Prioritize Your Intact Landscape Cores

This application allows for scoring of locally filtered Green Infrastructure intact habitat cores which have been shared to ArcGIS Online. The habitat cores shown were derived using a model built by the Green Infrastructure Center Inc. and adapted by Esri.Rank and score your intact landscape cores by weighting relevant landscape characteristics.Core Attributes 6/18/2016 What is a core and how is it made? Cores are intact habitat areas at least 100 acres in size and at least 200 meters wide. They are derived from the 2011 National Land Cover Database. Potential cores areas are selected from land cover categories not containing the word “developed” or those categories associated with agriculture uses (crop, hay and pasture lands). The resulting areas are tested for size and width and then converted into unique polygons. These polygons are then overlaid with a diverse assortment of physiographic, biologic and hydrographic layers to use in computing a “core quality index”. The resulting attributes of these polygons are described below.Acres (Acres) – core area in acres.BiodiversityPriorityIndex (Biodiversity Priority Index) – the intact core areas were overlaid with the Priority Index Layer (10 km) resolution surface described in the work by Clinton Jenkins et al. “US protected lands mismatch biodiversity priorities” 4/2015 PNAS (112)16 www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1418034112. The Priority Index score is a summary for each of 1200 Endemic species of the proportion of species range that is unprotected divided by the area of the species’ range. Values are summed across all endemic species within a taxonomic group and across all taxonomic groups. Cores falling within a priority index category are assigned that priority index value.Note that the nominal resolution of the Priority Index data is 10 km. Cores may or may not have endemic species or collections of endemic species within them.Class (Core Size Class) – the size class for each core (area – water). If < 100 acres = fragment, if < 1000 = small, if < 10000 = medium, if > 10K = large.Compactness (Compactness) – the ratio between the area of the core and the area of a circle with the same perimeter as the core.ELU_Bio_De (ELU Bioclimate Description) – the name of the primary Ecological Land Unit bioclimate type within each core. An Ecological Land Unit is an area of distinct bioclimate, landform, lithology and land cover. The data are available from the USGS athttp://rmgsc.cr.usgs.gov/outgoing/ecosystems/Global.ELU_GLC_De (ELU Global Landcover Description) – the name of the primary Ecological Land Unit land cover type within each core. An Ecological Land Unit is an area of distinct bioclimate, landform, lithology and land cover. The data are available from the USGS at http://rmgsc.cr.usgs.gov/outgoing/ecosystems/Global.ELU_ID_Maj (ELU Majority) – the primary Ecological Land Unit appearing within a core. An Ecological Land Unit is an area of distinct bioclimate, landform, lithology and land cover. The data are available from the USGS athttp://rmgsc.cr.usgs.gov/outgoing/ecosystems/Global.ELU_Lit_De (ELU Lithology Description) – the name of the primary Ecological Land Unit lithology type within each core. An Ecological Land Unit is an area of distinct bioclimate, landform, lithology and land cover. The data are available from the USGS athttp://rmgsc.cr.usgs.gov/outgoing/ecosystems/Global.ELU_LSF_De (ELU Landform Description) – the name of the primary Ecological Land Unit landform type within each core. An Ecological Land Unit is an area of distinct bioclimate, landform, lithology and land cover. The data are available from the USGS athttp://rmgsc.cr.usgs.gov/outgoing/ecosystems/Global.ELU_SWI (ELU Shannon Weaver Diversity Index) – the Shannon-Weaver diversity index of the Ecological Land Units appearing within a core. An Ecological Land Unit is an area of distinct bioclimate, landform, lithology and land cover. The data are available from the USGS at http://rmgsc.cr.usgs.gov/outgoing/ecosystems/Global. Greater diversity is frequently associated with better habitat potential.ERL_Descriptor (ERL Description) – the name of the primary Theobald Ecologically Relevant Landform within a core. From Theobald DM, Harrison-Atlas D, Monahan WB, Albano, CM (2015) Ecologically-Relevant Landforms and Physiographic Diversity for Climate Adaptation Planning. PLoS One 10(12):e0143619. