Datasets- simple_land_cover1.tif - an example land cover dataset presented in Figures 1 and 2- simple_landform1.tif - an example landform dataset presented in Figures 1 and 2- landcover_europe.tif - a land cover dataset with nine categories for Europe - landcover_europe.qml - a QGIS color style for the landcover_europe.tif dataset- landform_europe.tif - a landform dataset with 17 categories for Europe - landform_europe.qml - a QGIS color style for the landform_europe.tif dataset- map1.gpkg - a map of LTs in Europe constructed using the INCOMA-based method- map1.qml - a QGIS color style for the map1.gpkg dataset- map2.gpkg - a map of LTs in Europe constructed using the COMA method to identify and delineate pattern types in each theme separately- map2.qml - a QGIS color style for the map2.gpkg dataset- map3.gpkg - a map of LTs in Europe constructed using the map overlay method- map3.qml - a QGIS color style for the map3.gpkg dataset

This map provides a guide to the data confidence of DPIE's soil related thematic map products in NSW. Examples of products this map supports includes Land and Soil Capability mapping, Inherent fertility of soils in NSW and Great Soil Group soil types in NSW.

Confidence classes are determined based on the data scale, type of mapping and information collected, accuracy of the attributes and quality assurance on the product.

Soil data confidence is described using a 4 class system between high and very low as outlined below.:

• Good (1) - All necessary soil and landscape data is available at a catchment scale (1:100,000 & 1:250,000) to undertake the assessment of LSC and other soil thematic maps.

• Moderate (2) - Most soil and landscape data is available at a catchment scale (1:100,000 - 1:250,000) to undertake the assessment of LSC and other soil thematic maps.

• Low (3) - Limited soil and landscape data is available at a reconnaissance catchment scale (1:100,000 & 1:250,000) which limits the quality of the assessment of LSC and other soil thematic maps.

• Very low (4) - Very limited soil and landscape data is available at a broad catchment scale (1:250,000 - 1:500,000) and the LSC and other soil thematic maps should be used as a guide only.

Online Maps: This dataset can be viewed using eSPADE (NSW’s soil spatial viewer), which contains a suite of soil and landscape information including soil profile data. Many of these datasets have hot-linked soil reports. An alternative viewer is the SEED Map; an ideal way to see what other natural resources datasets (e.g. vegetation) are available for this map area.

Reference: Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, 2020, Soil Data Confidence map for NSW, Version 4, NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, Parramatta.

This dataset is a series of digital map-posters accompanying the AdaptNRM Guide: Helping Biodiversity Adapt: supporting climate adaptation planning using a community-level modelling approach.

These represent supporting materials and information about the community-level biodiversity models applied to climate change. Map posters are organised by four biological groups (vascular plants, mammals, reptiles and amphibians), two climate change scenario (1990-2050 MIROC5 and CanESM2 for RCP8.5), and five measures of change in biodiversity.

The map-posters present the nationally consistent data at locally relevant resolutions in eight parts – representing broad groupings of NRM regions based on the cluster boundaries used for climate adaptation planning (http://www.environment.gov.au/climate-change/adaptation) and also Nationally.

Map-posters are provided in PNG image format at moderate resolution (300dpi) to suit A0 printing. The posters were designed to meet A0 print size and digital viewing resolution of map detail. An additional set in PDF image format has been created for ease of download for initial exploration and printing on A3 paper. Some text elements and map features may be fuzzy at this resolution.

Each map-poster contains four dataset images coloured using standard legends encompassing the potential range of the measure, even if that range is not represented in the dataset itself or across the map extent.

Most map series are provided in two parts: part 1 shows the two climate scenarios for vascular plants and mammals and part 2 shows reptiles and amphibians. Eight cluster maps for each series have a different colour theme and map extent. A national series is also provided. Annotation briefly outlines the topics presented in the Guide so that each poster stands alone for quick reference.

An additional 77 National maps presenting the probability distributions of each of 77 vegetation types – NVIS 4.1 major vegetation subgroups (NVIS subgroups) - are currently in preparation.

