Description: The USDA-USFS Terrestrial Condition Assessment (TCA) for the conterminous US version 2.0 interprets and synthesizes data for 12 key ecological indicators composed of 30 metrics to determine the condition of terrestrial ecosystems on National Forest System (NFS) Administrative lands at a landscape scale (1:250,000 to 1:60,000). The TCA supports the production of a key performance indicator (KPI) for the US Forest Service. The TCA KPI leverages the TCA model’s ability to assess ecological conditions to describe the effects of USFS management activities, as recorded in the Forest Service Activity Tracking System (FACTS) database. The TCA KPI is defined as the “percent area of National Forest System landscape ecosystems where management actions have occurred that are improved, maintained or recovering.” The TCA model produces baseline scores for each indicator and each landscape ecosystem. Management activities reported in FACTS are translated into their effect on the datasets underlying the TCA model.
Description: Terrestrial Condition Assessment (TCA) for Continental United States. The TCA evaluates the effects of uncharacteristic stressors and disturbance agents to identify restoration opportunities on National Forest System (NFS) lands. The TCA assesses ecological condition on NFS lands by scoring landscape ecosystems from "Very Good" to "Very Poor" using a continuous scoring system from +1 to -1 based on indicators and underlying datasets. The underlying input data include observed insect and pathogen-induced mortality, key critical loads for atmospheric deposition, long term seasonal departures in temperature and precipitation, road densities, uncharacteristic wildfires, historical fire regime departure, wildfire potential, insect and pathogen hazard, and vegetation departure from natural range of variability. For more information visit https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/11/2144. Spatial Extent: CONUSUnits: Condition class (Very Poor, Poor, Moderate, Good, Very Good)