Potentially suitable habitat for the American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus) was identified within the Southern Plains. The American burying beetle (ABB) is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, but in 2019 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to reclassify this species as threatened. We applied a deductive model for the ABB that identified potentially suitable habitat using LANDFIRE Existing Vegetation Types (EVT). The habitat model ranked each EVT using one of four categories: (1) favorable; suitable vegetation to support all or critical portions of the ABB life cycle, (2) conditional; favorable only under certain conditions including seasonality of flooding and land management practices, (3) marginal; may provide limited habitat for portions of the ABB life cycle, or (4) unsuitable; does not provide habitat for any portion of the life cycle. We supplemented the habitat model with an ancillary dataset that mapped the estimated surface disturbance footprint from development (agriculture, transportation, urban, and energy and minerals). All cells ranked as favorable, conditional, or marginal were reclassified as unsuitable if any development was present. Source and derived raster datasets have a spatial resolution of 30 x 30 meters. The derived habitat suitability map indicates the location of potential ABB habitat based on EVT and development within the Southern Plains. Because additional factors can strongly affect ABB occurrence (including soil type, availability of carrion, management activities, seasonality of flooding, and climate), areas identified as favorable or conditional habitat may not be occupied by the ABB.

We conducted the first investigation of insect community responses to post-fire seeding on public rangelands by comparing the composition of insect communities at burned-and-seeded (treatment) and burned-and-unseeded (control) sagebrush-steppe ecological sites in southwestern Idaho. Insect communities in burned areas were compared to unburned (reference) areas. We collected insect and vegetation data within and around the burn perimeter of the 2007 Murphy Fire (652,209 ha), 2002 Big Crow Fire (1,134 ha), and 1995 Clover Fire (78,102 ha) in southwestern Idaho, USA. We captured and identified 24,862 insects from 130 families at the three study sites in 2010. We used a nadir photogrid and point-centered quarter method to estimate the percent cover of vegetation at plots within the sampling sites. To estimate the effect of surrounding landscape on the measured insect communities, we measured the relative percent cover of shrublands and grasslands surrounding each sampling plot using ArcGIS 10 and a LANDFIRE vegetation cover shapefile (LANDFIRE Existing Vegetation Type Layer. U.S. Department of Interior, Geological Survey. Available: http://landfire.cr.usgs.gov [2013, June 26]). We measured interannual variability of insect and vegetation community composition at the 1995 Clover Fire (78, 102 ha) from 2009 through 2011. We captured 10,104 individual insects from 145 families during this sampling effort. We used a nadir photogrid method each of the three years and point-centered quarter method in 2009 and 2011 (but not 2010) to estimate the percent cover of vegetation at plots within the sampling site.

Values for area of all occupied habitat were only obtained for species whose occupancy models predicted a marked proportion of the species' population was likely present in non-forest habitats.

The coastal prairie of Louisiana is classified as a Tier 1 Habitat in the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries’ Wildlife Action Plan, meaning that it is a priority habitat of primary conservation concern. Declines in pollinator populations worldwide have prompted questions about the role of such grasslands as habitat for pollinators. In this study, we surveyed bee populations and the plant communities present in the following three grassland types in southwest Louisiana: prairie remnants, restored prairies, and old fields.

The datasets used in the creation of the predicted Habitat Suitability models includes the CWHR range maps of Californias regularly-occurring vertebrates which were digitized as GIS layers to support the predictions of the CWHR System software. These vector datasets of CWHR range maps are one component of California Wildlife Habitat Relationships (CWHR), a comprehensive information system and predictive model for Californias wildlife. The CWHR System was developed to support habitat conservation and management, land use planning, impact assessment, education, and research involving terrestrial vertebrates in California. CWHR contains information on life history, management status, geographic distribution, and habitat relationships for wildlife species known to occur regularly in California. Range maps represent the maximum, current geographic extent of each species within California. They were originally delineated at a scale of 1:5,000,000 by species-level experts and have gradually been revised at a scale of 1:1,000,000. For more information about CWHR, visit the CWHR webpage (https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Data/CWHR). The webpage provides links to download CWHR data and user documents such as a look up table of available range maps including species code, species name, and range map revision history; a full set of CWHR GIS data; .pdf files of each range map or species life history accounts; and a User Guide.The models also used the CALFIRE-FRAP compiled "best available" land cover data known as Fveg. This compilation dataset was created as a single data layer, to support the various analyses required for the Forest and Rangeland Assessment, a legislatively mandated function. These data are being updated to support on-going analyses and to prepare for the next FRAP assessment in 2015. An accurate depiction of the spatial distribution of habitat types within California is required for a variety of legislatively-mandated government functions. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protections CALFIRE Fire and Resource Assessment Program (FRAP), in cooperation with California Department of Fish and Wildlife VegCamp program and extensive use of USDA Forest Service Region 5 Remote Sensing Laboratory (RSL) data, has compiled the "best available" land cover data available for California into a single comprehensive statewide data set. The data span a period from approximately 1990 to 2014. Typically the most current, detailed and consistent data were collected for various regions of the state. Decision rules were developed that controlled which layers were given priority in areas of overlap. Cross-walks were used to compile the various sources into the common classification scheme, the California Wildlife Habitat Relationships (CWHR) system.CWHR range data was used together with the FVEG vegetation maps and CWHR habitat suitability ranks to create Predicted Habitat Suitability maps for species. The Predicted Habitat Suitability maps show the mean habitat suitability score for the species, as defined in CWHR. CWHR defines habitat suitability as NO SUITABILITY (0), LOW (0.33), MEDIUM (0.66), or HIGH (1) for reproduction, cover, and feeding for each species in each habitat stage (habitat type, size, and density combination). The mean is the average of the reproduction, cover, and feeding scores, and can be interpreted as LOW (less than 0.34), MEDIUM (0.34-0.66), and HIGH (greater than 0.66) suitability. Note that habitat suitability ranks were developed based on habitat patch sizes >40 acres in size, and are best interpreted for habitat patches >200 acres in size. The CWHR Predicted Habitat Suitability rasters are named according to the 4 digit alpha-numeric species CWHR ID code. The CWHR Species Lookup Table contains a record for each species including its CWHR ID, scientific name, common name, and range map revision history (available for download at https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Data/CWHR).