FGDL Documentation

FLORIDA GEOGRAPHIC DATA LIBRARY DOCUMENTATION

TITLE: FFWCC STRATEGIC HABITAT CONSERVATION AREAS PRIORITY RANKINGS - 2009

Geodataset Name:       SHCA_PRIO_09
Geodataset Type:       GRID
Geodataset Feature:    
Feature Count:

GENERAL DESCRIPTION:

This dataset includes a priority ranking of all Strategic Habitat Conservation Areas (SHCAs) identified in FFWCC's Wildlife Habitat Conservation Needs in Florida report. Each pixel contains a cell value of 1-5, in which the value indicates the priority class of SHCA, with 1 being the highest. The prioritized classes of SHCA are based upon Heritage ranking criteria developed by The Nature Conservancy, the Natural Heritage Program Network, and the Florida Natural Areas Inventory. This methodology was originally developed as part of the Critical Lands and Waters Identification Project (CLIP). There are two possible ranks used to identify what priority class a species SHCA will be placed into; the global rank is based on a species worldwide status, the state rank is based upon the species status in Florida. The state and global ranks are based upon many factors such as known occurrence locations, estimated abundance, range, amount of habitat currently protected, perceived levels of threats towards the species, and ecological fragility. In 1994, researchers in the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission completed a project, entitled Closing The Gaps in Florida's Wildlife Habitat Conservation System (Cox et al 1994), assessing the security of rare and imperiled species on existing conservation lands in Florida. These biologists used a variety of species occurrence data, habitat data and a geographic information system (GIS) to determine the protection afforded to focal species on publicly owned lands and identify important habitat areas in Florida with no conservation protection. These areas, known as Strategic Habitat Conservation Areas (SHCA), serve as a foundation for conservation planning in Florida by clearly depicting the crucial need for species protection through habitat conservation. The results of this research have provided biologists, policy-makers, land-use planners and the citizens of Florida the tools and opportunity to help meet our wildlife conservation goals. Over time, the Closing the Gaps report became outdated. Since 1994, landscape-level habitat changes, transfer of land from private to public ownership and changes in land use altered the ability to accurately assess Florida's biodiversity and wildlife conservation status. As a result, Commission biologists and managers recognized the urgent need for a revisiting of Florida's Closing the Gaps project. Advances in technological capabilities, revised habitat data, and more extensive species occurrence data facilitated a reassessment of Florida's biodiversity protection status. Additionally, advances in population viability modeling techniques allowed examination of wildlife habitat needs with a degree and clarity that was not available in the previous report. The results of this project have helped determine how habitat protection needs have changed since 1994 and where protection efforts need to be focused to ensure conservation of Florida's wildlife for future generations.

DATA SOURCE(S):                    Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission-Fish and Wildlife Research Institute
SCALE OF ORIGINAL SOURCE MAPS:     Unknown
GEODATASET EXTENT:                 State of Florida

PUBLICATION DATE:                  Unpublished Material
TIME PERIOD OF CONTENT:            Begin Date: 20030401    End Date: 2009
DOWNLOAD LINK:                     http://www.fgdl.org/metadataexplorer/explorer.jsp

FEATURE ATTRIBUTE TABLES:

Datafile Name: SHCA_PRIO_09.VAT

ITEM NAME	WIDTH	TYPE
VALUE	4	Integer
Rowid	4	OID
COUNT	4	Integer
ACRES	4	Integer
KM	4	Integer
DESCRIPT	85	String
FGDLAQDATE	8	Date

FEATURE ATTRIBUTE TABLES CODES AND VALUES:

Item
Item Description

VALUE Priority Class

1 = Priority 1: State Rank 1 and Global Rank 1 - 3
2 = Priority 2: State Rank 1 and Global Rank 4 - 5 or State Rank 2 and Global Rank 2 - 3
3 = Priority 3: State Rank 2 and Global Rank 4 - 5 or State Rank 3 and Global Rank 3
4 = Priority 4: State Rank 3 and Global Rank 4
5 = Priority 5: State Rank 3 and Global Rank 5 or State Rank 4 and Global Rank 4

Rowid Internal feature number.

