North American Land Cover for NWB LCC Area

Land cover describes the physical material at the surface of the earth and includes forests, shrublands, wetlands, water bodies, and other abiotic elements (e.g., rock). Land cover dynamics are influenced by large‐scale processes like climate and natural disturbance, but vegetation can also have important feedback on these processes (Mack et al. 2005). Land cover classes describe fine-scale variation in vegetation which is an important component of biodiversity, and affects the distribution of other taxa within ranges determined by climatic factors. Consequently, land cover maps are increasingly used for large‐scale modelling and mapping of habitat for caribou, birds and other wide-ranging species (e.g., Environment Canada 2008, Cumming [...]