This point layer represents documented occurrences of the northern diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin terrapin) from Massachusetts in the north to Virginia in the south. Multiple data sources were used to compile this data: for specific source information, consult the final report of the Northern Diamondback Terrapin Regional Conservation Strategy. This data set exists as three separate layers: points, lines, and polygons. Compilation of this data set began in 2015 and was finalized on March 2, 2015 by the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Included in this download are a set of Tier 1 terrestrial core areas and their connectors, grassland bird core areas, and additional tier 2 cores and tier 3 supporting landscapes. In combination with the aquatic core areas, they spatially represent the ecological network derived from the Connecticut River Landscape Conservation Design (CTR LCD) project.
Terrestrial Core and Connectors: The network is designed to provide strategic guidance for conserving natural areas, and the fish, wildlife, and other components of biodiversity that they support within the Connecticut River watershed. Connectors represent “corridors” that could facilitate the movement of plants and animals (i.e., ecological flow) between terrestrial tier 1 core areas.
Grassland Bird Cores: Represents a set of terrestrial core areas for grassland birds based on the eastern meadowlark as a representative species for grassland birds.
Terrestrial Core Tiers: This layer depicts the terrestrial tier 1 cores (encompassing 25% of the landscape), nested within tier 2 cores (encompassing 50% of the landscape), nested with tier 3 supporting landscapes (encompassing 77% of the landscape). The tiers reflect the arbitrariness in selecting thresholds for designating priority core areas.
This dataset represents the probability of occurrence of brook trout in headwater creeks based on current habitat and climate conditions. Brook trout are a representative species for cool/cold headwater creeks. This layer was derived from a model developed by Ben Letcher and associates at the USGS Conte Anadromous Fish Lab. Specifically, this index represents the species' current probability of occurrence, presented as an integerized range from 0 (low=0% probability of occurrence) to 100 (high=100 % probability of occurrence). The brook trout probability of occurrence model is applied only to headwater creeks. Note, the brook trout current probability of occurrence is analogous to the landscape capability index developed for representative terrestrial wildlife species; it represents the suitability of habitat and climate conditions today. This index is an input into the selection of core areas in headwater creeks along with the Index of Ecological Integrity.
