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-sensitive Occurrences webpage.
Ranking:
NatureServe Conservation Status Assessments: Factors for Assessing Extinction Risk and NatureServe Conservation Status Assessments: Methodology for Assigning Ranks provide details on the process for establishing Conservation Status Ranks. The Endangered Species and Ecosystems
Provincial Red and Blue Lists
page provides more information on the provincial Red and Blue lists.
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).
This report describes British Columbia Resources Information Standards Committee (RISC) standards for mapping ecosystems at risk including sensitive ecosystems (at risk or ecologically fragile). The standards outline methods for Sensitive Ecosystem (SE) unit characterization, field sampling, mapping procedures, legends, map symbols and reporting and procedures for modelling SE units from TEM, PEM and BEI. Core data attributes collected for all SE mapping projects in British Columbia and other attributes, recommended to support conservation planning, are described. Procedures for mapping and evaluating ecological integrity of CDC element occurrences from SE are included.
Mapping Methods:
Biotics Mapper is a customized GIS application used throughout the international network of
Natural Heritage Programs and Conservation Data Centres.
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 Search page for more information.
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