Synthesizing Old and New: Joining Existing Remote-Sensing and GIS Data to Assess Fire Issues in Sagebrush Steppe Ecosystems

Creeping environmental changes are impacting some of the largest remaining intact parcels of shrub-steppe ecosystems in the western United States and are creating major problems for land managers. The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is part of the largest sagebrush steppe ecosystem on the continent. Scientists at the INL and the University of Idaho have integrated existing field and remotely-sensed data with geographic information systems technology to analyze how recent fires on the INL have influenced the current distribution of terrestrial vegetation. Three different vegetation mapping and classification systems were used to evaluate the changes in vegetation due to fires between 1994 and 2003. Twenty-four percent of the sagebrush steppe community on the INL was altered by fire, mostly over a seven year period. There were notable differences between methods, especially for juniper and grasslands. One method stood out in representing the landscape because it includes playa/bare ground/disturbed area and lava as vegetation categories. This study found that assessing existing data sets is useful for quantifying fire impacts and should be helpful in future fire and land use planning. It also demonstrated how different mapping and classification methods can influence the outcome from fire impact assessments.