Ecostate Maps and the SageCon Landscape Planning Tool

Threat-Based Ecostate Maps apply the power of satellite imagery and machine learning to the concepts of Threat-Based Land Management.

Threat-Based Ecostate Maps provide a snapshot of sagebrush rangeland condition across public and private land in eastern Oregon and across the sagebrush biome. Ecostate maps are based on the principles of Threat-Based Land Management (Johnson et al 2019) as a framework to identify and address the primary large scale drivers of ecosystem change in the northern Great Basin: invasive annual grasses, conifer encroachment, and wildfire. Change over time is captured from circa 1990 to present, with map updates each year.

Data Access and Summarization

View the most recent (2022-2024) map and many other datasets through the SageCon Landscape Planning Tool, and harness the power of the time series using the Ecostate Summarization Tool function, which produces tables and charts summarizing ecostates for a customized, user-defined area of interest and time frame. For direct data download, see the ecostate mapping webpage.

Take Ecostate Maps in the Field!

Follow the instructions in the Ecostate Storymap (How to Access section) for directions on how to use Avenza to take ecostate maps with you on your mobile device into the field.

As of August 2024, The Institute for Natural Resources updated our Threat Based Ecostate Maps to version 4. Based on discussions with partners and following an accuracy assessment using field-based data, we made some small changes to the maps, outlined below. It is important to note that version 4 of the Ecostate Maps will not be compatible/comparable to earlier versions due to the ruleset changes – be sure to re-download or re-summarize ecostate maps for all time steps if you used ecostate maps prior to July 2024. 

Ecostate Map Version 4 Update (August 2024)

Version 4 changes: 

  • Ecostate maps are now available across the sagebrush biome for all available years (1989-2024), and rangelands across the biome can be analyzed using the ecostate summarization tool within the SageCon Landscape Planning Tool. Ecostate maps were developed to capture sagebrush systems in southeastern Oregon; use caution when applying these maps outside of the northern Great Basin and outside of areas of current or historic sagebrush steppe.  

  • Shrub cover threshold increase from 10% to 12% for all shrubland categories (A, A-C, and C) to improve overall accuracy and account for recent overestimation of shrub cover in the underlying datasets. After testing in multiple locations, 12% was chosen as the threshold that maximized map accuracy and captured known trends. As always, recognize that thresholds used in these maps are imperfect across the highly variable sagebrush ecosystem. 

  • Slightly different color scheme to better convey the relationships between ecostates, in particular changing state B-D to a color more similar to B. An alternative visualization option (in a layer file available upon request) may be more conducive for users with common types of colorblindness. 

  • Juniper: low-mid cover & Juniper: high cover renamed to Trees: low-mid cover & Trees: high cover to reflect the fact that ecostates map all areas with trees, not just juniper. Also note that a new Conifer Threat Map is available on the Landscape Planning Tool to complement the ecostate map with more information in areas with conifer encroachment. 

  • Forests and woodlands are now included in the Trees: high cover category (in version 3 they were masked out). Areas excluded from mapping are urban, agriculture, and barren areas. 

  • Simplified attributes table for ease of use.