COUNT Pixel count for cell value

ACRES Priority Class Total Area in Acres

KM Priority Class Total Area in Square Kilometers

DESCRIPT GeoPlan added field based on Value

FGDLAQDATE Date GeoPlan acquired data from source.

Each pixel contains a cell value of 1 - 5. Each value indicates the priority class of the SHCA with 1 being the highest priority.

USER NOTES:

Logically consistent. All attribute values fall within defined values

Visually inspected for completeness to ensure all values fell within specified ranges and all pixel cells were classified.

GeoPlan relied on the integrity of the attribute information within the original data.

Prior to July 1, 2004, the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) was known as the Florida Marine Research Institute (FMRI). The institute name has not been changed in historical data sets or references to work completed by the Florida Marine Research Institute. The institute name has been changed in references to ongoing research, new research, and contact information. Our prioritized SHCA map identifies five classes of SHCA based upon Heritage ranking criteria developed by The Nature Conservancy, the Natural Heritage Program Network, and the Florida Natural Areas Inventory. This methodology was originally developed as part of the Critical Lands and Waters Identification Project (CLIP). There are two possible ranks used to identify what priority class a species SHCA will be placed into; the global rank is based on a species worldwide status, the state rank is based upon the species status in Florida. The state and global ranks are based upon many factors such as known occurrence locations, estimated abundance, range, amount of habitat currently protected, perceived levels of threats towards the species, and ecological fragility. Species Common Name Species Scientific Name Federal Status State Status Priority 1 Florida grasshopper sparrow Ammodramus savannarum floridanus S1 G5T1 Florida salt marsh vole Microtus pennsylvanicus dukecampbelli S1 G5T1 Florida Key deer Odocoileus virginianus clavium S1 G5T1 Sanibel Island rice rat Oryzomys palustris sanibeli S1 G5T1 Choctawhatchee beach mouse Peromyscus polionotus allophrys S1 G5T1 St.Andrews beach mouse Peromyscuspolionotus peninsularis S1 G5T1 Anastasia Island beach mouse Peromyscus polionotus phasma S1 G5T1 Southeastern beach mouse Peromyscus polionotus niveiventris S1 G5T1 Florida panther Puma concolor coryi S1 G5T1 Lower Keys marsh rabbit Sylvilagus palustris hefneri S1 G5T1 Atlantic salt marsh snake Nerodia clarkii taeniata S1 G4T1 Gray bat Myotis grisescens S1 G3 Priority 2 Louisiana seaside sparrow Ammodramus maritimus fisheri S1 G4T4 Short-tailed hawk Buteo brachyurus S1 G4 Cuban snowy plover Charadrius alexandrinus S1 G4 Seal salamander Desmognathus monticola S1 G5 Florida scrub jay Aphelocoma coerulescens S2 G2 American crocodile Crocodylus acutus S2 G2 Sand skink Neoseps reynoldsi S2 G2 Striped newt Notophthalmus perstriatus S2 G2 MacGillivray's seaside sparrow Ammodramus maritimus pelonota S2 G4T2 Florida snail kite Rostrhamus sociabilis plumbeus S2 G4T3 Silver rice rat Oryzomys palustris natator S2 G5T2 Big Cypress fox squirrel Sciurus niger avicennia S2 G5T2 Florida black bear Ursus americanus floridanus S2 G5T2 Priority 3 Swallow-tailed kite Elanoides forficatus forficatus S2 G5 White crowned pigeon Patagioenas leucocephala S3 G3 Florida mouse Podomys floridanus S3 G3 Scott's seaside sparrow Ammodramus maritimus peninsulae S3 G4T3 Florida burrowing owl Athene cunicularia floridana S3 G4T3 Priority 4 Pine barrens tree frog Hyla andersonii S3 G4 Gulf salt marsh snake Nerodia clarkii clarkii S3 G4T4 Priority 5 Cooper's hawk Accipiter cooperii S3 G5

Data are intended to provide landscape-scale guidance to decision makers involved in public land acquisition, land use planning and other land conservation efforts at regional scales. Data were primarily based on medium-scale (30m) land cover data classified from Landsat 7 ETM+ imagery, therefore should be used only at 1:100000 or smaller scales.

