Mesic Analysis Platform Data Manual

Link: Mesic Analysis Platform

Description

A Google Earth Engine application for visualizing and analyzing productive, late-season (July 15-September 30) mesic vegetation across the Sagebrush Biome. These critical water-supported environments provide essential habitat and forage for wildlife and livestock during the arid summer months when water becomes scarce in western U.S. rangelands. The platform allows users to visualize various spatial datasets, query specific locations for detailed statistics, and analyze custom-drawn areas of interest.

Usage

The application is operated through a user interface with three main components:

  1. Left Panel: This panel contains collapsible sections for selecting and controlling the visibility, transparency, and parameters of different map data layers.
  2. Right Panel: Displays analysis results, either from a map click or from a user-drawn polygon.
  3. Center Map Panel: Displays the selected data layers. Users can pan, zoom, and click on the map to query data.

Details

This section provides a detailed description of every component and data layer available in the application.

I. Left Panel: Layer Selection & Controls

This panel is organized into collapsible sections. Each section controls a group of related map layers. Click on the section header boxes to either “Hide” or “Show” the map layers under that section.

1. Mesic Valley-bottom Layers

This section controls layers that summarize landscape characteristics within VBET modeled stream valley-bottoms segmented reaches. A dropdown menu is used to select one active layer at a time. For each selection, an automatic pixel-based layer may also appear at high zoom levels (<13). The “Transparency Slider” adjusts the opacity of the active layer.

  • Valley-bottom Vegetation Persistence (%)
    • Description: Percentage of years (1984-2024) where valley-bottom vegetation within defined stream reaches was productive (mean late-season NDVI ≥ 0.3). Higher values indicate more persistent productivity. Persistence is calculated as mean value of all identified pixels within the polygon.
    • Interpretation: Higher values (blues) indicate more years with productive vegetation.
  • Valley-bottom Productive Floodplain Proportion (%)
    • Description: Proportion (% area) of a valley-bottom reach with moderately persistent vegetation (i.e., late-season NDVI ≥ 0.3 for >50% of years between 1984-2024).
    • Interpretation: This indicates how much of the valley-bottom has been consistently green.
  • Valley-bottom Distance to Core Sagebrush Area (km)
    • Description: The mean geographic distance, in kilometers, from all pixels within a valley-bottom reach to the the nearest Core Sagebrush Area as defined by the Sagebrush Conservation Design (SCD) year 2020.
    • Interpretation: Core Sagebrush Areas represent intact upland sagebrush ecosystems, critical habitats for sagebrush dependent wildlife species. Proximity to these areas indicate higher importance for prioritizing upland wildlife species access to mesic areas.
  • Valley-bottom Mean Tree Cover (%)
    • Description: The mean tree cover percentage (2019-2024) within the valley-bottom reach, derived from the Rangeland Analysis Platform (RAP) dataset.
    • Interpretation: How much of the stream reach is covered by trees (a recent estimate).
  • Valley-bottom Stream Type
    • Description: The classification of the stream within the valley-bottom reach based on NHD flowlines (perennial, intermittent, or ephemeral), as derived from the Riverscapes VBET model inputs.
    • Interpretation: How often is water available in this stream system? Perennial streams almost always flow in summer, intermittent streams are wet less frequently, and ephemeral streams are likely dry most of the summer.

2. Productive Mesic Rangelands

This section provides a pixel-based map layer for identifying drought-resistant uplands and mesic areas outside of VBET valley bottoms based on productivity over time, with user-adjustable thresholds. This layer estimates herbaceous-dominated vegetation.

  • Rangeland Mesic Pixel Persistence
    • Layer Name: Rangeland Mesic Pixel Persistence
    • Description: Percentage of years (1984-2024) vegetation was productive (mean late-season NDVI ≥ 0.3) in a pixel (30-meter).
    • Controls:
      • Min. % Years Productive Slider: This slider filters the map to show only pixels that meet a minimum persistence threshold (a minimal proportion of the years productive).
      • Transparency Slider: Adjusts the opacity of the layer.

3. Basemap Layers

This section contains landscape overlay data layers to provide spatial context. A dropdown menu allows users to select one active layer at a time.

  • Land Ownership
    • Description: Public land ownership (federal and state) and other “non-private” land parcels within the Sagebrush Biome, derived from the Protected Area Database (PAD-US 2025). Areas not filled in with this layer are considered private lands.
  • BLM Allotments
    • Description: Boundaries of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) grazing allotments within the Sagebrush Biome.
  • BLM Habitat Management Areas
    • Description: Habitat management areas for Greater Sage-Grouse, categorized as Priority Habitat Management Areas (PHMA), General Habitat Management Areas (GHMA), Important Habitat Management Areas (IHMA), and Other Habitat Management Areas (OHMA). These areas are designed to prioritize habitat specifically for Sage-grouse conservation.
  • Sagebrush Conservation Design (SCD) 2020
    • Description: Fundamental upland ecosystem conservation frameworks designating various levels of functioning sagebrush ecosystems from the SCD framework year 2020. Core Sagebrush Areas (intact uplands), Growth Opportunity Areas (room for improving conditions), and Other Rangeland areas (lost upland habitat).
  • HUC12 Watersheds (Hydrologic Unit Code 12)
    • Description: Boundaries for sub watersheds are defined by the Hydrologic Unit Code 12 (HUC).