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143619ERL_Maj (ERL Majority Type) – the dominant landform by area appearing with in a core from Theobald’s Ecologically Relevant Landforms. From Theobald DM, Harrison-Atlas D, Monahan WB, Albano, CM (2015) Ecologically-Relevant Landforms and Physiographic Diversity for Climate Adaptation Planning. PLoS One 10(12):e0143619. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143619ERL_SWI (ERL Shannon Weaver Diversity Index) – the Shannon-Weaver diversity index of the Theobald Ecologically Relevant Landforms appearing within a core. From Theobald DM, Harrison-Atlas D, Monahan WB, Albano, CM (2015) Ecologically-Relevant Landforms and Physiographic Diversity for Climate Adaptation Planning. PLoS One 10(12):e0143619. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143619Greater diversity is frequently associated with better habitat potential.EcolSystem_Redundancy (Ecological System Redundancy) – measures the number of TNC Ecoregions Systems in which a GAP Level 3 Ecological Systems occurs. The higher the number, the more Ecoregions an Ecological System appears in and the greater its redundancy. Cores are scored with lowest redundancy value appearing within them. Low and very low redundancy values represent cores containing unique Ecological Systems. This analysis reproduces the work by Jocelyn Aycrigg et al. “Representations of Ecological Systems within the Protected Areas Network of the Continental United States” 2013 PLoS One (8)1, applied rather to finer resolution TNC Ecoregions units.EndemicSpeciesMax (Endemic Species Max) – the maximum count of endemic species (trees, freshwater fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals) per core when overlaid with an Endemic Species dataset (10 KM) resolution from BiodiversityMapping.org.GAP_EcolSystem_L3_Maj (GAP Ecological System Level 3 Majority) – the primary Gap Level 3 Ecological System appearing within a core. The USGS GAP Level 3 code references the Ecological System classification element developed by NatureServe, which is focused mainly on habitat identification. Roughly 540 of the 590 ecological systems in the GAP data base appear in these data. Seehttp://gapanalysis.usgs.gov/gaplandcover/data/land-cover-metadata/#5 for more information.GAP_EcolSystems_L3_SWI (Ecological System Shannon Weaver Diversity Index) – the Shannon-Weaver diversity index of GAP Level 3 Ecological Systems within a core. The USGS GAP Level 3 code references the Ecological System classification element developed by NatureServe, which is focused mainly on habitat identification. Greater diversity is frequently associated with better habitat potential. Roughly 540 of the 590 ecological systems in the GAP data base appear in these data. Seehttp://gapanalysis.usgs.gov/gaplandcover/data/land-cover-metadata/#5 for more information.HM_Mean (Human Modified Index Mean Value) – the mean of the Theobald Human Modified values appearing in a core. A measure of the degree of human modification, the index ranges from 0.0 for a virgin landscape condition to 1.0 for the most heavily modified areas. The average value for the United States is 0.375. The data used to produce these values should be both more current and more detailed than the NLCD used for generating the cores. Emphasis was given to attempting to map in particular, energy related development. Theobald, DM (2013) A general model to quantify ecological integrity for landscape assessment and US Application. Landscape Ecol (2013) 28:1859-1874 doi: 10.1007/s10980-013-9941-6HM_Std (Human Modified Index Standard Deviation) – the standard deviation of the Theobald Human Modified values appearing within a core. A measure of the degree of human modification, the index ranges from 0.0 for a virgin landscape condition to 1.0 for the most heavily modified areas. The average value for the United States is 0.375. The data used to produce these values should be both more current and more detailed than the NLCD used for generating the cores. Emphasis was given to attempting to map in particular, energy related