Example citations:

Williams KJ, Raisbeck-Brown N, Prober S, Harwood T (2015) Generalised projected distribution of vegetation types – NVIS 4.1 major vegetation subgroups (1990 and 2050), A0 map-poster 8.1 - East Coast NRM regions. CSIRO Land and Water Flagship, Canberra. Available online at www.AdaptNRM.org and https://data.csiro.au/dap/.

Williams KJ, Raisbeck-Brown N, Harwood T, Prober S (2015) Revegetation benefit (cleared natural areas) for vascular plants and mammals (1990-2050), A0 map-poster 9.1 - East Coast NRM regions. CSIRO Land and Water Flagship, Canberra. Available online at www.AdaptNRM.org and https://data.csiro.au/dap/.

This dataset has been delivered incrementally. Please check that you are accessing the latest version of the dataset. Lineage: The map posters show case the scientific data. The data layers have been developed at approximately 250m resolution (9 second) across the Australian continent to incorporate the interaction between climate and topography, and are best viewed using a geographic information system (GIS). Each data layers is 1Gb, and inaccessible to non-GIS users. The map posters provide easy access to the scientific data, enabling the outputs to be viewed at high resolution with geographical context information provided.

Maps were generated using layout and drawing tools in ArcGIS 10.2.2

A check list of map posters and datasets is provided with the collection.

Map Series: 7.(1-77) National probability distribution of vegetation type – NVIS 4.1 major vegetation subgroup pre-1750 #0x

8.1 Generalised projected distribution of vegetation types (NVIS subgroups) (1990 and 2050)

9.1 Revegetation benefit (cleared natural areas) for plants and mammals (1990-2050)

9.2 Revegetation benefit (cleared natural areas) for reptiles and amphibians (1990-2050)

10.1 Need for assisted dispersal for vascular plants and mammals (1990-2050)

10.2 Need for assisted dispersal for reptiles and amphibians (1990-2050)

11.1 Refugial potential for vascular plants and mammals (1990-2050)

11.1 Refugial potential for reptiles and amphibians (1990-2050)

12.1 Climate-driven future revegetation benefit for vascular plants and mammals (1990-2050)

12.2 Climate-driven future revegetation benefit for vascular reptiles and amphibians (1990-2050)

The Millennium Coral Reef Mapping Project provides thematic maps of coral reefs worldwide at geomorphological scale. Maps were created by photo-interpretation of Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 satellite images. Maps are provided as standard Shapefiles usable in GIS software. The geomorphological classification scheme is hierarchical and includes 5 levels. The GIS products include for each polygon a number of attributes. The 5 level geomorphological attributes are provided (numerical codes or text). The Level 1 corresponds to the differentiation between oceanic and continental reefs. Then from Levels 2 to 5, the higher the level, the more detailed the thematic classification is. Other binary attributes specify for each polygon if it belongs to terrestrial area (LAND attribute), and sedimentary or hard-bottom reef areas (REEF attribute). Examples and more details on the attributes are provided in the references cited. The products distributed here were created by IRD, in their last version. Shapefiles for 102 atolls of France (in the Pacific and Indian Oceans) as mapped by the Global coral reef mapping project at geomorphological scale using LANDSAT satellite data (L7 and L8). The data set provides one zip file per region of interest. Global coral reef mapping project at geomorphological scale using LANDSAT satellite data (L7 and L8). Funded by National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA grants NAG5-10908 (University of South Florida, PIs: Franck Muller-Karger and Serge Andréfouët) and CARBON-0000-0257 (NASA, PI: Julie Robinson) from 2001 to 2007. Funded by IRD since 2003 (in kind, PI: Serge Andréfouët).

This dataset contains raster data, R scripts, and obtained results that are related to statistically rigorous methods for accuracy assessment and area estimation of forest change maps. These data can be used to run all simulations, comparisons, and examples described in RELATED MATERIALS 1. The R scripts can also be used for the accuracy assessment of thematic maps derived from other datasets.

