Inventoried Roadless Areas where this ecosystem is present, identified from LANDFIRE 2024 Existing Vegetation Type spatial analysis. Coverage indicates the proportion of each area occupied by this ecosystem type.
| Area | Forest | Coverage | Hectares |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blacktail | Dakota Prairie Grasslands | 4.6% | 161.73 |
| Twin Buttes | Dakota Prairie Grasslands | 4.5% | 248.31 |
| Collar / Bennett - Cottonwood | Dakota Prairie Grasslands | 4.5% | 359.55 |
| Magpie | Dakota Prairie Grasslands | 4.0% | 340.2 |
| Long X Divide | Dakota Prairie Grasslands | 3.5% | 141.21 |
| Bullion Butte | Dakota Prairie Grasslands | 3.1% | 248.94 |
| Lone Butte | Dakota Prairie Grasslands | 2.6% | 118.89 |
| Kinley Plateau | Dakota Prairie Grasslands | 2.5% | 170.82 |
| Wannagan | Dakota Prairie Grasslands | 2.4% | 57.96 |
| Bell Lake | Dakota Prairie Grasslands | 2.3% | 106.83 |
| Dawsons Waterhole | Dakota Prairie Grasslands | 2.0% | 50.13 |
| Easy Hill | Dakota Prairie Grasslands | 1.7% | 49.68 |
| Tracy Mountain | Dakota Prairie Grasslands | 1.6% | 63.81 |
| John Town / Horse Creek | Dakota Prairie Grasslands | 0.7% | 67.95 |
| Area | Forest | Coverage | Hectares |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indian Creek | Buffalo Gap National Grassland | 45.3% | 4,527 |
| Red Shirt | Buffalo Gap National Grassland | 19.4% | 1,334.34 |
| Cheyenne River | Buffalo Gap National Grassland | 7.9% | 243.45 |
| Area | Forest | Coverage | Hectares |
|---|---|---|---|
| Downs | Thunder Basin National Grassland | 21.1% | 554.85 |
| Miller Hills | Thunder Basin National Grassland | 19.9% | 834.3 |
| Cow Creek | Thunder Basin National Grassland | 17.5% | 1,267.47 |
| Red Hills | Thunder Basin National Grassland | 16.8% | 464.85 |
| H A Divide | Thunder Basin National Grassland | 8.2% | 168.39 |
Ecosystem classification: Ecosystems are classified using the LANDFIRE 2024 Existing Vegetation Type (EVT) layer, mapped to NatureServe Terrestrial Ecological Systems via a curated crosswalk. Each EVT is linked to the USNVC (U.S. National Vegetation Classification) hierarchy through pixel-level co-occurrence analysis of LANDFIRE EVT and NatureServe IVC Group rasters across all roadless areas.
Vegetation coverage: Coverage percentages and hectares are derived from zonal statistics of the LANDFIRE 2024 EVT raster intersected with roadless area boundaries.
Ecosystem narratives and community species: Sourced from the NatureServe Explorer API, representing professional ecological assessments of vegetation composition, environmental setting, dynamics, threats, and characteristic species assemblages.
IVC hierarchy: The International Vegetation Classification hierarchy is sourced from the USNVC v3.0 Catalog, providing the full classification from Biome through Association levels.
Component associations: Plant community associations listed as components of each NatureServe Ecological System. Association data from the NatureServe Explorer API.
State ranks: Conservation status ranks assigned by NatureServe member programs in each state where the ecosystem occurs.