development. Theobald, DM (2013) A general model to quantify ecological integrity for landscape assessment and US Application. Landscape Ecol (2013) 28:1859-1874 doi: 10.1007/s10980-013-9941-6Landform_Maj (Landform Description (Esri)) – the primary local landform name within a core from Karagulle/Frye method. These are “local” representations of Hammond’s Landform Classification categories.NHDPlusFlowLenFtPerAcre (NHDPlus Flow Length (ft) per Core Acre) – the length of NHDPlus FTYPE (StreamRiver) and Q0001A => 1.0, in cubic feet within a core / core area in acres. This is a measure of features with running water as modeled in the NHDPlusV2 database from the EPA and USGS - https://www.epa.gov/waterdata/nhdplus-national-hydrography-dataset-plus . This variable is to distinguish hydrologic features with active flows from intermittent, artificial or pipeline or canal features.NHDPlusFlowLen_ft (NHDPlus Stream and River Length (ft) Flow Greater than 1cfs) – the length of NHDPlus FTYPE (StreamRiver) and Q0001A => 1.0 in cubic feet within each core. This is a measure of features with running water as modeled in the NHDPlusV2 database from the EPA and USGS - https://www.epa.gov/waterdata/nhdplus-national-hydrography-dataset-plus . This variable is to distinguish hydrologic features with active flows from intermittent, artificial or pipeline or canal features.NLCD_Forested_Pct (Percentage NLCD Forested) – the percent of Forested land (NLCD deciduous (41), evergreen (42) or mixed (43)) within a core, expressed as a number between 0 and 100. These are from the 2011 National Land Cover Databasehttp://www.mrlc.gov/nlcd2011.php.NLCD_GrasslandHerb_Pct (Percentage NLCD Grassland / Herbaceous )– the percent of Grass/Herbaceous land (NLCD grass/herb (71), sedge/herb (72), lichens (73) or moss (74)) within a core, expressed as a number between 0 and 100.These are from the 2011 National Land Cover Database http://www.mrlc.gov/nlcd2011.php.NLCD_ShrubScrub_Pct (NLCD Shrub and Scrub) – the percent of Shrub/Scrub land (NLCD dwarf scrub (51) or shrub/scrub (52)) within a core, expressed as a number between0 and 100. These are from the 2011 National Land Cover Databasehttp://www.mrlc.gov/nlcd2011.php.NLCD_WetlandsHerbWet_Pct (Percentage NLCD Wetlands / Herbaceous) – the percent of Wetlands (NLCD woody wetlands (90) or emergent herbaceous (95)) within a core, expressed as a number between 0 and 100. These are from the 2011 National Land Cover Database http://www.mrlc.gov/nlcd2011.php.OBJECTID (OBJECTID) – an internal ArcGIS ID value for each polygonPA_Ratio (Perimeter / Area Ratio) – the perimeter / area ratio of coreScore (Core Score) – the core quality index value based on geometric values and soil variety, endemic species max, biodiversity priority index and ecological systems redundancy. This calculation is based upon the Green Infrastructure Center’s (http://gicinc.org) scoring methodology in their Practitioner’s Guides.Score_Bio (Score using High Biologic Component Weight) – the core quality index value based on geometric values and soil variety, endemic species max, biodiversity priority index and ecological systems redundancy. This approach reduces the importance of the geometric value Area from .4 to .2, and increases the importance of biological elements by .2 overall. This is a modification of the Green Infrastructure Center’s (http://gicinc.org) scoring methodology in their Practitioner’s Guides.Score_Bio_byTNCEcoregion (Score using High Biologic Component Weight by TNC Ecoregion) – the core quality index value based on geometric values and soil variety, endemic species max, biodiversity priority index and ecological systems redundancy, performed within individual TNC Ecoregion units. This approach reduces the importance of the geometric value Area from .4 to .2, and increases the importance of biological elements by .2 overall. This is a modification of the Green Infrastructure Center’s (http://gicinc.org) scoring methodology in their Practitioner’s Guides.Score_NHDPlus (Score with NHDPlus Flow Greater than 1cfs) – the core quality index value a core based on geometric values and soil variety, endemic species max, biodiversity priority index and ecological systems redundancy for cores containing an NHDPlus FTYPE (StreamRiver) and Q0001A => 1.0 in cubic feet per second. This represents a subset of all cores. This calculation is based upon the Green Infrastructure Center’s (http://gicinc.org) scoring methodology in their Practitioner’s Guides.Score_NHDPlus_Bio (Score using High Biologic Component Weight and NHDPlus Flow) – the core quality index value a core based on geometric values and soil variety, endemic species max, biodiversity priority index and ecological systems redundancy for cores containing an NHDPlus FTYPE (StreamRiver) and Q0001A => 1.0 in cubic feet per second. This approach reduces the importance of the geometric value Area from .4 to .2, and increases the importance of biological elements by .2 overall. This represents a subset of all cores. This is a modification of the Green Infrastructure Center’s (http://gicinc.org) scoring methodology in their Practitioner’s Guides.Score_NHDPlus_Bio_byTNCEcoregion (Score using High Biologic Component Weight and NHDPlus Flow by TNC Ecoregion) – the core quality index value a core based on geometric values and soil variety, endemic species max, biodiversity priority index and ecological systems redundancy for cores containing an NHDPlus FTYPE (StreamRiver) and Q0001A => 1.0 in cubic feet per second, performed within individual TNC Ecoregion units. This approach reduces the importance of the geometric value Area from .4 to .2, and increases the importance of biological elements by .2 overall. This represents a subset of all cores. This is a modification of the Green Infrastructure Center’s (http://gicinc.org) scoring methodology in their Practitioner’s Guides.Score_NHDPlus_byTNCEcoRegion (Score with NHDPlus Flow Greater than 1cfs by TNC Ecoregion) – the core quality index value of a core based on geometric values and soil variety, endemic species max, biodiversity priority index and ecological systems redundancy for cores containing an NHDPlus FTYPE (StreamRiver) and Q0001A => 1.0 in cubic feet per second, performed within individual TNC Ecoregion units. This represents a subset of all cores. This calculation is based upon the Green Infrastructure Center’s ( http://gicinc.org) scoring methodology in their Practitioner’s Guides.Score_User (Score Generated by User Interaction)Score_byTNCEcoregion (Score Calculated by TNC Ecoregion) – the core quality index value based on geometric values and soil variety, endemic species max, biodiversity priority index and ecological systems redundancy, performed within individual TNC Ecoregion units. This calculation is based upon the Green Infrastructure Center’s ( http://gicinc.org) scoring methodology in their Practitioner’s GuideShape (Shape) – an internal ArcGIS description (“polygon”) for the feature type in the intact core file.Shape_Area (Shape_Area) – the area in meters of a coreShape_Length (Shape_Length) – the perimeter in meters of a coreSoil_SWI (Soil Shannon Weaver Diversity Index) – the Shannon-Weaver diversity index of SSURGO, MUKEY values appearing within a core. These are map units from the Dept. of Agriculture’s National Cooperative Soil Survey. Diversity in soils is a surrogate for diversity in habitat potential. Greater diversity is frequently associated with better habitat potential. Data have been collected over the last 100 years and are most intensively mapped in areas with high agricultural potential. Data are missing for many national forests, national parks and arid lands.Soil_Variety (Soil MUKey Variety) – the number of different SSURGO MUKEY units appearing within a core. These are map units from the Dept. of Agriculture’s National Cooperative Soil Survey. Variety in soils is a surrogate for diversity in habitat potential. Greater variety should equate to greater habitat potential. Data have been collected over the last 100 years and are most intensively mapped in areas with high agricultural potential. Data are missing for many national forests, natl. parks and arid lands.Strm_LenPerAcre (Stream Length All (ft) per Core Acre (NHD)) – stream length (all types) in feet within a core / core area in acres. This captures the broadest possible collection of hydrologic features from the National Hydrography Dataset. These may over represent the presence and availability of water, particularly in the