Natural Resource Assessment and Analysis

Staff/Personnel

Robert G. Bailey

Ecoregions, Ecosystem Geography and Sustainability

rgbailey@fs.fed.us

970-498-2617; 1212 fax

Research Interests

Robert G Bailey is the principal Forest Service expert in ecosystem geography, which is the study of the distribution and stucture of the world's ecosystems and the processes that differentiate them. He provides technical leadership to the Agency in subdividing land into ecosystems at different scales, from ecoregion to local. He provides research and education on the origins of ecosystem patterns and their relevance to sustainable design and planning. He is an internationally recognized authority with over four decades of experience working with the theory and practice of ecologically based design and management. He has authored numerous publications on this and related subjects, including three textbooks.

Educational Background

University of California, Los Angeles

• PhD Geography, 1971
  • Dissertation: Landslides and related hazards in Teton National Forest , northwest Wyoming.

California State University, Northridge

• BA, MA Geography, 1964, 1967

Appointments

All assignments with USDA Forest Service

Pacific SW Forest & Range Experiment Station, San Dimas Experimental Forest, near Los Angeles, CA

Geographer (1966-67)

• Analyzed the effects on stream systems of converting chaparral-covered hillsides to grass to increase water yield in southern California.

Intermountain Region, Ogden, UT

Geographer (1967-70)

• Developed method to predict the effects of increased discharge from dams and transmountain diversions on channel stability of semi-arid rivers, and important source of municipal water in the West.

Teton National Forest, WY

Hydrologist (1970-71)

• Classified and mapped landslides, analyzed regional factors contributing to their occurrence and developed scheme for predicting future slides. The result was unstable slopes were removed from future timber harvest. Report: Landslide Hazards Related to Land Use Planning in Teton National Forest, Northwest Wyoming.

Lake Tahoe Basin Planning Team, CA

Hydrologist (1971-72)

• Derived a land capability classification for use in land use regulations. The result was a land use ordinance that divided the region into seven capability classes. For each class, impervious surface allowances were designed to limit development intensity in sensitive areas. Report: Land-Capability Classification of the Lake Tahoe Basin, California-Nevada—A Guide for Planning.

Intermountain Region, Ogden, UT

Hydrologist/Geologist (1972-78)

• Analyzed the distribution of ecosystems at the regional scale by interpreting the relationships between landform (geology and topography), climate, soil, and plant and animal life. Developed an ecosystem regionalization system and map of the United States which has been adopted by the Forest Service, The Nature Conservancy, and others.

Rocky Mountain Forest & Range Experiment Station, Fort Collins, CO

Geographer (1978-82)

• Served as member of interagency Resources Evaluation Techniques Program; worked on methodology and philosophy for an integrated approach to classifying land as ecosystems; developed method for testing an ecosystem regionalization.

Land Management Planning Systems (subsequently Ecosystem Management Analysis Center), Fort Collins, CO, part of the national headquarters office in Washington, DC

Supervisory Geographer/Program Manager (1982-1998)

• As Program Manager oversaw development of computer-assisted analysis tools for forest planning. As Geographer provided national leadership in ecogeographic analysis (a process that divides landscapes into ecosystem management units); published on numerous topics, including: the use of overlay mapping for planning, design of ecological networks for monitoring global change, the distribution and patterns of ecosystems from local to global scales; mapped and described the regional scale ecosystems (ecoregions) of the Earth.

Inventory & Monitoring Institute, Fort Collins , CO , part of the national headquarters office in Washington , DC

Geographer (1998-2005)

• Contined work in ecogeographic analysis; in charge of ecoregion studies.

Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, CO

Geographer (2005-present)

University Involvement

Adjunct Professor of Geography/Faculty Affiliate appointment in geography at the University of Idaho, the University of Utah, Colorado State University, and Utah State University.

Selected Publications

Work cited over 500 times in 198 scientific journals. Source: Institute for Scientific Information.

Textbooks

Ecosystem Geography . Springer-Verlag. With separate maps of the oceans and continents at 1:80,000,000, 1996.  

Ecoregions: The Ecosystem Geography of the Oceans and Continents . Springer-Verlag. With separate maps of the oceans and continents at 1:80,000,000, 1998.  

