The Nature Conservancy; Eastern Conservation Science, Boston, MA
20150715
Terrestrial Habitat Map, US-Canada
raster digital data
This is a 30 meter grid that maps upland and wetland wildlife habitats/ecological systems for the Northeastern US, including all 13 states from Maine to Virginia, west to New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and for the Maritime provinces of Canada (Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick) and southeastern Quebec. Mapped habitat types are drawn from the Northeastern Terrestrial Habitat Classification System (NETHCS) and from some ecological system types identifed by Canadian ecologists as being unique to Canada. The NETHCS is based on NatureServe’s Ecological Systems Classification, augmented with additional information from individual state wildlife classifications and other information specific to wildlife managers. A terrestrial ecological system is defined as a mosaic of plant community types that tend to co-occur within landscapes with similar ecological processes, substrates, and/or environmental gradients, in a pattern that repeats itself across landscapes. Systems occur at various scales, from "matrix" forested systems of thousands of hectares to small patch systems, such as cliffs, basin wetlands, or barrens on a particular bedrock type, of a hectare or 2.
The purpose of this mapping effort is to provide a common framework and language for conservation planning and wildlife management across jurisdictional borders. Specifically, the NE Terrestrial Habitat Classification System and this map are meant to: provide a standardized and consistent habitat and ecosystem classification at multiple scales across states, provinces, and international borders; facilitate interjurisdictional communication about habitats; offer managers a tool for understanding regional biodiversity patterns; allow for more effective and efficient habitat conservation across the region, including the priortization of habitat conservation activities. The Canada-Northeast Terrestrial Habitat Map was supported by: State Wildlife Grant funding awarded through the Northeast Regional Conservation Needs (RCN) Program, which joins thirteen northeast states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a partnership to address landscape-scale, regional wildlife conservation issues; the US Fish & Wildlife Service's North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative (NALCC); and the US Department of the Interior Northeast Climate Science Center (NECSC).
-83.682473
-58.591345
51.870335
33.265127
None
Ecological systems
None
Wildlife habitats
None
Canada-Northeast Terrestrial Habitat Map
None
Northeast Terrestrial Habitat Classification System
None
NETHCS
ISO 19115 Topic Categories
biota
environment
None
Northeastern US
None
Maritime Provinces
None
Southeastern Quebec
None
The Nature Conservancy compiled this data set from publicly available data sources and this data is freely distributable without permission from Eastern Division Conservation Science. This data set must be cited on all electronic and hard copy products using the language of the Data Set Credit. The Nature Conservancy shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and/or contained herein. Any sale, distribution, loan, or offering for use of these digital data, in whole or in part, is prohibited without the approval of The Nature Conservancy. The use of these data to produce other GIS products and services with the intent to sell for a profit is prohibited without the written consent of The Nature Conservancy. All parties receiving these data must be informed of these restrictions. The Nature Conservancy shall be acknowledged as data contributors to any reports or other products derived from these data.
The Nature Conservamcy
Melissa Clark
Data sources/partners, Canada: Nova Scotia Dept of Natural Resources; New Brunswick Dept of Natural Resources, Department of Environment and Local Government; Prince Edward Island Dept of Agriculture, Fisheries, Aquaculture and Forestry; Quebec Ministère de l'Énergie et des Ressources naturelles, Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs, and Ministère du Développement durable, de l'Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques; Nature Conservancy of Canada; Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Centre (ACCDC); Canadian National Vegetation Classification (CNVC); Wildlife Conservation Society Canada; Natural Resources Canada; Agriculture & Agrifood Canada (AAFC); JD Irving, Ltd., New Brunswick; Acadian Timber Corp., New Brunswick; Fornebu Lumber Company Inc., New Brunswick
Data sources/partners, US: NatureServe (www.natureserve.org), and the Natural Heritage Programs in the 13 states of the Northeast; The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Eastern Conservation Science; United States Geological Survey; US Environmental Protection Agency; US Fish & Wildlife Service; Geological Surveys of the 13 Northeastern states; USDA-Forest Service; WorldClim Global Climate Data (www.worldclim.org)
Microsoft Windows 7 Version 6.1 (Build 7601) Service Pack 1; Esri ArcGIS 10.2.2.3552
Raster
Grid Cell
57127
55617
NAD 1983 Albers
29.5
45.5
-96.0
23.0
0.0
0.0
coordinate pair
0.0000000037527980722984474
0.0000000037527980722984474
meter
D North American 1983
GRS 1980
6378137.0
298.257222101
ne-ca_hab815.vat
Rowid
Internal feature number.
ESRI
Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
VALUE
A unique identifier for the finest level of classification in the dataset’s attribute table, and one-to-one with the “ECOSYSTEM” field. The code is related to (but not identical to) the CODE2008” field and also to the “COLOR_CODE” field used to symbolize the map units in a display.
