Virginia Piedmont and Coastal Plain Updates to Northeast Habitat Map

This project updated the Northeast Terrestrial Habitat Map by remapping the Virginia coastal plain and piedmont (the previous version adopted the Southeast GAP map for these regions). This resulted in a map that is fully consistent across the 13 state Northeast region (Maine to Virginia and West Virginia). The map and related additional information can be found on The Nature Conservancy's Conservation Gateway page for this project.

Further information about the Northeast Terrestrial Habitat Mapping Project:

The Northeast Terrestrial Habitat Mapping Project was undertaken in 2008 with the support of the Northeast Association of Fish Wildlife Agencies (NEAFWA) as part of its Regional Conservation Needs assessment. Development of a consistent habitat classification framework and map was seen by many Northeastern biologists and managers as the most critical initiative for habitat-based conservation efforts.  The purpose of this mapping effort is to provide a common framework and language for conservation planning and wildlife management across jurisdictional borders. Specifically, the Northeast Terrestrial Habitat Classification System (NETHCS) and this map aim to: provide a standardized and consistent habitat and ecosystem classification at multiple scales across states; facilitate interstate communication about habitats;  offer managers a tool for understanding regional biodiversity patterns; allow for more effective and efficient habitat conservation across the region, including the prioritization of habitat conservation activities. The project was supported by State Wildlife Grant funding awarded through the Northeast Regional Conservation Needs (RCN) Program. The RCN Program joins thirteen northeast states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a partnership to address landscape-scale, regional wildlife conservation issues. Progress on these regional issues is achieved through combining resources, leveraging funds, and prioritizing conservation actions identified in the State Wildlife Action Plans. See rcngrants.org for more information.

The Terrestrial Habitat Map was completed in 2012 in the Eastern Conservation Science office of The Nature Conservancy's Eastern Region.  It is a 30 meter grid that maps upland and wetland wildlife habitats/ecological systems for the Northeast, including all 13 states from Maine to Virginia, west to New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The ecological systems represented in the map are mosaics of plant community types that tend to co-occur within landscapes with similar ecological processes, substrates, and/or environmental gradients, in a pattern that repeats itself across landscapes. Systems occur at various scales, from "matrix" forested systems of thousands of hectares to small patch systems, such as cliffs, basin wetlands, or barrens on a particular bedrock type, of a hectare or two.

LCC Staff Contact: Scott Schwenk

Complete. This project was successfully completed and results (revised map and dataset) were released in June 2012. The latest version of the habitat map is current as of 09/30/2013.

Quarterly Reports

Jan-March 2012

April-June 2012 (Final)

NALCC Funding:   $14,740

A Map of the Terrestrial Habitats of the Northeast: Methods and Approach

Habitat Map Poster

Habitat Map Dataset (zip, 148 MB)

Northeast Habitat Guides