The dataset presents the estimated occurrence of less common tree species (other than pine and spruce) in the form of thematic maps covering entire area of Finland. The maps series represent the following years: 1994, 2002, 2009 and 2015. The tree species maps are based on geostatistical interpolation of field measurements from national forest inventory sample plots and satellite image-based forest resource estimates. The occurrence data is presented as the average volume (m3/ha) of the tree species in forestry land. The tree species maps are available as ESRI polygon shapefiles where Finland is divided into 1 x 1 km2 square polygons for which the tree species data is estimated. Koordinaattijärjestelmä: ETRS89 / ETRS-TM35FIN (EPSG:3067)

The files linked to this reference are the geospatial data created as part of the completion of the baseline vegetation inventory project for the NPS park unit. Current format is ArcGIS file geodatabase but older formats may exist as shapefiles. Our final map product is a geographic information system (GIS) database of vegetation structure and composition across the Crater Lake National Park terrestrial landscape, including wetlands. The database includes photos we took at all relevé, validation, and accuracy assessment plots, as well as the plots that were done in the previous wetlands inventory. We conducted an accuracy assessment of the map by evaluating 698 stratified random accuracy assessment plots throughout the project area. We intersected these field data with the vegetation map, resulting in an overall thematic accuracy of 86.2 %. The accuracy of the Cliff, Scree & Rock Vegetation map unit was difficult to assess, as only 9% of this vegetation type was available for sampling due to lack of access. In addition, fires that occurred during the 2017 accuracy assessment field season affected our sample design and may have had a small influence on the accuracy. Our geodatabase contains the locations where particular associations are found at 600 relevé plots, 698 accuracy assessment plots, and 803 validation plots.

Kenward-et-al_RADA_Buzzard_radio-tracking_dataData used to infer the resource needs of common buzzards (Buteo buteo) Dorset, southern UK. Inference was made by applying Resource-Area-Dependence Analysis (RADA) to a sample of 114 buzzard home ranges and a thematic map depicting resource distribution. The compressed archive contains the radio-tracking dataset, which consists of standardized 30 locations per home range obtained via VHF telemetry between 1990 and 1995. The thematic map, formed by using knowledge about buzzards to group 25 land-cover types of the Land Cover Map of Great Britain into 16 map classes, is available against permission at public site http://www.ceh.ac.uk/services/land-cover-map-1990. All coordinates are in UK National Grid format (EPSG 27700). The radio-tracking dataset is provided as: (i) .txt and (ii) .loc. The format in (ii) is native to the Ranges suite of software (http://www.anatrack.com/home.php) for the analysis of animal home ranging and habitat use. Sinc...

This map provides a guide to the data confidence of DPIE's soil related thematic map products in NSW. Examples of products this map supports includes Land and Soil Capability mapping, Inherent …Show full descriptionThis map provides a guide to the data confidence of DPIE's soil related thematic map products in NSW. Examples of products this map supports includes Land and Soil Capability mapping, Inherent fertility of soils in NSW and Great Soil Group soil types in NSW. Confidence classes are determined based on the data scale, type of mapping and information collected, accuracy of the attributes and quality assurance on the product. Soil data confidence is described using a 4 class system between high and very low as outlined below.: Good (1) - All necessary soil and landscape data is available at a catchment scale (1:100,000 & 1:250,000) to undertake the assessment of LSC and other soil thematic maps. Moderate (2) - Most soil and landscape data is available at a catchment scale (1:100,000 - 1:250,000) to undertake the assessment of LSC and other soil thematic maps. Low (3) - Limited soil and landscape data is available at a reconnaissance catchment scale (1:100,000 & 1:250,000) which limits the quality of the assessment of LSC and other soil thematic maps. Very low (4) - Very limited soil and landscape data is available at a broad catchment scale (1:250,000 - 1:500,000) and the LSC and other soil thematic maps should be used as a guide only. Online Maps: This dataset can be viewed using eSPADE (NSW’s soil spatial viewer), which contains a suite of soil and landscape information including soil profile data. Many of these datasets have hot-linked soil reports. An alternative viewer is the SEED Map; an ideal way to see what other natural resources datasets (e.g. vegetation) are available for this map area. Reference: Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, 2020, Soil Data Confidence map for NSW, Version 4, NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, Parramatta.