TNC - Eastern Conservation Science
COUNT
Total number of 30 meter cells for each ECOSYSTEM
TNC - ECS
ACRES_TOT
Total number of acres for each ECOSYSTEM
TNC ECS
FORMATION
A broad grouping of similar Macrogroups developed by NatureServe
NatureServe
MACR_2015
Macrogroups are broad groupings of similar habitats. They represent a level of the US and Canadian National Vegetation Classifications defined as "combinations of moderately broad sets of diagnostic plant species and diagnostic growth forms that reflect biogeographic differences in composition and sub-continental to regional differences in mesoclimate, geology, substrates, hydrology, and disturbance regimes" (FGDC 2008). The MACRO_2015 field is a slightly revised version of the MACR2008 field. MACR_2015 is the field that is used to display the habitat map with the ArcGIS layer file NE-Ca_hab615_macr2015.lyr, which downloads with the grid from the TNC Conservation Gateway web site (http://nature.ly/NEhabitat).
TNC ECS
MACR_PROV
Indicates that the Macrogroup name shown (MACR_2015 field) is provisional and under review by NatureServe. This field flags a number of systems mapped in Canada whose eventual Macrogroup assignment is pending.
TNC ECS
CLASS
Class indicates whether the habitat or ecosystem is “Upland” or “Wetland”
TNC ECS
PAGE_GUIDE
The page number in the Northeast Habitat Guide where users can find US based descriptions, ecology, securement status, associated species, and other information about each habitat. The guide can be found at: http://nature.ly/NEhabitatguide.
TNC ECS
HABITAT
A classification unit slightly more general than “ECOSYSTEM” (see below), created by combining the ecologic, hydrologic and geographic variants of the ECOSYSTEMs into a broader classification appropriate for many uses. For example, the HABITAT named “Acidic Cliff and Talus” is composed of 4 geographically separated cliff ECOSYSTEMS (e.g. Cumberland Acidic Cliff and Rockhouse, North-Central Appalachian Acidic Cliff and Talus, etc.). Likewise, the HABITAT named “Laurentian-Acadian Northern Hardwood Forest” is split into 3 ecological types (high conifer, moist-cool, typic) at the ECOSYSTEM level. Wetland habitats are often broken out in the ECOSYSTEM field according to their hydrological character – whether they are isolated or associated with a stream, lake, or large river. Habitat names are usually a combination of a geographic area (such as Laurentian-Acadian) and a descriptive name (Northern Hardwood Forest). Names are based on Gawler (2008) (see the field GAWL2008 below for the original version). HABITAT is the field that is used to display the habitat map with the ArcGIS layer file NE-Ca_hab615_habitat.lyr, which downloads with the grid from the TNC Conservation Gateway web site (http://nature.ly/NEhabitat).
TNC ECS
HAB_CODE
A numeric identifier that is one-to-one with HABITAT.
TNC ECS
ECOSYSTEM
Synonymous with the HABITAT field but may present a finer split of the Habitat; a description of the basis for the finer split is included in the Ecosystem field. Seven different Ecosystems that fall into the Laurentian-Acadian Wet Meadow-Shrub Swamp Habitat, for example, are split out on the basis of hydrological and regional differences. In the same way, the Laurentian-Acadian Large River Floodplain habitat is split into six different ecosystems on the basis of the communities within the floodplain: acidic or alkaline coniferous and mixed woods, shrub swamps, marshes, and deciduous floodplain forests. Ecosystem names are related to the GAWL2008 field described below. ECOSYSTEM is the field that is used to display the habitat map with the ArcGIS layer file NE-Ca_hab615_ecosystem.lyr, which downloads with the grid from the TNC Conservation Gateway web site (http://nature.ly/NEhabitat).
TNC ECS
MODIFIER
Contains information on the finer ECOSYSTEM splits made for some HABITATS. This information is also embedded in the Ecosystem field itself.
TNC ECS
PATTERN
The pattern and scale of the habitat. Field values are: Matrix forming, Large or small patch, Wetland, Other.
TNC ECS
COLOR_CODE
Values are used as the basis for symbolization and display, using the NE-Ca_hab615_ecosystem.lyr ArcGIS layer file that downloads with the systems grid from the TNC Conservation Gateway web site (http://nature.ly/NEhabitat).
TNC ECS
GRP2008
A grouping of habitats found to be useful as the mapping project developed.
TNC ECS
MACR2008
The original NatureServe Macrogroup name from 2008. The Macrogroup concept and structure continues to develop.
NatureServe
GAWL2008
The original name for the ecological systems in the NatureServe classification.
NatureServe
CODE2008
The original code for ecological systems in the NatureServe classification.
NatureServe
COMMENTS
Notes on the mapping of some systems.
TNC ECS
20150715
FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata
FGDC-STD-001-1998
local time
Neither The Nature Conservancy nor any of its partners makes any warranty, expressed or implied as to the use or appropriateness of use of the enclosed data, nor are there warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose or use. No representation is made as to the currency, accuracy or completeness of the information in this dataset or of the data sources on which it is based. Neither The Nature Conservancy nor any partners shall be liable for any lost profits or consequential damages, or claims against the user by third parties.