Terrestrial

Aspect, Northeast

Aspect is the orientation of the earth's surface with respect to the sun. This dataset is a grid created from a 30 meter digital elevation model (DEM) that was split into warm and cool aspect slopes.

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Bedrock Geology, Northern Appalachians

Developed by The Nature Conservancy Eastern Division. We grouped bedrock units on the bedrock geology maps of ME, NH, VT, MA, CT, RI, NY, PA, NJ, and MD into seven general classes. We based our scheme on broad classification schemes developed by other investigators which emphasize chemistry and texture, and on bedrock settings that are important to many ecological communities, particularly to herbaceous associations.

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Bird Conservation Regions, Northern Appalachians

Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs) are ecologically distinct regions in North America with similar bird communities, habitats, and resource management issues. These ecoregions encompass areas that are similar in their biotic (e.g., plant and wildlife) and abiotic (e.g., soils, drainage patterns, temperature, and annual precipitation) characteristics.

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Digital Elevation Model, Northern Appalachian

This dataset represents elevation for the Northern U.S. and Canada. This Digital Elevation Model (DEM) was created by mosaicing two data sets: 1. U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) 30 meter National Elevation Dataset (NED) 2. The Canadian Digital Elevation Data, Level 1 (CDED1)

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DSLland, Version 3, Northeast

This dataset represents terrestrial and wetland ecological systems of the Northeast (based on NatureServe's Ecological Systems Classifications) combined with human-modified land types such as roads and agriculture. It is a substantial revision of the map of the Northeast Terrestrial Wildlife Habitat Classification System (developed by The Nature Conservancy and the northeastern state wildlife agencies) that reflect newer information on development, wetlands, and streams.

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Ecological Land Units, Northern Appalachian

Developed by The Nature Conservancy Eastern Division. The Ecological Land Units (ELU) is a composite of several layers of abiotic information: elevation, bedrock geology, distribution of deep glacial sediments that mask bedrock’s geochemical effects, moisture availability, and landform. An ELU grid of 30 meter cells was developed for the Lower New England-Northern Piedmont (LNE) and North Atlantic Coast (NAC) ecoregions. The ELU dataset describes the “ecological potential” of the landscape, but carries no information about actual landuse or landcover in a region where human alterations to the landscape have everywhere affected the natural vegetation. The current dataset informs ELUs with landcover data, bringing them to earth by telling us what is actually on the ground. We may use this dataset to map ecological systems, which are dynamic assemblages of communities that occur in a mosaic on the landscape, and that are linked by shared ecological processes and environmental gradients.

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Forest Above-ground Biomass, 2012, Northeast

This dataset measures the total amount of above-ground live biomass in forested systems, which is an important attribute of forested communites and an indicator of successional development, and an important habitat attribute for many forest-associated wildlife species. The dataset is derived from a combination of remote sensing products derived from multi-temporal Landsat TM data and Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) plot data and forest succession models derived from FIA plot data. It is expected this dataset will be useful for distinguishing early successional from mature forests as they existed in approximately 2012. Units are in kilograms/meters squared times 10.

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Forest Change Gain, 2000-2012, Northeast

This dataset represents forest gain during the period 2000-2012, defined as the inverse of loss, or a non-forest to forest change, entirely within the study period, for the Northeast region including Canada. Data was encoded as either 1 (gain) or 0 (no gain). The Northeast data from the Global Forest Change dataset was acquired as 10x10 degree tiles, consisting of seven files per tile. All files contained unsigned 8-bit values and have a spatial resolution of 1 arc-second per pixel, or approximately 30 meters per pixel at the equator. The data was then mosaicked and clipped to the Northeast region including the North Atlantic LCC boundary in Canada. The data are results from a time-series analysis of 654,178 Landsat 7 ETM+ images in characterizing global forest extent and change from 2000 through 2012. For additional information about these results, please see the associated journal article (Hansen et al., Science 2013).

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Forest Change, Loss 2000-2012, Northeast

This dataset represents forest loss during the period 2000-2012, defined as a stand-replacement disturbance, or a change from a forest to non-forest state, entirely within the study period, for the Northeast region including Canada. Data was encoded as either 1 (loss) or 0 (no loss). The Northeast data from the Global Forest Change dataset was acquired as 10x10 degree tiles, consisting of seven files per tile. All files contained unsigned 8-bit values and have a spatial resolution of 1 arc-second per pixel, or approximately 30 meters per pixel at the equator. The data was then mosaicked and clipped to the Northeast region including the North Atlantic LCC boundary in Canada. The data are results from a time-series analysis of 654,178 Landsat 7 ETM+ images in characterizing global forest extent and change from 2000 through 2012. For additional information about these results, please see the associated journal article (Hansen et al., Science 2013).

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Index of Ecological Integrity, Stratified by Ecosystem, Version 3.1, Northeast

This dataset depicts the ecological integrity of locations (represented by 30 m grid cells) throughout the northeastern United States based on environmental conditions existing in approximately 2010. Ecological integrity is defined as the ability of an area (e.g., local site or landscape) to sustain important ecological functions over the long term. In particular, the functions include the long-term ability to support biodiversity and the ecosystem processes necessary to sustain biodiversity. The Index of Ecological Integrity (IEI) is expressed on a relative scale (0 to 1) for ecosystems mapped on a modified version of the Northeast Terrestrial Habitat Map developed by the Nature Conservancy and the northeastern states. Ecosystems are the finest scale level of the ecological classification hierarchy. Classes include "Northeastern Interior Pine Barrens" and "Acidic Cliff and Talus".