The Millennium Coral Reef Mapping Project provides thematic maps of coral reefs worldwide at geomorphological scale. Maps were created by photo-interpretation of Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 satellite images. Maps are provided as standard Shapefiles usable in GIS software. The geomorphological classification scheme is hierarchical and includes 5 levels. The GIS products include for each polygon a number of attributes. The 5 level geomorphological attributes are provided (numerical codes or text). The Level 1 corresponds to the differentiation between oceanic and continental reefs. Then from Levels 2 to 5, the higher the level, the more detailed the thematic classification is. Other binary attributes specify for each polygon if it belongs to terrestrial area (LAND attribute), and sedimentary or hard-bottom reef areas (REEF attribute). Examples and more details on the attributes are provided in the references cited. The products distributed here were created by IRD, in their last version. Shapefiles for 52 atolls of the Indian Ocean and Red Sea as mapped by the Global coral reef mapping project at geomorphological scale using LANDSAT satellite data (L7 and L8). The data set provides one zip file per country or region of interest. Global coral reef mapping project at geomorphological scale using LANDSAT satellite data (L7 and L8). Funded by National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA grants NAG5-10908 (University of South Florida, PIs: Franck Muller-Karger and Serge Andréfouët) and CARBON-0000-0257 (NASA, PI: Julie Robinson) from 2001 to 2007. Funded by IRD since 2003 (in kind, PI: Serge Andréfouët).

A Collection of Contextual data for USA

Land cover information is necessary for a large range of environmental applications related to climate impacts and adaption, emergency response, wildlife habitat, etc. In Canada, a 2008 user survey indicated that the most practical land cover data is provided in a nationwide 30 m spatial resolution format, with an update frequency of five years. In response to this need, the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS) has generated a 30 m land cover map of Canada for the base year 2010, as the first of a planned series of maps to be updated every five years, or more frequently. This land cover dataset is also the Canadian contribution to the 30 m spatial resolution 2010 Land Cover Map of North America, which is produced by Mexican, American and Canadian government institutions under a collaboration called the North American Land Change Monitoring System (NALCMS). This land cover dataset for Canada is produced using observation from Thematic Mapper (TM) and Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) Landsat sensors. An accuracy assessment based on 2811 randomly distributed samples shows that land cover data produced with this new approach has achieved 76.60% accuracy with no marked spatial disparities. - Land Cover of Canada - Cartographic Product Collection

Have you ever wanted to create your own maps, or integrate and visualize spatial datasets to examine changes in trends between locations and over time? Follow along with these training tutorials on QGIS, an open source geographic information system (GIS) and learn key concepts, procedures and skills for performing common GIS tasks – such as creating maps, as well as joining, overlaying and visualizing spatial datasets. These tutorials are geared towards new GIS users. We’ll start with foundational concepts, and build towards more advanced topics throughout – demonstrating how with a few relatively easy steps you can get quite a lot out of GIS. You can then extend these skills to datasets of thematic relevance to you in addressing tasks faced in your day-to-day work.

The 2023 cartographic boundary shapefiles are simplified representations of selected geographic areas from the U.S. Census Bureau's Master Address File / Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (MAF/TIGER) Database (MTDB). These boundary files are specifically designed for small-scale thematic mapping. When possible, generalization is performed with the intent to maintain the hierarchical relationships among geographies and to maintain the alignment of geographies within a file set for a given year. Geographic areas may not align with the same areas from another year. Some geographies are available as nation-based files while others are available only as state-based files. Block Groups (BGs) are clusters of blocks within the same census tract. Each census tract contains at least one BG, and BGs are uniquely numbered within census tracts. BGs have a valid code range of 0 through 9. BGs have the same first digit of their 4-digit census block number from the same decennial census. For example, tabulation blocks numbered 3001, 3002, 3003,.., 3999 within census tract 1210.02 are also within BG 3 within that census tract. BGs coded 0 are intended to only include water area, no land area, and they are generally in territorial seas, coastal water, and Great Lakes water areas. Block groups generally contain between 600 and 3,000 people. A BG usually covers a contiguous area but never crosses county or census tract boundaries. They may, however, cross the boundaries of other geographic entities like county subdivisions, places, urban areas, voting districts, congressional districts, and American Indian / Alaska Native / Native Hawaiian areas. The generalized BG boundaries in this release are based on those that were delineated as part of the Census Bureau's Participant Statistical Areas Program (PSAP) for the 2020 Census.

