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. [...]
Summary
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 one or two hectares.
This project was co-funded by the Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center and the North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative. An alternate reference to this product can be found here.
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).
