Local Vulnerability, Northeast U.S. was produced by the University of Massachusetts Landscape Ecology Lab as part of the Designing Sustainable Landscapes project funded by the North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative (U.S. FWS) and the Northeast Climate Science Center (U.S. GS).
This dataset represents the local vulnerability of conductance index, which reflects the likelihood of development occurring in places with high local conductance. The local conductance index is a measure of the total potential amount of movement of plants and animals (ecological flow) through a cell from neighboring cells as a function of the ecological similarity between the focal cell and neighboring cells at the scale of one to a few kilometers. The local vulnerability of conductance index is computed as the product of the integrated probability of development between 2010-2080 and the local conductance index. . Thus, cells that confer high local conductivity at the scale of one to a few kilometers that also have a high probability of development are most vulnerable. Conversely, cells that confer high local conductivity but have a low probability of development are relatively less vulnerable. Local Conductivity, Northeast U.S., available as a separate dataset, is a measure of the total potential amount of movement of plants and animals (ecological flow) through a cell from neighboring cells as a function of the ecological similarity between the focal cell and neighboring cells at the scale of one to a few kilometers.
Intended Uses
This product can be compared with the datasets Regional Conductance and Regional Vulnerability, NE U.S. which reflect the ecological connectivity between Terrestrial Cores (https://nalcc.databasin.org/datasets/a045195633fc479ba71652b8b8c23a9b). These datasets identify places that present the greatest total potential amount of movement of plants and animals between between the most important and intact areas distributed across the region (Terrestrial Cores), and the vulnerability of that conductance to development, respectively.
You might explore Local Vulnerability, Northeast U.S. in combination with the following products also available as part of Nature’s Network:
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Terrestrial and Aquatic Habitat Map (DSLland), Version 3.1 to reveal the underlying ecosystems that influence conductivity through the region
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Probability of Development (2030 or 2080) to focus on important areas for connectivity that are likely to be lost in the future if not protected.
The Secured Lands layer to determine whether areas representing the best connections between terrestrial cores remain unsecured from development, and thus could represent priorities for land protection.
You may detailed refer to the detailed technical guide to Local and Regional Vulnerability for more information about this product.
