Ministry of Environment Conservation Data Centre

Methods

General Methods:

The CDC uses methodology and standards established by NatureServe (NatureServe - Natural Heritage Methodology). All CDC known locations (occurrences) are delineated as polygons that include locational uncertainty. For more details on our mapping methodology and field names, please refer to the CDC Non-senstive Occurrences webpage.

Species Ranking: Species Ranking in BC (PDF 201 KB)

Ecological Community Ranking: Ecological Communities in British Columbia: Conservation Status Assessment Factors (PDF 258 KB)

Ecosystem Mapping Methods: Standard for Mapping Ecosystems at Risk in British Columbia: An approach to mapping ecosystems at risk and other sensitive ecosystems (PDF 728 KB)

Mapping Methods:

Biotics Mapper is a customized GIS application used throughout the international network of Natural Heritage Programs and Conservation Data Centers.

Biotics is a Windows operated ArcView/Oracle-based package which permits on-screen mapping of element occurrence (EO) records as source points, lines or polygons which are automatically generated into EO representation polygons in accordance with NatureServe Draft EO methodology. Spatial attributes, such as Ecosection, Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification (BEC), Forest District, Regional District, and watershed are automatically calculated and recorded by GIS.

Once EO records are mapped, text fields such as location, directions, EO data and general description are added to the database. Both mapping and text entry are double checked for accuracy.

The final result is a set of records which consists of a combination of spatial and textual attributes. Records can be accessed spatially or by querying the text. Mapping and legend-creation facilities permit the design and production of a variety of ArcView-based products. Using Crystal Report, text reports can be created which either summarize information for a group of records or provide all the information for a given record. In addition, spatial data files can be created and sent to data requesters via e-mail or ftp. Please visit our Data Access page for more information.