Regional Vulnerability of Conductance, CT River Watershed

This dataset is a component of a complete package of products from the Connect the Connecticut project. Connect the Connecticut is a collaborative effort to identify shared priorities for conserving the Connecticut River Watershed for future generations, considering the value of fish and wildlife species and the natural ecosystems they inhabit. Click here to download the full data package, including all documentation.

This dataset represents the regional vulnerability of conductance index, which reflects the likelihood of development occurring in places that confer connectivity between terrestrial cores. Specifically, regional vulnerability is the product of the regional conductance index (i.e., total amount of ecological flow through a cell from nearby terrestrial cores), regional irreplaceability index (i.e., proportion of the total ecological flow between nearby terrestrial cores that flows through each cell), and the integrated future probability of development between 2010-2080. Cells with relatively low regional conductance and where flow is relatively dispersed have low vulnerability regardless of their risk of development, since regional connectivity will not be degraded too much if they get developed. Regional vulnerability is greatest where there is high regional conductance and where the flow is concentrated; i.e., in narrow “corridors” of ecologically similar areas with relatively low levels of current development between large nearby cores, and where there is also relatively high probability of development in the future.