Conservation Mapping Tools

Author: MLTC

BioMap

  • Sponsor: MassGIS
  • URL: https://biomap-mass-eoeea.hub.arcgis.com
  • Recording on how to use BioMap (from Steering Committee meeting of December 9, 2022)
  • Description: BioMap conservation targets are grouped into 2 Elements:
    Core Habitat and Critical Natural Landscape. Each Element contains several Components of biodiversity conservation. Protection and stewardship of these Elements are essential to safeguard the diversity and abundance of species and their habitats, as well as resilient natural landscapes across Massachusetts.

 

Resilient Land Mapping Tool

  • Sponsor: TNC​ - The Nature Conservancy
  • URL: http://maps.tnc.org/resilientland/
  • Description: Maps locations that will be especially resilient as the climate changes and creates an index of the degree to which sites will be resilient.
  • The index reveals which sites have characteristics that will make them “more likely to sustain diversity because they offer a wide range of micro-climate options within a connected area.”
  • Users can see if a location has far above average, above average, slightly above average, average, below average, or far below average climate resilience. The tool also has a feature which shows priority resilient and connected regional landscapes. Read the Resilient Sites Report to learn about how the analysis was conducted. 
  • Unique Features 
    1. Synthesizes key indicators of climate resilience to show priority areas for conservation for ecosystem function.
    2. The analysis has already been done for the user, so the user can go straight to the location of interest and immediately learn the climate resilience potential.
    3. Analysis extends beyond Massachusetts for those interested focusing on landscape-scale conservation.


MassMapper​
replacement for OLIVER, which was retired Dec. 31, 2021

  • Sponsor: MassGIS
  • URL: https://maps.massgis.digital.mass.gov/MassMapper/MassMapper.html
  • Description: MassMapper is MassGIS's online data viewer, enabling organizations and individuals to make their own maps if they don't have access to, or expertise in, GIS and GIS software. It replaces OLIVER, which was retired December 31, 2021.
  • Quick Start Guide
  • Unique Features
    1. Breadth of data and layers available, especially under Physical Resources
    2. Easy to layer conservation-important attributes onto wide range of political / administrative layers 
    3. Easy to overlay multiple attributes simultaneously; resulting map is easy to read