This layer is part of an older version of the Southeast Blueprint. It combines the hubs and corridors underlying the Southeast Blueprint in the Appalachian and South Atlantic subregions. While the South Atlantic and Appalachian connectivity analyses were conducted separately using different methods, the overall approach is similar. Both use a structural connectivity framework, capturing how well natural habitat is connected in general, without using species-specific thresholds. Hubs are defined as large continuous patches of high-value areas based on an integrated prioritization of land and water. Corridors are identified through a least-cost path analysis using Linkage Mapper. You can refer to the metadata for each of the two inputs to learn more about the approaches.
Input Data
-- Appalachian NatureScape Design (Phase II): Local cores and regional cores were considered hubs, while local connectors and regional connectors were considered corridors
-- South Atlantic Conservation Blueprint Version 2.2: Hubs and corridors
Mapping Steps
South Atlantic Hubs:
1) Union together the vectors for marine and inland hubs
2) Add an “input” field
3) Calculate that field as “South Atlantic hubs”
South Atlantic Corridors:
1) Convert the marine and inland corridors from raster to vector
2) Union together those vectors
3) Add an input field
4) Calculate that field as “South Atlantic corridors”
5) Erase the corridors that overlap the hubs
Appalachian Hubs:
1) Union together the vectors for local cores and regional cores
2) Add an “input” field
3) Calculate that field as “Appalachian cores”
Appalachian Corridors:
1) Union together the vectors for local connectors and regional connectors
2) Add an “input” field
3) Calculate that field as “Appalachian connectors”
4) Erase the connectors that overlap the cores
Combined Hubs and Corridors:
1) Merge together the South Atlantic hubs, South Atlantic corridors, Appalachian cores, and Appalachian connectors to create one vector
2) Add a “type” field to denote which ones are hubs and which ones are corridors
Known Issues
-- This layer only covers the South Atlantic and Appalachian subregions of the Southeast Blueprint. The Nature’s Network Tier 1 Cores and Connectors uses a different conceptual approach and scale that identifies numerous smaller hubs and corridors. Merging this with the South Atlantic and Appalachian connectivity analyses will require more work. Similarly, more work is needed to create a comparable hubs and corridors layer from the Peninsular Florida Blueprint. Work is underway in the Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozarks to create a hubs and corridors layer, but the data was not available by October 2018 for the release of Draft Southeast Blueprint Version 3.0. We plan to bring in hubs and corridors from these other subregions in a future Blueprint update.
