Ecosystem type Layers

This layer comes from the Threatened Environment Classification (TEC) version 2012, which is a source of national scale background information on New Zealand's land environments. Specifically, it shows how much native (indigenous) vegetation remains within land environments, and how past vegetation loss and legal protection are distributed across New Zealand's landscape. The TEC uses indigenous vegetation as a surrogate for indigenous biodiversity. This includes indigenous ecosystems, habitats and communities: the indigenous species, subspecies and varieties that are supported by indigenous vegetation, and their genetic diversity. The TEC is most appropriately applied to help identify places that are priorities for formal protection against clearance and/or incompatible land-uses, and for ecological restoration to restore lost species, linkages and buffers. The TEC is a combination of three national databases: Land Environments New Zealand (LENZ), classes of the 4th Land Cover Database (LCDB4, based on 2012 satellite imagery) and the protected areas network (version 2012, reflecting areas legally protected for the purpose of natural heritage protection).

For more information see: Cieraad E, Walker S, Price R, Barringer J. 2015. An updated assessment of indigenous cover remaining and legal protection in New Zealand’s land environments. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 39(2) - downloadable from newzealandecology.org/nzje/3235.pdf .

A users guide is available at www.landcareresearch.co.nz/resources/maps-satellit...

NOTE: If you have previously downloaded TEC and want the 2012 update, you only need to download the attachment (look up table) and join to the original LENZ/TEC grid dataset as directed.

This layer was derived from three existing data layers: the Land Cover Database 2 (LCDB2) (MfE 2002); the Land Use Map (LUM) from the Land Use Carbon Analysis System (MfE 2008; Dymond et al. 2012); and EcoSat Forests (Shepherd et al. 2002). Indigenous forest classes from EcoSat Forests were combined with classes from LCDB2 to form basic ecosystems classes. Where indigenous forest was mapped by LCDB2, the type of forest was determined from the EcoSat Forests layer. The eight forest types of EcoSat Forests were reduced to three basic types: beech forest; podocarp-broadleaved forest; and mixed beech and podocarp-broadleaved forest. To produce a recent 2008 layer the LUM was used to update indigenous and exotic forest changes since 2002. The mapping was performed using 15 m pixels, which is equivalent to a mapping scale of approximately 1:50 000.

This layer comes from the Threatened Environment Classification (TEC) version 2012, which is a source of national scale background information on New Zealand's land environments. Specifically, it shows how much native (indigenous) vegetation remains within land environments, and how past vegetation loss and legal protection are distributed across New Zealand's landscape. The TEC uses indigenous vegetation as a surrogate for indigenous biodiversity. This includes indigenous ecosystems, habitats and communities: the indigenous species, subspecies and varieties that are supported by indigenous vegetation, and their genetic diversity. The TEC is most appropriately applied to help identify places that are priorities for formal protection against clearance and/or incompatible land-uses, and for ecological restoration to restore lost species, linkages and buffers. The TEC is a combination of three national databases: Land Environments New Zealand (LENZ), classes of the 4th Land Cover Database (LCDB4, based on 2012 satellite imagery) and the protected areas network (version 2012, reflecting areas legally protected for the purpose of natural heritage protection).

For more information see: Cieraad E, Walker S, Price R, Barringer J. 2015. An updated assessment of indigenous cover remaining and legal protection in New Zealand’s land environments. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 39(2).

This layer provides a classification of New Zealand ecosystems according to plant composition. Generalized Dissimilarity Modelling was used to produce a model of biotic composition in relation ship to environment and biogeography. This model was used to transform and scale environmental layers to predict community composition. The transformed environmental layers were then used to classify New Zealand into areas of similar biotic composition. The biotic data used for this model include all vascular plant taxa from NVS recce data and estimated community compositions from pollen data.

This layer provides a classification of New Zealand ecosystems according to tree and shrub composition. Generalized Dissimilarity Modelling was used to produce a model of biotic composition in relation ship to environment and biogeography. This model was used to transform and scale environmental layers to predict community composition. The transformed environmental layers were then used to classify New Zealand into areas of similar biotic composition. The biotic data used for this model include all non-fern tree and shrub taxa from NVS recce data and estimated community compositions from pollen data.

This layer provides a classification of New Zealand ecosystems according to plant composition. Generalized Dissimilarity Modelling was used to produce a model of biotic composition in relation ship to environment and biogeography. This model was used to transform and scale environmental layers to predict community composition. The transformed environmental layers were then used to classify New Zealand into areas of similar biotic composition. The biotic data used for this model include all vascular plant taxa from NVS recce data and estimated community compositions from pollen data.

This layer provides a classification of New Zealand ecosystems according to plant composition. Generalized Dissimilarity Modelling was used to produce a model of biotic composition in relation ship to environment and biogeography. This model was used to transform and scale environmental layers to predict community composition. The transformed environmental layers were then used to classify New Zealand into areas of similar biotic composition. The biotic data used for this model include all vascular plant taxa from NVS recce data and estimated community compositions from pollen data.

This layer provides a classification of New Zealand ecosystems according to tree and shrub composition. Generalized Dissimilarity Modelling was used to produce a model of biotic composition in relation ship to environment and biogeography. This model was used to transform and scale environmental layers to predict community composition. The transformed environmental layers were then used to classify New Zealand into areas of similar biotic composition. The biotic data used for this model include all non-fern tree and shrub taxa from NVS recce data and estimated community compositions from pollen data.

This layer provides a classification of New Zealand ecosystems according to plant composition. Generalized Dissimilarity Modelling was used to produce a model of biotic composition in relation ship to environment and biogeography. This model was used to transform and scale environmental layers to predict community composition. The transformed environmental layers were then used to classify New Zealand into areas of similar biotic composition. The biotic data used for this model include all vascular plant taxa from NVS recce data and estimated community compositions from pollen data.

This layer provides a transformation of environmental layer to best predict tree and shrub compositional turnover. Generalized Dissimilarity Modelling was used to produce a model of biotic composition in relationship to environment and biogeography. This model was used to transform and scale environmental layers to predict community composition. These transformed environmental layers can be used to predict commmunity composition changes, and to classify New Zealand into areas of similar biotic composition. The biotic data used for this model include all non-fern tree and shrub taxa from NVS recce data and estimated community compositions from pollen data.