Soil is a key natural resource that provides the foundation of basic ecosystem services. Soil determines the types of farms and forests that can grow on a landscape. Soil filters water. Soil helps regulate the Earth's climate by storing large amounts of carbon. Activities that degrade soils reduce the value of the ecosystem services that soil provides. For example, since 1850 35% of human caused green house gas emissions are linked to land use change. The Soil Science Society of America is a good source of of additional information.Dataset SummaryThis layer provides access to a 30 arc-second (roughly 1 km) cell-sized raster with attributes describing the basic properties of soil derived from the Harmonized World Soil Database v 1.2. The values in this layer are for the dominant soil in each mapping unit (sequence field = 1).Attributes in this layer include:Soil Phase 1 and Soil Phase 2 - Phases identify characteristics of soils important for land use or management. Soils may have up to 2 phases with phase 1 being more important than phase 2.Other Properties - provides additional information important for agriculture.Additionally, 3 class description fields were added by Esri based on the document Harmonized World Soil Database Version 1.2 for use in web map pop-ups:Soil Phase 1 DescriptionSoil Phase 2 DescriptionOther Properties DescriptionThe layer is symbolized with the Soil Unit Name field.The document Harmonized World Soil Database Version 1.2 provides more detail on the soil properties attributes contained in this layer.Other attributes contained in this layer include:Soil Mapping Unit Name - the name of the spatially dominant major soil groupSoil Mapping Unit Symbol - a two letter code for labeling the spatially dominant major soil group in thematic mapsData Source - the HWSD is an aggregation of datasets. The data sources are the European Soil Database (ESDB), the 1:1 million soil map of China (CHINA), the Soil and Terrain Database Program (SOTWIS), and the Digital Soil Map of the World (DSMW).Percentage of Mapping Unit covered by dominant componentMore information on the Harmonized World Soil Database is available here.Other layers created from the Harmonized World Soil Database are available on ArcGIS Online:World Soils Harmonized World Soil Database - Bulk DensityWorld Soils Harmonized World Soil Database – ChemistryWorld Soils Harmonized World Soil Database - Exchange CapacityWorld Soils Harmonized World Soil Database – HydricWorld Soils Harmonized World Soil Database – TextureThe authors of this data set request that projects using these data include the following citation:FAO/IIASA/ISRIC/ISSCAS/JRC, 2012. Harmonized World Soil Database (version 1.2). FAO, Rome, Italy and IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria.What can you do with this layer?This layer is suitable for both visualization and analysis. It can be used in ArcGIS Online in web maps and applications and can be used in ArcGIS Desktop.This layer has query, identify, and export image services available. This layer is restricted to a maximum area of 16,000 x 16,000 pixels - an area 4,000 kilometers on a side or an area approximately the size of Europe. The source data for this layer are available here.This layer is part of a larger collection of landscape layers that you can use to perform a wide variety of mapping and analysis tasks.The Living Atlas of the World provides an easy way to explore the landscape layers and many other beautiful and authoritative maps on hundreds of topics.Geonet is a good resource for learning more about landscape layers and the Living Atlas of the World. To get started follow these links:Living Atlas Discussion GroupSoil Data Discussion GroupThe Esri Insider Blog provides an introduction to the Ecophysiographic Mapping project.

This land cover map is a subset of the National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD) produced by the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) Consortium (USGS, EPA, NOAA, and USFS) 1/6/1999. The NLCD was produced in order to provide a consistent, land cover data layer for the conterminous U.S. utilizing early 1990s Landsat Thematic Mapper data. The raster map depicts the land cover of the Oak Ridge Reservation at a 30m spatial resolution. Yang et al. (2001) found the thematic accuracy for the MRLC land cover map for the eastern U.S. to be 59.7% at Anderson Level II thematic detail and 80.5% at Anderson Level I.