This data is provided 'as is' and its horizontal positional accuracy has not been verified by GeoPlan

This data is provided 'as is' and its vertical positional accuracy has not been verified by GeoPlan

Acknowledgement of the FWC-FWRI (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Fish and Wildlife Research Institute) as the data source would be appreciated in any products developed from these data, and such acknowledgment as is standard for citation and legal practices for data source is expected by users of this data. Please cite the original metadata when using portions of the record to create a similar record of slightly altered data, such as reprojection. If any data are modified or adjusted, please share the edited information with FWC. Users should be aware that comparison with other data sets for the same area from other time periods may be inaccurate due to inconsistencies resulting from changes in mapping conventions, data collection, and computer processes over time. FWC shall not be liable for improper or incorrect use of this data. These data are not legal documents and are not to be used as such

The Florida Geographic Data Library is a collection of Geospatial Data compiled by the University of Florida GeoPlan Center with support from the Florida Department of Transportation. GIS data available in FGDL is collected from various state, federal, and other agencies (data sources) who are data stewards, producers, or publishers. The data available in FGDL may not be the most current version of the data offered by the data source. University of Florida GeoPlan Center makes no guarantees about the currentness of the data and suggests that data users check with the data source to see if more recent versions of the data exist. Furthermore, the GIS data available in the FGDL are provided 'as is'. The University of Florida GeoPlan Center makes no warranties, guaranties or representations as to the truth, accuracy or completeness of the data provided by the data sources. The University of Florida GeoPlan Center makes no representations or warranties about the quality or suitability of the materials, either expressly or implied, including but not limited to any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. The University of Florida GeoPlan Center shall not be liable for any damages suffered as a result of using, modifying, contributing or distributing the materials. A note about data scale: Scale is an important factor in data usage. Certain scale datasets are not suitable for some project, analysis, or modeling purposes. Please be sure you are using the best available data. 1:24000 scale datasets are recommended for projects that are at the county level. 1:24000 data should NOT be used for high accuracy base mapping such as property parcel boundaries. 1:100000 scale datasets are recommended for projects that are at the multi-county or regional level. 1:125000 scale datasets are recommended for projects that are at the regional or state level or larger. Vector datasets with no defined scale or accuracy should be considered suspect. Make sure you are familiar with your data before using it for projects or analysis. Every effort has been made to supply the user with data documentation. For additional information, see the References section and the Data Source Contact section of this documentation. For more information regarding scale and accuracy, see our webpage at: http://geoplan.ufl.edu/education.html

REFERENCES:

DATA LINEAGE SUMMARY:

GeoPlan obtained dataset via CDROM from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. - Changed the file name from scha_priority to scha_prio_09 - Added descript field based on VALUE - Added FGDLAQDATE field Process Date: 20091105
Metadata imported. Process Date: 20100111

MAP PROJECTION PARAMETERS:

Projection                          ALBERS
Datum                               HPGN
Units                               METERS
Spheroid                            GRS1980
1st Standard Parallel               24  0  0.000
2nd Standard Parallel               31 30  0.000
Central Meridian                   -84 00  0.000
Latitude of Projection's Origin     24  0  0.000
False Easting (meters)              400000.00000
False Northing (meters)             0.00000

DATA SOURCE CONTACT (S):

Name:
Abbr. Name:
Address:


Phone:

Web site:
E-mail:
Contact Person:
         Phone:
        E-mail:

[Species Name] potential habitat
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
2574 Seagate Drive, Suite 250
Tallahassee, Florida
32301
850-488-6661


http://research.myfwc.com/features/view_article.asp?id=29815
gisrequests@myfwc.com

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Abbr. Name:             FGDL
Address:                Florida Geographic Data Library
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                        Gainesville, FL  32611-5706
Web site:               http://www.fgdl.org

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