This dataset was developed as part of the Designing Sustainble Landscapes project led by Professor Kevin McGarigal of UMass Amherst and sponsored by the North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative (https://www.fws.gov/science/catalog); for more information about the entire project see: http://www.umass.edu/landeco/research/dsl/dsl.html

This dataset was last updated 02/2017. The revised version incorporates the addition of a simplified version of The Nature Conservancy's Northeast lakes and ponds classification, visit https://www.conservationgateway.org/ConservationByGeography/NorthAmerica/UnitedStates/edc/reportsdata/freshwater/Pages/Northeast-Lakes.aspx for more details.

This dataset represents terrestrial and wetland ecological systems of the Northeast (based on NatureServe's Ecological Systems Classifications) combined with human-modified land types such as roads and agriculture. This dataset was created by substantially modifying The Nature Conservancy's Northeast Terrestrial Wildlife Habitat Classification System (NETWHCS) using these steps:

-Replaced the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) 'roads' embedded in the NETWHCS with more accurate roads and trains from Open Street Map that are distinguished from developed classes

-Removed spurious development (mostly developed open space) from the edges of NLCD 'roads'

-Added National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) for all lotic and lentic, including high resolution streams, road-stream crossings, and dams

-Replaced the single NETWHCS open water class with National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) lentic (additional not mapped in NHD), tidal riverine, estuarine, and marine classes. Streams were classified into 20 classes based on size, gradient, and temperature.Temperature was derived by assigning TNC's Northeast Aquatic Habitat Classification System (NAHCS) temperature classes to the NHD streams. Size and gradient were based on the DSL flow accumulation and stream gradient layers, respectively

-Replaced the single developed and agriculture classes with the four developed classes (high- medium- and low-instensity developed and developed open space) and the two agriculture classes (pasture/hay and cultivated crops) from the 2011 NLCD

-Incorporated 2013 updates to coastal wetlands of the NWI by replacing the NETWHCS salt marsh classes with the updated NWI estuarine and marine classes

Updates from Version 2 to Version 3

-Added powerlines and pine plantations

-Converted all local secured land roads to tracks and removed abandoned tracks through open water

-Cleaned up stream errors

-Merged classes: marine intertidal reef with marine intertidal rocky shore, estuarine intertidal streambed with estuarine intertidal consolidated shore, and estuarine subtidal rock bottom with estuarine subtidal consolidated bottom. Formation classes freshwater marsh and northeastern wetland forest (now called northeastern wetlands) were also merged

The source of this dataset includes:

Version 3: TNC ecological systems map (ESM141611), National Land Cover Database (NLCD) 2011, Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) roads, Open Street Map roads 2015, National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) high resolution flowlines and large river polygons, National Hydrography Dataset high resolution lentic, National Wetlands Inventory (NWI): lentic, tidal riverine, estuarine and marine, The Nature Conservancy's Northeast Aquatic Habitat Classification System (NAHCS) and USGS GAP pine plantations. Additional information about The Nature Conservancy's terrestrial habitat map is available at: https://www.conservationgateway.org/ConservationByGeography/NorthAmerica/UnitedStates/edc/reportsdata/terrestrial/habitatmap/Pages/default.aspx