4. Watershed Targeting Tools

This tool uses Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) 12 watersheds in the sagebrush biome to prioritize restoration to watersheds where it could be most effective. There are two methods for using these targeting tools:

  • Prioritization Framework (Framework Tiers)
    • Description: Based on a tiered system (paper TBD), watersheds are classified based on abundance of mesic vegetation and their persistence (how frequently vegetation remains green and productive during the driest part of the growing season), and their proximity to intact sagebrush uplands:
      • Tier 1 – Protect and Maintain: Contain abundant high-persistence mesic vegetation with nearby intact uplands (SCD). Here, mesic systems are primarily functional, making protection the primary strategy.
      • Tier 2 – Restore: With a mix of functioning and less productive mesic systems, these watersheds offer the greatest restoration potential to enhance hydrologic function within and near intact upland systems (SCD).
      • Tier 3 – Strategic Management: These watersheds have limited but present mesic vegetation. Restoration is feasible, but selective site identification may be needed within and near intact uplands (SCD).
  • User-defined Prioritization (co-occurrence)
    • Description: Maps the co-occurrence of various landscape characteristics at the HUC12 watershed level. By choosing multiple variables, you can create a map that uses a color ramp to emphasize watersheds with the highest combined concentration of those selected features:
      • Proportion of HUC12 in valley bottoms
      • Proportion of valleys forested
      • Proportion of valleys with NO vegetation persistence
      • Proportion of valleys with LOW vegetation persistence (<25%)
      • Proportion of valleys with MODERATE vegetation persistence (≥25% and <75%)
      • Proportion of valleys with HIGH vegetation persistence (≥75%)
      • Proportion of valleys within 5km of Core Sagebrush Areas
      • Proportion of valleys within 5km of Growth Opportunity Areas
      • Proportion of valleys within 5km of Core or Growth
      • Proportion of valleys within 5km of Other Rangeland Areas

II. Right Panel: Analysis Tools & Time-Series Data

This panel provides on-the-fly statistics for valley bottom reaches, points, or user-defined areas. It also provides time-series data for late-season vegetation productivity, vegetation cover, precipitation, and drought metrics. To clear the statistics and charts from the right panel and the highlighted area on the map, click the red text “Clear Analysis”.

1. Map Click Analysis

When a user clicks on the map, the panel populates with information for that underlying stream reach feature (if the layer is active) or specific point.

  • Stream Reach Properties:
    • Stream Type: Perennial, Intermittent, or Ephemeral.
    • Reach Slope (deg): Mean slope in degrees of the reach.
    • BLM Allotment: The name of the BLM allotment.
    • HUC12 Watershed: The name of the HUC12 watershed.
    • Veg. Persistence (% years): The average pixel persistence value for all vegetation within the reach.
    • Productive Floodplain Prop.: The proportion of the reach with persistently productive vegetation (≥50% of years since 1984).
    • Dist. To Core Sagebrush Area (km): The average distance to the nearest core sagebrush area.
  • Point Location Properties:
    • BLM Allotment: The name of the BLM allotment.
    • HUC12 Watershed: The name of the HUC12 watershed.
  • Time Series Charts (for stream reach or point location):
    • Late-season NDVI (July 15 – September 30): A time series chart of the mean NDVI (1984-2024).
    • RAP Cover (%): A time series chart of vegetation cover components from the Rangeland Analysis Platform (RAP).
    • Late-season Climate Time Series (July 15 – September 30): A time series chart of the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) and precipitation.

2. Drawing Polygon Analysis

Click the “Draw Polygon” button to define your own area of interest, then click “Calculate Statistics”.

  • Drawing Analysis Results (Mean for AOI):
    • All Veg. Persistence: The mean vegetation persistence across all pixels within the drawn polygon.
    • Rangeland Mesic Persistence: The mean vegetation persistence for only pixels identified by the Rangeland Mesic Pixel Persistence layer.
  • Time Series Charts (for User AOI):
    • Same as the above time series charts.

III. Center Map: Data Display and Layer Management

The center map displays active layers from the left panel. Two constant floating boxes appear in the top right:

  • Active Layers: Shows the currently active layers and their parent section from the left panel.
  • Layer Management:
    • “Remove All Thematic Layers”: Removes all currently active layers from the map.
    • “Remove Last Added Layer”: Removes the most recently added layer from the map.

Maintainer & Data Sources

  • Maintainer: Kristopher Mueller (University of Montana, Working Lands for Wildlife Science Team) - kristopher.mueller@mso.umt.edu
  • Data Source: Valley bottom extents and associated data were gathered from the Riverscapes Data Exchange.