Transcript Major Habitat Type Level 1

The Nature Conservancy’s
Contribution to the IABIN
Ecosystem Thematic Network
Steven R. Schill, PhD
Senior Geospatial Scientist
Mesoamerica & Caribbean Program
The Nature Conservancy
Organizational Capacity
• 450 offices in 32 countries
• Protection of
– 120 million acres
– 5,000 miles of river
– 100+ marine conservation projects
• Global Initiatives in Forests, Freshwater,
Marine, Climate Change, Invasive
Species, Fire
• Expansion of Conservation Information
Systems (CIS)
TNC’s 2015 Goal
By 2015, The Nature Conservancy will work with others to ensure the
effective conservation of places that represent at least 10% of every Major
Habitat Type on Earth.
2006:
Started in
SE. Africa
9 Conservation Regions – 7 in the Americas
ORGANIZATIONAL
LEVEL
GLOBAL
STAFF
DATA SCALE
Worldwide
Office
EXTERNAL
Regional Unrestricted
Data Clearinghouse
(Panama)
Global
Coordinator
INTERNAL
Regional Complete
Data Clearinghouse
(Costa Rica)
GLOBAL
REGION
Data
Manager
Region
PUBLIC
INTERNET
(Search Nodes)
OPERATING
UNITS
Mexico
Senior
Geospatial
Scientist
MHT
TNC
INTRANET
CENTRAL
AMERICA
CARIBBEAN
Geospatial
Scientists
ANALYSIS
INFORMATION FLOW
BIOGEOG
REALM
ECOREGION
LOCAL
OU GIS
Analysts
FIELD
OFFICES
DATA COLLECTION
SITE
STANDARDIZATION
DISSEMINATION
Each level responsible for their respective SCALE: Data gathering, Data standardization (metadata), Data upload to server
Identification of regional data PARTNERS to share burden of network infrastructure and data dissemination
System is DYNAMIC so that it is continually ingesting new data as it becomes available
Ecoregional Assessments
Expert/Partner driven:
• Targets (Biodiversity)
• Threats
• Protected areas
• Conservation portfolio
• Strategies to abate threats
Habitat Mapping
Terrestrial
Freshwater
Marine
Geodatabase Structure
Geodatabases
(with FGDC metadata)
• Caribbean Region
• Lesser Antilles
• Puerto Rico
• Dominican Republic
• Bahamas
• Jamaica
• St. Vincent & the
Grenadines
• Grenada
• Haiti
Bathymetry
Climate
Freshwater features
Geology
Imagery
Infrastructure
Land cover
Marine Features
Models
Political
Protected Areas
Socioeconomic
Soils
Targets (Terrestrial, Freshwater, Marine)
Terrestrial Features
Topography
TopoMaps
Mesoamerica/Caribbean
ECOREGION ASSESSMENT STATUS
ENVIRONMENTS
REALM
MHT
ECOREGION
ERA
COMPL
ERA IN
PROG
ERA NOT
STARTED
TERRESTRIAL
2
11
76
30
42
4
FRESHWATER
2
7
43
7
21
15
MARINE
4
3
18
8
3
7
137
45
66
26
TOTAL
Ecoregional Roll-Up
1. Spatial correction and inventory of ERA datasets
2. Identify the minimum attribute fields and create
data model
3. Standardize targets/threats based on common
taxonomy
4. Integrate and roll-up all terrestrial ERAs into one
seamless region-wide product
Ecoregional Roll-Up
REALM
NEOTROPICAL
FOREST
MAJOR
HABITAT TYPE
HISPANIOLA
PINE FOREST
COUNTRY
DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC
LOWER
MONTANE
RAIN
EXTRUSIVE
FOREST
SITE
FINE FILTER
HABITATS and
SPECIES
OCCURRENCES
Ecoregional Roll-Up
Ecoregional Roll-Up
Ecoregional Roll-Up
Mangroves/
Marine
Moist
Raw Data:
Major Habitat Type
Dry
MHT Intersected with
Remaining “Natural Areas”
Ecoregional Roll-Up
Ecological Roll Up
Level 1:
Habitat
Realm
Level 2:
Major
Habitat Type
Level 3:
Ecosystems
Level 4:
Fine Filter Habitats
Fore Reef
Inter-tidal Reef Flat
Reef Habitat
Reef Flat
Shallow Terrace
Shelf
Shoal
Shelf Structure
Seagrass
Marine
Lagoonal Habitat
Rocky Shore
Outer Slope
Shelf Slope
Seagrass
Lagoon Terrace
Enclosed Lagoon
Rocky Shore
White Sand Beach
Nearshore
Black Sand Beach
Beaches
Leatherback Nesting Sites
Hawksbill Nesting Sites
GEODATABASE
Data Model
1. Relates spatial features to
each other
2. Features defined by their
qualities in context with
other features
3. Features are dynamic
4. Multiple user editing
• Boundaries
• Assessment Units
• Conservation Targets
• Suitability Index
• Marxan Files
• Portfolio Solutions
• Verification Data
• Threat Information
• Relationship Class
• Access Queries
Assessing
Effective
Conservation
Assessment of Effective
Conservation
Elements
Criteria
Biodiversity
Viability
Status
Threats
Status
• Size
• Condition
• Landscape
Context
(RBI, NDVI,
Metrics,
Optimization
Models)
• Scope
• Severity
(Impact
and
spatial
extent)
Conservation
Management
Status
Effective
Future Threat
Conservation
Scenarios
• Tenure,
• Intent
(IUCN)
• Capacity
• Very High
• High
• Fair
• Poor
• Vulnerability
(climate
change,
invasives,
fire,
development,
accessibility,
conversion to
agriculture,
grazing
pressure,
NDVI
change)
Mapping the
Status of
Effective
Conservation
Efforts that Support ETN
• Use of ERA Products and Geodatabases
• Support to identify data gaps
• ESRI partnership (software/consulting)
• Assistance with classification cross-walk
• Help with development of data standards and data
sharing through external portal (free access)
• Capacity building (e.g. training in methods/tools)