southwest.Strm_Len_ft (Stream Length All (ft) (NHD)) – stream length (all types) in feet within a core. This captures the broadest possible collection of hydrologic features from the National Hydrography Dataset. These may over represent the presence and availability of water, particularly in the southwest.TNC_Ecoregion_Maj (TNC Ecoregion Name) – the name of the predominant TNC ecoregion present within a core. From The Nature Conservancy’s Terrestrial Ecoregions database. There are 68 TNC ecoregions covering the lower 48 US states. http://maps.tnc.org/gis_data.html#TerrEcos.Topo_Std (Elevation Variability Standard Deviation) – the standard deviation of the topographic diversity from NED 30 meter resolution, using zonal statistics within a core. The presumption is that the larger the deviation, the better for habitat potential.Thickness (Thickness) – represents the deepest or thickest point within each core. Essentially, it is the radius (in cells) of the largest circle that can be drawn within each core without including any cells outside the core. Cores with greater “depth or thickness” are preferred because they represent larger and potentially safer interior core areas.WaterBodiesPct (Percentage Water Area per Core (NWI) ) - the percentage of water features (from NHD – includes lakes, ponds, reservoirs, SeaOcean, StreamRiver and Canal/Ditch. Ftypes: 390, 436, 336, 445, and 460) within a core. This a expressed as a number ranging from 0.0 to 100. From the USGS National Hydrographic Dataset http://nhd.usgs.gov/data.html. Cores with greater amounts of water have better habitat potential than those with less.Water_AreaPerAcre (Water Body Area per Core Acre (NHD)) – the percentage of water features (from NHD – includes lakes, ponds, reservoirs, SeaOcean, StreamRiver and Canal/Ditch. Ftypes: 390, 436, 336, 445, and 460) within a core. This expressed as a number ranging from 0.0 to 1.0. From the USGS National Hydrographic Dataset http://nhd.usgs.gov/data.html. Cores with greater amounts of water have better habitat potential than those with less.Wet_AreaPerAcre (Wetlands Area per Core Acre (NWI)) – the percentage of wetlands (from NWI – includes “Estuarine and marine”, “freshwater emergent”, or “freshwater forested/shrub” ) within a core. This expressed as a number ranging from 0.0 to 1.0. From the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Wetlands Inventory http://www.fws.gov/wetlands/. Cores with more wetlands have better habitat potential than those with less.WetlandsPct (Percentage Wetlands Area per Core (NWI)) – the percentage of wetlands (from NWI – includes “Estuarine and marine”, “freshwater emergent”, or “freshwater forested/shrub”) within a core. This expressed as a number ranging from 0.0 to 100. From the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Wetlands Inventory http://www.fws.gov/wetlands/. Cores with more wetlands have better habitat potential than those with less.Value (Unique Core Identifier) – a unique identifier for each core. It is used to relate core features to the Supplemental Attribute Table.Data sources:Ecological Land Units USGS/ESRI (received 3/2016) 250m resolutionhttp://rmgsc.cr.usgs.gov/outgoing/ecosystems/Global/Local Conservation Cooperative Boundaries (downloaded 3/2016)https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/55b943ade4b09a3b01b65d78TNC Ecoregions (downloaded 4/2016)http://maps.tnc.org/gis_data.html#TNClands – Ecoregional Portfolio section, US DataTheobald’s Human Modified data (received 4 / 2016) 90 meter resolution. Referenced in:http://www.montana.edu/lccvp/documents/theobald2013.pdfTheobald’s Ecologically Relevant Landforms (downloaded 4/2016) 30 m resolution. Referenced in:http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0143619GAP Level 3 Ecological System Boundaries (downloaded 4/2016)http://gapanalysis.usgs.gov/gaplandcover/data/download/Local Landforms (produced 3/2016) by Deniz Basaran and Charlie Frye 30 m resolution."Improved Hammond’s Landform Classification and Method for Global 250-m Elevation Data" by Karagulle, Deniz; Frye, Charlie; Sayre, Roger; Breyer, Sean; Aniello, Peter; Vaughan, Randy; Wright, Dawn, has been successfully submitted online and is presently being given full consideration for publication in