The NLCD classification scheme (based on Anderson et al. 1976) is as follows -

Water - All areas of open water or permanent ice/snow cover. 11. Open Water - all areas of open water, generally with less than 25% cover of vegetation/land cover. 12. Perennial Ice/Snow - all areas characterized by year-long surface cover of ice and/or snow.

Developed Areas characterized by a high percentage (30 percent or greater) of constructed materials (e.g. asphalt, concrete, buildings, etc). 21. Low Intensity Residential - Includes areas with a mixture of constructed materials and vegetation. Constructed materials account for 30-80 percent of the cover. Vegetation may account for 20 to 70 percent of the cover. These areas most commonly include single-family housing units. Population densities will be lower than in high intensity residential areas. 22. High Intensity Residential - Includes highly developed areas where people reside in high numbers. Examples include apartment complexes and row houses. Vegetation accounts for less than 20 percent of the cover. Constructed materials account for 80 to100 percent of the cover. 23. Commercial/Industrial/Transportation - Includes infrastructure (e.g. roads, railroads, etc.) and all highly developed areas not classified as High Intensity Residential.

Barren - Areas characterized by bare rock, gravel, sand, silt, clay, or other earthen material, with little or no green vegetation present regardless of its inherent ability to support life. Vegetation, if present, is more widely spaced and scrubby than that in the green vegetated categories; lichen cover may be extensive. 31. Bare Rock/Sand/Clay - Perennially barren areas of bedrock, desert pavement, scarps, talus, slides, volcanic material, glacial debris, beaches, and other accumulations of earthen material. 32. Quarries/Strip Mines/Gravel Pits - Areas of extractive mining activities with significant surface expression. 33. Transitional - Areas of sparse vegetative cover (less than 25 percent of cover) that are dynamically changing from one land cover to another, often because of land use activities. Examples include forest clearcuts, a transition phase between forest and agricultural land, the temporary clearing of vegetation, and changes due to natural causes (e.g. fire, flood, etc.).

Forested Upland - Areas characterized by tree cover (natural or semi-natural woody vegetation, generally greater than 6 meters tall); tree canopy accounts for 25-100 percent of the cover. 41. Deciduous Forest - Areas dominated by trees where 75 percent or more of the tree species shed foliage simultaneously in response to seasonal change. 42. Evergreen Forest - Areas dominated by trees where 75 percent or more of the tree species maintain their leaves all year. Canopy is never without green foliage. 43. Mixed Forest - Areas dominated by trees where neither deciduous nor evergreen species represent more than 75 percent of the cover present.

Shrubland - Areas characterized by natural or semi-natural woody vegetation with aerial stems, generally less than 6 meters tall, with individuals or clumps not touching to interlocking. Both evergreen and deciduous species of true shrubs, young trees, and trees or shrubs that are small or stunted because of environmental conditions are included. 51. Shrubland - Areas dominated by shrubs; shrub canopy accounts for 25-100 percent of the cover. Shrub cover is generally greater than 25 percent when tree cover is less than 25 percent. Shrub cover may be less than 25 percent in cases when the cover of other life forms (e.g. herbaceous or tree) is less than 25 percent and shrubs cover exceeds the cover of the other life forms.

Non-Natural Woody - Areas dominated by non-natural woody vegetation; non-natural woody vegetative canopy accounts for 25-100 percent of the cover. The non-natural woody classification is subject to the availability of sufficient ancillary data to differentiate non-natural woody vegetation from natural woody vegetation. 61. Orchards/Vineyards/Other - Orchards, vineyards, and other areas planted or maintained for the production of fruits, nuts, berries, or ornamentals.

He... Visit https://dataone.org/datasets/Map_ORR_Land_Cover_LandsatTM_NLCD_30m_1992.xml for complete metadata about this dataset.

