families Poaceae (75), Asteraceae (76), Fabaceae (40), and Cyperaceae (38). One hundred sixty-four species were annuals or biennials, and 409 were perennials. Ninety-seven species of woody plants were present. Fifty-one exotic species were collected representing 9% of the flora. Fourteen species tracked by the Oklahoma Natural Heritage Inventory were found. This study reports 256 species previously not documented in Choctaw County.

Heterogeneity in shortgrass prairie vegetation: the role of playa lakes

. We examined the role of playa lakes in promoting regional heterogeneity on the southern High Plains. The goals of this paper were to: (1) describe vegetation types and zonation patterns within playas, (2) evaluate patterns of species distribution and abundance within and among playas, and (3) assess patterns of heterogeneity within and among playas on a portion of the southern High Plains. Perennial grasses were the most abundant species in playa vegetation. Playa vegetation exhibited distinct and repeatable vegetation zones at the majority of sites, but the number of distinct zones varied from site to site. Agropyron smithii, Buchloe dactyloides, and Panicum obtusum were the most important species of playa interior zones, and Bouteloua gracilis, Buchloe dactyloides, and Schedonnardus paniculatus were important upland species outside of playas. Species distribution and abundance were positively correlated at 38 of 40 sites. The distributions of species occurrences among sites were unimodal both locally and regionally. The degree of heterogeneity varied from playa to playa. Local heterogeneity within playas was found to increase regional heterogeneity; therefore, playas increase both local and regional heterogeneity of vegetation. Long-term monitoring will be necessary to understand the spatial and temporal response of vegetation within and among playas to stochastic climatic factors on the southern High Plains of North America.

Mapping Annual Forest Cover in Sub-Humid and Semi-Arid Regions through Analysis of Landsat and PALSAR Imagery

Accurately mapping the spatial distribution of forests in sub-humid to semi-arid regions over time is important for forest management but a challenging task. Relatively large uncertainties still exist in the spatial distribution of forests and forest changes in the sub-humid and semi-arid regions. Numerous publications have used either optical or synthetic aperture radar (SAR) remote sensing imagery, but the resultant forest cover maps often have large errors. In this study, we propose a pixel- and rule-based algorithm to identify and map annual forests from 2007 to 2010 in Oklahoma, USA, a transitional region with various climates and landscapes, using the integration of the L-band Advanced Land Observation Satellite (ALOS) PALSAR Fine Beam Dual Polarization (FBD) mosaic dataset and Landsat images. The overall accuracy and Kappa coefficient of the PALSAR/Landsat forest map were about 88.2% and 0.75 in 2010, with the user and producer accuracy about 93.4% and 75.7%, based on the 3270 random ground plots collected in 2012 and 2013. Compared with the forest products from Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), National Land Cover Database (NLCD), Oklahoma Ecological Systems Map (OKESM) and Oklahoma Forest Resource Assessment (OKFRA), the PALSAR/Landsat forest map showed great improvement. The area of the PALSAR/Landsat forest was about 40,149 km2 in 2010, which was close to the area from OKFRA (40,468 km2), but much larger than those from JAXA (32,403 km2) and NLCD (37,628 km2). We analyzed annual forest cover dynamics, and the results show extensive forest cover loss (2761 km2, 6.9% of the total forest area in 2010) and gain (3630 km2, 9.0%) in southeast and central Oklahoma, and the total area of forests increased by 684 km2 from 2007 to 2010. This study clearly demonstrates the potential of data fusion between PALSAR and Landsat images for mapping annual forest cover dynamics in sub-humid to semi-arid regions, and the resultant forest maps would be helpful to forest management.

The vascular flora of the Cucumber Creek Nature Preserve, LeFlore County, Oklahoma.

Abstract The Cucumber Creek Nature Preserve is located in the Ouachita Mountains of southeastern Oklahoma, a region of high plant diversity in the state. An inventory of the preserve yielded 341 taxa of vascular plants in 231 genera and 98 families. The largest families were the Asteraceae (46) and Poaceae (27). The flora consisted of 52 annuals, 1 biennial, 287 perennials, and 95 woody taxa. Sixteen exotic species were collected, representing 4.7% of the flora. Twenty-five species were present that are tracked by the Oklahoma Natural Heritage Inventory: Actaea pachypoda, Carex cephalophora, C. latebracteata, C. ouachitana, C. striatula, Castanea pumila var. ozarkensis, Chionanthus virginicus, Dirca palustris, Fraxinus quadrangulata, Galium arkansanum, Halesia tetraptera, Hamamelis vernalis, H. virginiana, Hypericum gentianoides, Ilex opaca, Iris cristata, Magnolia tripetala, Mitchella repens, Panax quinquefolius, Piptochaetium avenaceum, Polygala polygama, Ribes cynosbati, Spigelia marilandica, Stachys eplingii, and Uvularia grandiflora.

The Vascular Flora of an Ozark Plateau Site, Ottawa County, Oklahoma

Abstract This paper reports the results of an inventory of the vascular plants from an Ozark Plateau Site in Ottawa County, northeastern Oklahoma. A total of 318 taxa in 219 genera and 81 families were collected. The families with the greatest number of species were the Asteraceae (with 37 taxa), Poaceae (36), and Fabaceae (31). Ninety-one species were annuals, three were biennials, and 224 were perennials. Fifty-eight species of woody plants were present. Thirty-three non-native species, representing 10.4% of the flora, were collected. Three species tracked by the Oklahoma Natural Heritage Inventory were found.

The Vascular Flora of the J.T. Nickel Family Nature and Wildlife Preserve, Cherokee County, Oklahoma

ABSTRACT We report the results of an inventory of the vascular plants at the J.T. Nickel Family Nature and Wildlife Preserve in Cherokee County, Oklahoma. We collected a total of 597 taxa in 358 genera and 118 families. The greatest number of species were from Asteraceae (87), Poaceae (66), and Fabaceae (44). Ninety-one species of woody plants were present. Seventy-two non-native species were present representing 12.1% of the flora. Species present that are tracked by the Oklahoma Natural Heritage Inventory were Brachyelytrum erectum, Brasenia schreberi, Carex cephalophora, C. oklahomensis, C. oxylepis, Clematis virginiana, Cypripedium parviflorum var. parviflorum, Impatiens pallida, Iris cristata, Phaseolus polystachios, Physocarpus opulifolius var. intermedius, Silene regia, and Tradescantia ernestiana. This study reports the first records for Glyceria acutiflora and Microstegium vimineum (Poaceae) from Oklahoma.

A Landscape in Transition: The Arbuckle Mountains, 1870 to 1898

An understanding of the contemporary biogeography of a region must be predicated not only on the current environmental conditions that influence species distributions but also on historical factors including anthropogenic disturbance regimes. Increasingly, researchers are using historical data, such as the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) records, to create baselines from which subsequent biogeographic changes can be gauged. The present-day state of Oklahoma is unique in that two separate PLSS surveys were conducted in the state during a relatively short time span. We compare these two historical data sets, from the 1870s and 1890s, respectively, to quantify changes in landscape structure and woody plant assemblages corresponding to rapid demographic changes occurring within the Arbuckle Mountains in Oklahoma. During this period, the PLSS data show a landscape that became increasingly fragmented, as well as differences in stand composition and density. The documentation of these important historical anthropogenic changes occurring on the western fringes of the eastern deciduous forest could serve as a valuable guide for conservation and restoration initiatives.