Location Map

Management Questions 
The management questions for the Northwestern Plains REA were finalized in January 2011 in the Northwestern Plains Task 1 Final Memorandum. They seek information related to:

Terrestrial biotic resources Aquatic/Riparian Biotic Resources Landscape Species/Species Richness  Change Agents

Invasive or Undesired Non-native Species, Insect, and Disease Urban, Agricultural, Industrial, and Water Development Climate Change

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Conservation Elements
Conservation elements are resources of conservation concern within an ecoregion. This REA will assess the current status and forecast the future condition of these conservation elements:

• "Coarse-filter" ecological systems, which represent characteristic vegetation assemblages occurring within the ecoregion;
• "Fine-filter" plant species conservation elements, which represent a dominant plant species characteristic of each of the four largest geographical ecological system coarse-filters in the Northwestern Plains Ecoregion;
• Landscape-species conservation elements, in which selected species represent a range of important attributes characterizing the environment in which they occur.

A full list and description of conservation elements can be found in the Phase 1 Task 1 Memo.

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Change Agents
Change agents are disturbances on the landscape that can influence ecosystem health. They can have natural causes, such as wildfire; human causes, such as energy development; or result from the interaction of both, such as climate change. A key purpose of this REA is to understand the influences of significant, widespread change agents on the natural resources (represented by the conservation elements discussed above) of the Northwestern Plains.
 
This REA will examine the potential effects of the following change agents. A more complete discussion of change agents is presented in the Task 1 Final Memorandum.

Change Agents to Be Addressed in the  Northwestern Plains REA

• Wildland Fire
• Development: Urban, Agricultural, Industrial, and Water Development
• Invasive Species: Terrestrial and Aquatic
• Climate Change
• Insect Outbreak and Diseases

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Data, Maps, and Models
Geospatial data, maps, and models used in and produced by the REAs will be made available to the public upon final completion of each individual assessment. 

Memos and Reports
For each REA, there is a series of memos which are supplemental documents to the final report.  Memos document the major tasks and decision points made during the assessments and provide pertinent background information necessary to understand the justification and methods used during the assessment.  As memos and the final report are completed, they can be downloaded through the table below.

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