Two vector (.shp) files are provided. The first, (macro_assemblages.shp) shows the modelled (random forest) macrofaunal assemblage type based on a clustering of abundance data from the OneBenthic database (see https://sway.office.com/HM5VkWvBoZ86atYP?ref=Link). The second file, (macro_assemblages_confidence.shp) shows associated confidence in the modelled output, with darker shades (high values) indicating higher confidence and lighter shades (lower values) indicating lower confidence. Both layers can be viewed in the OneBenthic Layers tool (https://rconnect.cefas.co.uk/onebenthic_layers/), together with further details of the methodology used to produce them. The modelled layer for macrofaunal assemblage is based on a random forest modelling of point sample data from the OneBenthic (OB, https://rconnect.cefas.co.uk/onebenthic_dashboard/) dataset, largely following the methodology in Cooper et al. (2019), but with an expanded dataset covering the Greater North Sea and including data from the EurOBIS (https://www.eurobis.org/) data repository. Of the 44,407 samples within OB, we selected a subset of 31,845 for which data were considered comparable (i.e. sample acquired using a 0.1 m2 grab or core, processed using a 1 mm sieve and not taken from a known impacted site). Colonial taxa were included and given a value of one. To take account of potential differences in taxonomic resolution between surveys, macrofaunal data were aggregated to family level using the taxonomic hierarchy provided by the World Register of Marine Species (https://www.marinespecies.org/). This reduced the number of taxa from 3,659 to 750. To address spatial autocorrelation in the data, and in keeping with the previous approach, samples closer than 50 m were removed from the dataset, reducing the overall number to 18,348. A fourth-root transformation was then applied to the data to down weight the influence of highly abundant taxa. Data were then subjected to clustering using k-means. A species distribution modelling approach, based on random forest, was then used to model cluster group (i.e. macrofaunal assemblage or biotope) identity across the study area (Greater North Sea). Cross-validation via repeated sub-sampling was done to evaluate the robustness of the model estimate and predictions to data sub-setting and to extract additional information from the model outputs to produce maps of confidence in the predicted distribution, following the approach described in Mitchell et al. (2018). The cross-validation was done on 10 split sample data sets with 75% used to train and 25% to test models, randomly sampled within the levels of the response variable to maintain the class balance. The final model output was plotted as the cluster class with the majority vote of all 10 model runs. An associated confidence map was produced by multiplying map layers for 1) the frequency of the most common class and ii) the average probability of the most common class. Model outputs are used in the OneBenthic Layers Tool (https://rconnect.cefas.co.uk/onebenthic_layers/). Cooper, K.M.; Bolam, S.G.; Downie, A.-L.; Barry, J. 2019. Biological-based habitat classification approaches promote cost-efficient monitoring: An example using seabed assemblages. J. Appl. Ecol. 56:1085–1098. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13381 Mitchell, P.J., Downie, A.-L., Diesing, M. How good is my map? 2018. A tool for semi-automated thematic mapping and spatially explicit confidence assessment. Env. Model. Softw. 108, 111–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2018.07.014

Dataset last updated: 8th January 2025

This dataset provides indicative areas of biodiversity hotspots in Greater London, identified by research and data analysis using methods derived from the Greater London Authority’s (GLA) “Planning for Biodiversity?” report (2016).

The dataset has been created by Greenspace Information for Greater London CIC (GiGL). GiGL mobilises, curates and shares data that underpin our knowledge of London’s natural environment. We provide impartial evidence to enable informed discussion and decision-making in policy and practice. The dataset is based on GiGL partnership data which are continuously updated.

The underlying data for the dataset may have been subject to changes since the current version was modelled. Subsequent versions will provide updated information from the GiGL database annually. The dataset is a coarse-resolution presentation of high-resolution data. To access data at their original resolution, please contact GiGL or visit www.gigl.org.uk for more information.

Research for this dataset has been assisted by London and South East England Local Records Centres (LaSER) and the London Boroughs Biodiversity Forum (LBBF), and is based on advice provided by the Open Data Institute (ODI).

Description

To meet Policy G6 D of The London Plan (2021), the capital’s spatial development strategy, " Development proposals should manage impacts on biodiversity and aim to secure net biodiversity gain. This should be informed by the best available ecological information and addressed from the start of the development process".

The Biodiversity Hotspots for Planning (BHP) dataset provides developers, homeowners and LPAs an indication of areas, where data are available, that have potential impacts on biodiversity and are likely to be relevant to local planning decisions by applying biodiversity criteria developed by GiGL, based on the original “Planning for Biodiversity?” research. ‘Hotspot’ areas indicate a detected presence of sensitive biodiversity that could potentially be affected by development. Original records can be accessed from GiGL to assist the decision-making process.