Transactions in GIS.we scaled the neighborhood windows from the 250-meter method described in the paper, and then applied that to 30-meter data in the U.S.NWI – National Wetlands Inventory “Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats of the United States”. U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC. FWS/OBS-79/31, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Habitat and Resource Conservation (prepared 10/2015)U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Publication date (Oct, 2015). National Wetlands Inventory website. U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, D.C. http://www.fws.gov/wetlands/NHD – National Hydrologic Data set http://nhd.usgs.gov/data.html. Coordinated effort between the United States Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS), the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD) was created from a variety of sources from each state and aggregated into a standard national layer for use in strategic planning and accountability.NLCD 2011 – National LandCover Database 2011 http://www.mrlc.gov/nlcd2011.php (downloaded 1/2016)Preferred Citation: NLCD 2011 citation: Homer, C.G., Dewitz, J.A., Yang, L., Jin, S., Danielson, P., Xian, G., Coulston, J., Herold, N.D., Wickham, J.D., and Megown, K., 2015, Completion of the 2011 National Land Cover Database for the conterminous United States-Representing a decade of land cover change information . Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, v. 81, no. 5, p. 345-354NHDPlusV2 – https://www.epa.gov/waterdata/nhdplus-national-hydrography-dataset-plus .Received from Charlie Frye, ESRI 3/2016. Produced by the EPA with support from the USGS.SSURGO – Soil Survey Staff, Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Web Soil Survey. Available online at http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/. Accessed 3/2016gSSURGO – Soil Survey Staff, Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Web Soil Survey. Available online at http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/. Accessed 3/2016, 30 m resolutionTIGER – (Roads National Geodatabase) 2015: (downloaded 1/2016)https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/tiger-geodatabases.htmlftp://ftp2.census.gov/geo/tiger/TGRGDB15/tlgdb_2015_a_us_roads.gdb.zipTIGER – (Rails National Geodatabase) 2015: (downloaded 1/2016)https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/tiger-geodatabases.htmlftp://ftp2.census.gov/geo/tiger/TGRGDB15/TLGDB_2015_a_us_RAILS.gdb.zipNOAA CCAP Coastal Change Analysis Program Regional Land Cover and Change –Downloaded by state (1/2016) from: https://coast.noaa.gov/ccapftp/#/Description: https://coast.noaa.gov/dataregistry/search/collection/info/ccapregional30 m resolution, 2010 edition of dataScoring values:Default Weights0.4, # Acres 0.1, # THICKNESS 0.05, # TOPOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY (Standard Deviation) 0.1, # Biodiversity Priority Index (SPECIES RICHNESS in GIC original version) 0.05, # PERCENTAGE WETLAND COVER 0.03, # Ecological Land Unit – Shannon-Weaver Index (SOIL VARIETY in GIC original version) 0.02, # COMPACTNESS RATIO (AREA RELATIVE TO THE AREA OF A CIRCLE WITH THE SAME PERIMETER LENGTH) 0.1, # STREAM DENSITY (LINEAR FEET/ACRE) 0.05, # Ecological System Redundancy (RARE/THREATENED/ENDANGERED SPECIES ABUNDANCE (Number of occurrences) in GIC original version) 0.1, # Endemic Species Max (RARE/THREATENED/ENDANGERED SPECIES DIVERSITY (Number of unique species in a core) in GIC original version)Bio-Weights0.2, # Acres 0.1, # THICKNESS 0.05, # TOPOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY (Standard Deviation) 0.25, # Biodiversity Priority Index (SPECIES RICHNESS in GIC original version) 0.05, # PERCENTAGE WETLAND COVER 0.03, # Ecological Land Unit – Shannon-Weaver Index (SOIL VARIETY in GIC original version) 0.02, # COMPACTNESS RATIO (AREA RELATIVE TO THE AREA OF A CIRCLE WITH THE SAME PERIMETER LENGTH) 0.1, # STREAM DENSITY (LINEAR FEET/ACRE) 0.1, # Ecological System Redundancy (RARE/THREATENED/ENDANGERED SPECIES ABUNDANCE (Number of occurrences) in GIC original version) 0.1, # Endemic Species Max (RARE/THREATENED/ENDANGERED SPECIES DIVERSITY (Number of unique species in a core) in GIC original version)