Ecoregion-Based Design for Sustainability. Springer-Verlag, 2002.

Scientific Journal Articles

Delineation of ecosystem regions. Environmental Management 7: 365-373, 1983.

Testing an ecosystem regionalization. Journal of Environmental Management 19: 239-248, 1984.

The factor of scale in ecosystem mapping. Environmental Management 9: 271-276. 1985.

Ecological regionalization in Canada and the United States (with S.C. Zoltai and E.B. Wiken). Geoforum 16: 265-275, 1985.

A world ecoregions map for resource reporting (with H. Hogg). Environmental Conservation 13: 195-202, 1986.

Suggested hierarchy of criteria for multi-scale ecosystem mapping. Landscape and Urban Planning 14: 313-319, 1987.

Problems with using overlay mapping for planning and their implications for geographic information systems . Environmental Management 12: 11-17, 1988.

Explanatory supplement to ecoregions map of the continents. Environmental Conservation 16: 307-309. With separate map at 1:30,000,000, 1989.

Design of ecological networks for monitoring global change. Environmental Conservation 18: 173-175, 1991.

Multi-scale ecosystem analysis. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 39: 21-24, 1996.

Distinguishing between watersheds and ecoregions (with J.M. Omernik). Journal of the American Water Resources Association 33: 935-949, 1997.

Identifying ecoregion boundaries. Environmental Management 34, Suppl. 1: S-14-S26, 2005.

USDA Forest Service Publications

Mapping ecoregions to manage land. In: 1987 Yearbook of Agriculture. p. 82-85.

Ecogeographic Analysis: A Guide to the Ecological Division of Land for Resource Management . USDA Forest Service Misc. Pub. 1465, 1988.

Description of the Ecoregions of the United States . 2 nd ed. USDA Forest Service Misc. Pub. 1391. With separate map at 1:7,500,000, 1995.

Ecoregions Map of North America : Explanatory Note . USDA Forest Service Misc. Pub. 1548. With separate map at 1:15,000,000, 1998.

Book Chapters

Chapter 9. National hierarchical framework of ecological units (with D.T. Cleland et al.). In: Ecosystem Management . Yale University Press. p. 181-200, 1997.

Chapter 16. U.S. Army training and testing lands: an ecoregional framework for assessment (with W.W. Doe et al.). In: The Scope of Military Geography. McGraw-Hill. p. 373-392, 2000.

Chapter 12. Ecoregions. In: The Physical Geography of North America. Columbia University Press. p. 235-245, 2002.

Encyclopedia Entry

Ecosystem-based land-use planning. In: Encyclopedia of Environmental Science . Kluwer Academic Publishers. p. 169-172, 1999.

Maps

Ecoregions of the Continents. USDA Forest Service. Scale: 1:30,000,000, 1989.

Ecoregions of the United States. USDA Forest Service. Scale: 1:7,500,000, revised 1994.

Ecoregions and subregions of the United States (compiled and edited with P.E. Avers et al.). USDA Forest Service. Scale: 1:7,500,000, 1994.

Ecoregions of North America . USDA Forest Service. Scale: 1:15,000,000, revised 1997.

Lectures

University of Illinois, University of Oklahoma, Arizona State University, Colorado State University, Utah State University, University of California at Davis, University of Missouri, University of Arizona, Institute of Geoecology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, State Forest Administration of China, Western Illinois University.

Consultations and Cooperative Projects

The Nature Conservancy, Center for Ecological Analysis of Military Lands at Colorado State University, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Institute of Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, World Wildlife Fund, Norwegians Farmers Union, Lake Tahoe Planning Agency, Mojave Desert Ecosystem Project, Taiwan Forestry Bureau (sponsored by USAID), Sonoran Institute, State Forest Administration of China , Vernandsky International Centre for Biosphere Studies (Russia)  

Professional Affiliations

Association of American Geographers, 1966 to present, member of Biogeography Specialty Group

International Association for Landscape Ecology

USDA Forest Service - RMRS - Natural Resource Assessment and Analysis
Last Modified:  16-Jun-2006