N.B. 1: Areas without these biodiversity indicator records may still have undetected biodiversity so should also be considered for biodiversity potential on a case-by-case basis.

N.B. 2: The dataset is purely indicative and an ecological data search report must still be commissioned as evidence for planning applications. See here for help on this.

Specification

The GIS file shows London as 100m hexagon tiles. Each tile is scored for the known presence of protected species, sites and habitats impact areas based on the impact buffer size as specified in the criteria table below, giving a cumulative score range of 0 to 3. Tiles are considered a hotspot where impact areas overlap the tile by more than 10%.

https://cdn.datapress.cloud/london/img/dataset/54117e0c-098e-4c3d-ae1d-82e6cc01b3f8/_import/LDS_GiGL_BHP_CriteriaTable.JPG" alt="LDS_GiGL_BHP_CriteriaTable.JPG" />

Tiles with a score of 0 indicate that there are currently no known protected species, sites or habitats impact areas present in that area based on the criteria table, which excludes some protected species. Tiles with a score of 3 indicate the presence of impact areas for all three categories. Intermediate scores indicate the presence of impact areas for one or more of the categories without specifying which are present. The scores can be used in a thematic map to colour the tiles and visually indicate areas with greater presence of impact areas. A sample thematic map is provided.

The dataset will be updated annually using the latest protected species, sites and habitats data available to GiGL at time of creation. Please give GiGL appropriate credit when using, adapting or sharing the dataset following the guidance below:

In-text citation: GiGL, [dataset creation date]

Reference: "Biodiversity Hotspots for Planning" Greenspace Information for Greater London CIC, [dataset creation date]

Where data is used in maps: Map displays GiGL data [dataset creation date] </blockq

As part of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Program, an investigation of the Yellowstone River Basin study unit is being conducted to document status and trends in surface- and ground-water quality. Surface-water samples are collected from streams (or lakes) at specific sampling stations. Water-quality characteristics at each station are influenced by the natural and cultural characteristics of the drainage area upstream from the sampling station. Efficient quantification of the drainage area characteristics requires a digital map of the drainage area boundary that may be processed, together with other digital thematic maps (such as geology or land use), in a geographic information system (GIS). Digital drainage-area data for 24 selected stream-sampling stations in the Yellowstone River Basin are included in this data release. The drainage divides were identified chiefly using 1:100,000-scale (50 m accuracy) hypsography. Drainage areas based on 1:100,000-scale hypsography data generally agree to within 5 percent with drainage areas measured at 1:24,000 scale, for areas larger than 50 km2.

The 2022 cartographic boundary shapefiles are simplified representations of selected geographic areas from the U.S. Census Bureau's Master Address File / Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (MAF/TIGER) Database (MTDB). These boundary files are specifically designed for small-scale thematic mapping. When possible, generalization is performed with the intent to maintain the hierarchical relationships among geographies and to maintain the alignment of geographies within a file set for a given year. Geographic areas may not align with the same areas from another year. Some geographies are available as nation-based files while others are available only as state-based files. Block Groups (BGs) are clusters of blocks within the same census tract. Each census tract contains at least one BG, and BGs are uniquely numbered within census tracts. BGs have a valid code range of 0 through 9. BGs have the same first digit of their 4-digit census block number from the same decennial census. For example, tabulation blocks numbered 3001, 3002, 3003,.., 3999 within census tract 1210.02 are also within BG 3 within that census tract. BGs coded 0 are intended to only include water area, no land area, and they are generally in territorial seas, coastal water, and Great Lakes water areas. Block groups generally contain between 600 and 3,000 people. A BG usually covers a contiguous area but never crosses county or census tract boundaries. They may, however, cross the boundaries of other geographic entities like county subdivisions, places, urban areas, voting districts, congressional districts, and American Indian / Alaska Native / Native Hawaiian areas. The generalized BG boundaries in this release are based on those that were delineated as part of the Census Bureau's Participant Statistical Areas Program (PSAP) for the 2020 Census.