Florida Longleaf Pine Ecosystem Geodatabase (LPEGDB) Major Update Released

FNAI and Florida Forest Service just published a major update to the Florida Longleaf Pine Ecosystem Geodatabase (LPEGDB).  Version 4 is now available for download and as an interactive web map for query and display of longleaf occurrence and condition.  Check out our Longleaf webpage for more information!

The LPEGDB v.4 represents a 6-year effort by FFS, FNAI, and many agency partners to comprehensively map and assess condition of longleaf pine ecosystems in Florida.  The database contains approximately 2.36 million acres of confirmed longleaf pine in Florida, most of which (72%) has been at least partially assessed for condition.  Private lands account for 42% of the longleaf acreage.  

Pine & Palmetto on Eglin Air Force Base, photo by Don Herring.

This work would not have been possible without the remarkable effort of FFS County Foresters.  More than 40 individuals traversed the state in 2013 and 2017 evaluating longleaf occurrence on several million acres and conducting rapid assessments of longleaf stand condition on almost 1 million acres of previous undocumented longleaf pine.  This rapid assessment is a substantial component of the database and represents significant updates to v.4.  We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the County Foresters for their outstanding work!  

The success of the Florida project has lead to a continuation of this work across the range of longleaf pine.  FNAI is now building the Southeast Longleaf Ecosystem Occurrences (LEO) database in cooperation with the Longleaf Partnership Council, The Longleaf Alliance, and numerous other partner agencies and organizations.  Stay tuned for more information about LEO in 2019!

Distribution of ca. 70,000 rapid assessment field points submitted by FFS County Foresters in 2017.