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Land Cover, 2001, Northeast

The National Land Cover Database 2001 Land Cover Version 2.0 layer produced through a cooperative project conducted by the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) Consortium.

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Land Cover, 2006, Northeast

The National Land Cover Database (NLCD) 2006 was created through a cooperative project conducted by the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) Consortium. NLCD 2006 is designed to provide the user both updated land cover data and additional information that can be used to identify the pattern, nature, and magnitude of changes occurring between 2001 and 2006 for the conterminous United States at medium spatial resolution.

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Land Cover, 2011

The National Land Cover Database (NLCD) 2011 was created through a cooperative project conducted by the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) Consortium. NLCD 2011 is the most up-to-date iteration of the National Land Cover Database, the definitive Landsat-based, 30 meter resolution land cover database for the Nation, clipped to the Northeast. The data in NLCD 2011 are completely integrated with NLCD 2001 (2011 Edition) and NLCD 2006 (2011 Edition). Also, as part of the NLCD 2011 project, NLCD 2001 and 2006 land cover and impervious data products have been revised and reissued (2011 Edition) to provide full compatibility with the new NLCD 2011 products. This dataset was created on a path/row basis and mosaicked to create a seamless national product.

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Landforms, Northern Appalachians

Landforms are a component of the Ecological Land Units (ELUs), used in The Nature Conservancy Eastern Division's ecoregional planning processes. A "landform" is any physical, recognizable form or feature on the earth's surface that has a characteristic shape and that is produced by natural causes (USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service). This dataset was developed as part of "Resilient Sites for Terrestrial Conservation in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region"

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North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative's Ecoregion Boundary

This dataset represents the North Atlantic LCC's ecoregion boundary. Landscape conservation cooperatives (LCCs) are conservation-science partnerships between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and other federal agencies, states, tribes, NGOs, universities and stakeholders within a geographically defined area. They inform resource management decisions to address national-scale stressors-including habitat fragmentation, genetic isolation, spread of invasive species, and water scarcity-all of which are accelerated by climate change.

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Percent Canopy Cover, 2001, Northeast

The percent tree canopy layer quantifies per pixel tree canopy fraction as a continuous variable from 1 to 100 percent. The file is an 8 Bit continuous data file that will contain values from 0 to 255 when displayed in a software package. The value of '127' is a 'No Data' value applied to areas outside of the modeled percent tree canopy extent.

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Soil - Depth to Restrictive Layer, Northeast

Soil depth (cm) affects communities primarily because shallow soils (usually on steep slopes or ridgetops) limit deep-rooted plants. A "restrictive layer" is a nearly continuous layer that has one or more physical, chemical, or thermal properties that significantly impede the movement of water and air through the soil or that restrict roots or otherwise provide an unfavorable root environment. if no restrictive layer is described in a map unit, it is represented by the ">200' depth class, This attribute is actually recorded as three separate values in the database. A low value and a high value indicate the range of this attribute for the soil component. A "representative" value indicates the expected value of this attribute for the component. For this soil property, only the representative value is used. A weighted average aggregation method was used to aggregate soil components

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Soil, Available Water Supply, Northeast

Available water supply (AWS) is the total volume of water (in centimeters) that should be available to plants when the soil, inclusive of rock fragments, is at field capacity. AWS is calculated as the available water capacity times the thickness of each soil horizon to a specified depth (25 cm). The composition of the each component in the map unit is recorded as a percentage. A composition of 60 indicates that the component typically makes an approximately 60 percent of the the map unit. A weighted average aggregation method of all component values was computed, with percent composition as the weighing factor.

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Soil, pH, Northeast

Soil pH measures acidity, which affects nutrient uptake by plants. The most common soil laboratory measurement of pH is the 1:1 water method. A crushed soil sample is mixed with an equal amount of water, and a measurement is made of the suspension. The dataset was derived from the following source: -U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). This data set consists of general soil association units. It was developed by the National Cooperative Soil Survey and supersedes the State Soil Geographic (STATSGO) data set published in 1994. It consists of a broad based inventory of soils and nonsoil areas that occur in a repeatable pattern on the landscape and that can be cartographically shown at the scale mapped. The data set was created by generalizing more detailed soil survey maps. Where more detailed soil survey maps were not available, data on geology, topography, vegetation, and climate were assembled, together with Land Remote Sensing Satellite (LANDSAT) images. Soils of like areas were studied, and the probable classification and extent of the soils were determined.

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State Boundaries, Northeast

This dataset represents the thirteen Northeast states and the District of Columbia of the United States. It provides detailed boundaries that are consistent with the tract and county data sets and are effective at regional and state levels

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Substrate Mobility, Northeast

Substrate mobility measures the realized mobility of the physical substrate, due to both substrate composition (i.e. sand) and exposure to forces (wind and water) that transport material. This is an important attribute of certain dynamic systems (e.g., coastal dune systems) and is given as an index of mobility (1=stable , 10=highly mobile, values 6, 7, 8, and 10 do not occur in the Northeast region). Substrate mobility was derived from a custom algorithm based on the ESMplus and National Land Cover Database (NLCD) classes and National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) polygons.

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Terrestrial Habitat Map for the Northeast US and Atlantic Canada

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.

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Terrestrial Habitat Map, Northern Appalachians

 

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