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National Resources Inventory 2002 and 2003 Annual NRIGlossary of Key
Terms
Aquatic Systems. Refers to ecological systems where the regular or
occasional presence of water is the dominant factor determining the
characteristics of the site. Aquatic systems as used in the NRI are made up of
wetlands and deepwater habitats and are mutually exclusive with uplands.
Conservation practice. A specific treatment, such as a structural
or vegetative measure or management technique commonly used to meet
specific needs in planning and conservation, for which standards and
specifications have been developed. Conservation practices are in the NRCS
Field Office Technical Guide, Section IV, which is based on the National
Handbook of Conservation Practices.
- The practices recorded for NRI have been applied to the area of land
in which the NRI point falls or the portion of the field that would be
used in conservation planning. The point need not fall on a specific
practice.
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land. A Land cover/use
category that includes land under a CRP contract. [Conservation Reserve
Program (CRP). A federal program established
under the Food Security Act of 1985 to assist private landowners to
convert highly Erodible cropland to vegetative cover for 10 years.]
Cropland. A Land cover/use category that includes areas
used for the production of adapted crops for harvest. Two subcategories of
cropland are recognized: cultivated and noncultivated. Cultivated cropland
comprises land in row crops or close-grown crops and also
other cultivated cropland, for example, hay land or pastureland that is in
a rotation with row or close-grown crops. Noncultivated cropland includes
permanent hay land and horticultural cropland.
Cultivated cropland. See Cropland.
Deepwater Habitats. Permanently flooded lands lying below the deepwater
boundary of wetlands. The substrate is considered nonsolid because the water is
too deep to support emergent vegetation (Coward in et al. 1979).
Developed land.
A combination of land cover/use categories,
Large urban and built-up areas, Small built-up areas, and Rural
transportation land.
Emergent wetlands. The Emergent wetland class is
characterized by erect, rooted, herbaceous hydrophytes, excluding mosses
and lichens. This vegetation is present for most of the growing season in
most years. These wetlands are usually dominated by perennial plants (Cowardin
et al. 1979).
Erodibility index (EI).
A numerical expression of the potential of
a soil to erode, considering the physical and chemical properties of the
soil and climatic conditions where it is located. The higher the index,
the greater the investment needed to maintain the sustainability of the
soil resource base if intensively cropped. EI scores of 8 or above are equated
to highly erodible land.
Erosion.
The wearing away of the land surface by running water,
waves, or moving ice and wind, or by such processes as mass wasting and
corrosion (solution and other chemical processes). The term "geologic
erosion" refers to natural erosion processes occurring over long
(geologic) time spans. "Accelerated erosion" generically refers to erosion
that exceeds what is presumed or estimated to be naturally occurring
levels, and which is a direct result of human activities (e.g.,
cultivation and logging).
Estuarine. One of the five major
systems in the Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats (Cowardin
et al. 1979). Estuarine Systems consist of deepwater tidal habitats and
adjacent tidal wetlands that are usually semi enclosed by land but have
open, partly obstructed, or sporadic access to the open ocean, and in
which ocean water is at least occasionally diluted by freshwater runoff
from the land (Cowardin et al. 1979).
Farm Production Regions. 10 regions established by USDA, Economic Research Service,
that group states according to differences in soils, slope of land,
climate, distance to market, and storage and marketing facilities.
Federal land.
A land
ownership category designating land that is owned by the federal
government. It does not include, for example, trust lands administered by
the Bureau of Indian Affairs or Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) land. No
data are collected for any year that land is in this ownership.
Forest land. A Land cover/use category that is at least 10
percent stocked by single-stemmed woody species of any size that will be
at least 4 meters (13 feet) tall at maturity. Also included is land
bearing evidence of natural regeneration of tree cover (cut over forest or
abandoned farmland) and not currently developed for no forest use. Ten
percent stocked, when viewed from a vertical direction, equates to an
areal canopy cover of leaves and branches of 25 percent or greater. The
minimum area for classification as forest land is 1 acre, and the area
must be at least 100 feet wide.
Highly erodible land (HEL). See erodibility index.
Irrigated land. Land that shows evidence of being irrigated during
the year of the inventory or of having been irrigated during 2 or more of
the last 4 years. Water is supplied to crops by ditches, pipes, or other
conduits. For the purposes of the NRI, water spreading is not
considered irrigation.
Lacustrine. One of the five major systems in the Classification of
Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats (Cowardin et al. 1979). The Lacustrine System
includes wetlands and deepwater habitats with all of the following
characteristics: (1) situated in a topographic depression or a dammed river
channel; (2) lacking trees, shrubs, persistent emergents, emergent mosses or
lichens with greater than 30% areal coverage; and (3) total area exceeds 8 ha
(20 acres). Similar wetland and deepwater habitats totaling less than 8 ha are
also included in the Lacustrine System if an active wave-formed or bedrock
shoreline feature makes up all or part of the boundary, or if the water depth in
the deepest part of the basin exceeds 2 m (6.6 feet) at low water (Cowardin et
al. 1979).
