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Terrestrial Habitat Map for the Northeast U.S. and Atlantic Canada

Ecological processes don't stop at international borders, and neither will climate change. In order to understand how climate change will impact forested, agricultural, and wetland systems, resource managers on both sides of the border need to be able to see a continuous landscape. This web mapping tool lets users look at the full habitat picture from the North Atlantic United States to Atlantic Canada and southern Quebec, based on field-collected data and national and provincial datasets.

Go to the Product(s)

View the Terrestrial Habitat Map on our Conservation Planning Atlas 

Download the data and access technical information about this product on our Spatial Data page

Access the following products on The Nature Conservancy's Conservation Gateway page:

  • Web mapper 

  • Final report 

  • Field definitions

  • Habitat guides 

Additional Resources

Complementary North Atlantic LCC project on Extending the Northeast Aquatic Habitat Map to Canada (in progress).

Technical description

The map is based on over 4,000,000 data points and polygons, contributed by:
  • US State Natural Heritage programs
  • Atlantic Conservation Data Centre
  • US Forest Inventory and Analysis
  • Provincial Forest Inventories (NS, NB, QC, PEI)
  • Private Forest Inventories

A steering committee of over 40 US and Canadian guided the project. The dataset maps the type and distribution of 140 types of forests, wetlands, unique communities and tidal systems, based on NatureServe’s “ecological system” concept. This project was also funded by the Northeast Climate Science Center.

Case Studies and News Stories

"Northeast terrestrial habitat map crosses Canadian border" - North Atlantic LCC news

Project Contact(s):

, Director of Conservation Science at The Nature Conservancy

LCC Staff Contact(s):

, Science Coordinator
PROJECT PAGE:
Product Type(s):
Foundation Information
Maps, Spatial Datasets, and Databases
Assessments and Research Results
Reports
Decision Support Tools
Interactive tools and models
Resource Type: Ecosystems
Conservation Targets: Terrestrial and non-tidal wetland
Conservation Framework: Biological Planning, Conservation Design
Threats/Stressors: Climate change impacts, Development/Urban Growth, Energy Development
Conservation Action: Site/area protection, Site/area management, Habitat and natural process restoration, Species management

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