Mapping the Berkshires
| Environmental Conservation Areas
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Bureau of Geographic Information (MassGIS) maintains an extensive, statewide database of spatial information for mapping and analysis supporting emergency response, environmental planning and management, transportation planning, economic development, and transparency in state government operations.
This map reproduces some of the MassGIS data layers of relevance to environmental conservation, focusing on Berkshire County.
If you're interested to further explore state-level information, check out the MassGIS webpage and their beautiful and interactive BioMap, which shows data for the entire Commonwealth.
Spatial Data
Berkshire Towns
Information on town borders used for this map were sourced from the Massachusetts Document Repository, a state pilot project aimed at sharing information with the public. These data are now superseded by MassGIS Municipalities data layer.
Areas of Critical Environmental Concern
Areas of Critical Environmental Concern are places in Massachusetts that receive special recognition because of the quality, uniqueness and significance of their natural and cultural resources.
Data used here come from BioMap2, which was published in 2010 as a conservation plan to protect the state’s biodiversity over the next decade by focusing land protection and stewardship on the areas that are most critical for ensuring the long-term persistence of rare and other native species and their habitats, exemplary natural communities, and a diversity of ecosystems. BioMap2 is also designed to include the habitats and species of conservation concern identified in the State Wildlife Action Plan.
BioMap2 is comprised of two main components, each of which is further desegregated into areas of focus:
- Core Habitats identifies specific areas necessary to promote the long-term persistence of Species of Conservation Concern (those listed under the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act as well as additional species identified in the State Wildlife Action Plan), exemplary natural communities, and intact ecosystems.
- Critical Natural Landscapes was created to identify and prioritize intact landscapes in Massachusetts that are better able to support ecological processes and disturbance regimes, and a wide array of species and habitats over long time frames.
This maps renders only a selection of the Core Habitats components that are particular interest for Berkshire County. Please refer to the BioMap details page for a complete listing. MassGIS also has an interactive map of this dataset.
- Forest Core
BioMap2 Forest Core identifies the best examples of large, intact forests that are least impacted by roads and development, providing critical habitat for numerous woodland species.
- Aquatic Core & Buffer
BioMap2 Aquatic Core contains integrated and functional ecosystems for fish species and other aquatic Species of Conservation Concern.
The Aquatic Buffer identifies upland habitat adjacent to each Aquatic Core.
- Wetlands & Buffer
BioMap2 Wetlands identifies important wetland habitat in Massachusetts. It is a combination of the Wetland Core analysis that identified the most intact wetlands in Massachusetts, the wetlands present within the Priority Natural Communities data layer, and several Oxbows identified as important wetland habitat. A more detailed description of the Wetland Core analysis is present in the summary document. Wetland Cores and Priority Natural Community wetlands sometimes overlap.
The Wetland Buffer identifies upland habitat adjacent to each of the wetlands.
- Species of Conservation Concern
This layer contains the combined BioMap2 footprint of all species listed under the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act in combination with all non-listed species present in the State Wildlife Action Plan that were mapped. Individual species information is not identified in this layer.
- Priority Natural Communities
The BioMap2 Priority Natural Communities data set is maintained by the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP). The NHESP Natural Communities datalayer representa the extent of various natural communities of biodiversity conservation interest in Massachusetts.
- Vernal Pool Core
The BioMap2 team used a GIS model developed by the University of Massachusetts Landscape Ecology Program to identify the top 5 percent most interconnected clusters of Potential Vernal Pools within each ecoregion.
NHESP Priority Habitats of Rare Species
The Priority Habitats of Rare Species datalayer represents the geographic extent of Habitat of state-listed rare species in Massachusetts based on observations documented within the last 25 years in the database of the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program (NHESP).
NHESP Estimated Habitats of Rare Wildlife
The Estimated Habitats of Rare Wildlife datalayer contains a subset of the Priority Habitats of Rare Species for use with the Wetlands Protection Act regulations (310 CMR 10.00). They are based on occurrences of rare wetland wildlife observed within the last 25 years and documented in the NHESP database. They do not include those areas delineated as Priority Habitat for rare plants or for rare wildlife with strictly upland habitat requirements.
The NHESP Natural Communities datalayer represents the extent of various natural communities of biodiversity conservation interest in Massachusetts. These polygons are based on records of natural communities maintained in the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program (NHESP) database.
[Note: In addition to the data layers, this map loads in two recent ortho imagery (aerial photography) as well as a lidar digital elevation model (DEM) layer from Mass.gov.]
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Adam Roberts for all the help to improve how layers are loaded and to Mark McClure for pointing me to the correct methods to avoid redrawing the map. :)