Land cover/use.
A term that includes categories of land cover and
categories of land use. Land cover is the vegetation or other kind of
material that covers the land surface. Land use is the purpose of human
activity on the land; it is usually, but not always, related to land
cover. The NRI uses the term land cover/use to identify categories that
account for all the surface area of the United States.
Large urban and built-up areas.
A Land cover/use category
composed of developed tracts of at least 10 acres—meeting the definition
of Urban and built-up areas.
Margins of Error. Margins of error are reported for each
NRI estimate. The margin of error is used to construct the 95 percent
confidence interval for the estimate. The lower bound of the interval is
obtained by subtracting the margin of error from the estimate; the upper
bound is obtained by adding the margin of error to the estimate.
Confidence intervals can be created for various levels of significance
which is a measure of how certain we are that the interval contains the
true value we are estimating. A 95 percent confidence interval means that
in repeated samples from the same population, 95 percent of the time the
true underlying population parameter will be contained within the lower
and upper bounds of the interval.
Marine. One of the five major systems
in the Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats (Cowardin et al.
1979). The Marine System consists of the open ocean overlying the
continental shelf and its associated high-energy coastline (Cowardin et
al. 1979).
Noncultivated cropland. See Cropland.
Non-Federal
land. A combination of the land ownership categories:
private, municipal, county or parish, State, and Indian tribal and trust
lands. (Lands administered by the Tennessee Valley Authority are
considered non-Federal land.)
Other rural land. A Land cover/use category that
includes farmsteads and other farm structures, field windbreaks, barren
land, and marshland.
Palustrine. One of the five major
systems in the Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats (Cowardin
et al. 1979). The Palustrine System includes all nontidal wetlands
dominated by trees, shrubs, persistent emergents, emergent mosses or
lichens, and all such wetlands that occur in tidal areas where salinity
due to ocean-derived salts is below 0.5 parts per thousand. It also
includes wetland lacking such vegetation, but with all of the following
four characteristics; (1) area less than 8 ha (20 acres); (2) active
wave-formed or bedrock shoreline features lacking; (3) water depth in the
deepest part of the basin less than 2 m at low water, and (4) salinity due
to ocean-derived salts less than 0.5 parts per thousand (Cowardin et al.
1979). Classes of Palustrine Wetlands as used in the NRI include:
-
Emergent wetlands -
The Emergent wetland class is characterized by erect, rooted, herbaceous
hydrophytes, excluding mosses and lichens. This vegetation is present for
most of the growing season in most years. These wetlands are usually
dominated by perennial plants (Cowardin et al. 1979).
-
Scrub-Shrub - This wetland class includes areas
dominated by woody vegetation less than 6 m (20 feet) tall. The species
include true shrubs, young trees, and tress or shrubs that are small or
stunted because of environmental conditions (Cowardin et al. 1979).
-
Forested - This wetland class is characterized by
woody vegetation that is 6 m (20 feet) tall or taller (Cowardin et al. 1979).
-
Non-vegetated - This wetland class includes open
water wetlands as well as those dominated by mosses, lichens, or aquatic beds
of plants that grow principally on or below the water surface for most of the
growing season. Also included in this category are wetlands with rock
bottoms, unconsolidated bottom, and unconsolidated shore as used by Cowardin
et al. (1979).
Pastureland. A Land cover/use category of land managed
primarily for the production of introduced forage plants for livestock
grazing. Pastureland cover may consist of a single species in a pure
stand, a grass mixture, or a grass-legume mixture. Management usually
consists of cultural treatments: fertilization, weed control, reseeding or
renovation, and control of grazing. For the NRI, includes land that has a
vegetative cover of grasses, legumes, and/or forbs, regardless of whether
or not it is being grazed by livestock.
Primary sample unit (PSU). An area of land, typically
square to rectangular in shape, that is approximately 40, 100, 160, or 640
acres in size. Within the PSU, sample points are assigned. Certain
data elements are collected for the entire PSU, while others are collected
at the PSU points.
- The size of the PSU is based on the shape, size, and complexity of
the resources being inventoried. In 34 states, PSU’s are often 160-acre
square parcels measuring 0.5 mile on each side. In the western United
States, PSU’s are often 40-acre or 640-acre square areas; the 40-acre
units are used in most irrigated areas, and the larger PSU’s are used in
relatively homogeneous areas containing large tracts of rangeland,
forest land, or barren land. In the 13 northeastern states, PSU’s
are defined to be 20 seconds of latitude by 30 seconds of longitude,
ranging from 97 acres in Maine to 114 acres in southern Virginia. In
Louisiana and parts of northwestern Maine, PSU’s are 0.5 kilometer
squares (61.8 acres).
Prime farmland. Land that has the best combination of physical and
chemical characteristics for producing food, feed, forage, fiber, and
oilseed crops and is also available for these uses.
Rangeland. A Land cover/use category on which the climax or
potential plant cover is composed principally of native grasses, grasslike
plants, forbs or shrubs suitable for grazing and browsing, and introduced
forage species that are managed like rangeland. This would include areas
where introduced hardy and persistent grasses, such as crested wheatgrass,
are planted and such practices as deferred grazing, burning, chaining, and
rotational grazing are used, with little or no chemicals or fertilizer
being applied. Grasslands, savannas, many wetlands, some deserts, and
tundra are considered to be rangeland. Certain communities of low forbs
and shrubs, such as mesquite, chaparral, mountain shrub, and pinyon-juniper,
are also included as rangeland.
Riverine. One of the five major systems in the Classification of
Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats (Cowardin et al. 1979). The Riverine System
includes all wetlands and deepwater habitats contained within a channel, with
two exceptions: (1) wetlands dominated by trees, shrubs, persistent emergents,
emergent mosses, or lichens, and (2) habitats with water containing
ocean-derived salts in excess of 0.5 parts per thousand (Cowardin et al. 1979).
Rural transportation land. A Land cover/use category which
consists of all highways, roads, railroads and associated right-of-ways
outside urban and built-up areas; also includes private roads to
farmsteads or ranch headquarters, logging roads, and other private
roads (field lanes are not included).
Sheet and rill erosion.
The removal of layers of soil from the land
surface by the action of rainfall and runoff. It is the first stage in
water erosion.
Small built-up areas. A Land cover/use category consisting of
developed land units of 0.25 to 10 acres, which meet the definition of
Urban and built-up areas.
Soil loss tolerance factor (T factor - USLE).
The maximum rate of
annual soil loss that will permit crop productivity to be sustained
economically and indefinitely on a given soil.
T factor (USLE). See Soil loss tolerance factor.
Universal soil loss equation (USLE). An erosion model designed to
predict the long-term average soil losses in runoff from specific field
areas in specified cropping and management systems.
The equation is: A = RKLSCP
where A = Computed soil loss per unit area
R = Rainfall and runoff factor
K = Soil erodibility factor
L = Slope-length factor
S = Slope-steepness factor
C = Cover and management factor
P = Support practice factor
The NRI calculations use location-specific data for the field in which
the NRI sample point falls or that portion of the field surrounding
the point that would be considered in conservation planning.
Upland.
Refers to land that is not wetland or deepwater habitat. Upland sites are
mesic to dry sites where wetland characteristics are absent. Upland does
not periodically support predominantly hydrophytes, or the substrate is
not predominantly undrained hydric soil, or the substrate is soil that is
not saturated with water nor covered by shallow water at some time during
the growing season of each year.
Urban and built-up areas. A Land cover/use category
consisting of residential, industrial, commercial, and
institutional land; construction sites; public
administrative sites; railroad yards; cemeteries; airports; golf courses;
sanitary landfills; sewage treatment plants; water control structures and
spillways; other land used for such purposes; small parks (less than 10
acres) within urban and built-up areas; and highways, railroads,
and other transportation facilities if they are surrounded by urban areas.
Also included are tracts of less than 10 acres that do not meet the above
definition but are completely surrounded by Urban and built-up land. Two
size categories are recognized in the NRI: areas of 0.25 acre to 10 acres,
and areas of at least 10 acres.
Water areas. A Land cover/use category comprising water
bodies and streams that are permanent open water.
Wetlands. Lands transitional between terrestrial and aquatic
systems where the water table is usually at or near the surface or the
land is covered by shallow water. For purposes of this classification
wetlands must have one or more of the following three attributes: (1) at
least periodically, the land supports predominantly hydrophytes; (2) the
substrate is predominantly undrained hydric soil; and (3) the substrate is
nonsoil and is saturated with water or covered by shallow water at some
time during the growing season of each year. (Cowardin, L. M., V. Carter,
F. C. Golet, E. T. LaRoe. 1979. Classification of wetlands and deepwater
habitats of the United States. FWS/OBS-79/31. U.S. Department of the
Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service.)
Wind erosion . The process of detachment, transport, and deposition
of soil by wind.
Wind erosion equation (WEQ). An erosion model designed to predict
long-term average annual soil losses from a field having specific
characteristics.
The equation is: E = f(IKCLV)
where E = Estimated average annual soil loss expressed in tons per acre
per year
I = Soil erodibility index
K = Soil ridge roughness factor
C = Climatic factor
L = Equivalent unsheltered
distance across the field along the
prevailing wind erosion direction
V = Equivalent vegetative
cover
See full glossary for additional NRI terms.
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