This dataset is produced for the Government of Alberta and is available to the general public. Please consult the Distribution Information of this metadata for the appropriate contact to acquire this dataset. The Ecological Land Classification (ELC) Status is a supporting dataset to the Ecological Land Classification dataset. The ELC Status represents a geodatabase feature class of the ELC study areas. There is attribution to describe the scale of the study, whether there is a scanned report (.pdf), scanned map (.tif) or GIS-ready feature class available.

The Ministry of Natural Resources defines ecological units on the basis of bedrock, climate (temperature, precipitation), physiography(soils, slope, aspect) and corresponding vegetation. This enhances their compatibility with national and continental classification systems. The ELC of Ontario is used for descriptive, planning, and resource management purposes. The upper levels in its hierarchy may be relevant for provincial and municipal land-use planning initiatives. The lower (finer-scale) levels of the hierarchy are most useful for detailed resource management prescriptions and other local and site planning applications. This packaged dataset is classified into 3 hierarchical categories: * Ecozone: used for national and coarse-scale provincial reporting such as analyses of climate, demographics and watersheds * Ecoregion: used for determining the significance or status of wetland classes and certain other natural heritage features (e.g., old growth forest), setting targets for Wilderness Class Provincial parks, State of the Forest reporting and studying natural disturbance regimes * Ecodistrict used for assessing biodiversity levels, defining seed zones, mapping ecosystem types and setting targets for the identification of natural heritage systems [Introduction to ecological land classification](https://www.ontario.ca/page/introduction- ecological-land-classification-systems) *[ELC]: Ecological land classification

The ECOSYS (Ecological Information System) database is a provincial database that stores over 26,000 vegetation and soil plots described in the province of Alberta. This information is used in the development of management tools (plant community guides, ecosite guides, natural subregion maps, range health tools etc.) to ensure Alberta’s public lands are being managed sustainably. ECOSYS also summarizes the raw plot information into Ecosite Guides for each subregion in the province.

In response to the need and an intergovernmental commission for a high resolution and data-derived global ecosystem map, land surface elements of global ecological pattern were characterized in an ecophysiographic stratification of the planet. The stratification produced 3,923 terrestrial ecological land units (ELUs) at a base resolution of 250 meters. The ELUs were derived from data on land surface features in a three step approach. The first step involved acquiring or developing four global raster datalayers representing the primary components of ecosystem structure: bioclimate, landform, lithology, and land cover. These datasets generally represent the most accurate, current, globally comprehensive, and finest spatial and thematic resolution data available for each of the four inputs. The second step involved a spatial combination of the four inputs into a single, new integrated raster dataset where every cell represents a combination of values from the bioclimate, landforms, lithology, and land cover datalayers. This foundational global raster datalayer, called ecological facets (EFs), contains 47,650 unique combinations of the four inputs. The third step involved an aggregation of the EFs into the 3,923 ELUs.

The aquatic ecosystem classification (AEC) is a science-based tool that groups and classifies Ontario’s rivers and streams based on their: * physical attributes, such as water temperature * watershed characteristics, such as upstream drainage area The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) is responsible for sustainably managing and deriving economic benefit from the fisheries and water resources in the 490,000 km of Ontario’s rivers and streams. The AEC reduces the complexity of these vast aquatic networks using consistent and quantitative methods to build a standardized data foundation that helps MNRF staff with landscape level planning and policy development.

This dataset is produced for the Government of Alberta and is available to the general public. Please consult the Distribution Information of this metadata for the appropriate contact to acquire this dataset. Physical Land Classification (PLC) is a mapping system that was designed to describe the landscape in terms of landform, soils, drainage and slope. It is a hierarchical system that captures physiographic information at the following levels: Region - 1:3 000 000 or smaller Section - 1:1 000 000 to 1:3 000 000 District - 1:500 000 to 1:1 000 000 Geomorphic System - 1:100 000 (can range from 1:50 000 to 1:250 000) Geomorphic Unit - 1:10 000 to 1:50 000 There are some variations in this hierarchy for individual study areas. The Land Classification Group (Resource Inventory Section), Alberta Energy and Natural Resources, adopted the initial Physical Land Classification methodology in 1977 to meet the needs of resource planning and management agencies. Many aspects of the methodology were developed from landform mapping schemes used by the System of Soil Classification for Canada (1976). The PLC system is essentially a geomorphic interpretation and classification system based on the principles of the inherent properties of the land and its forms. Physical Land Classification (PLC) maps have been created largely during the 1980s and 1990s as part of a program to acquire background information for Integrated Resource Plans along the eastern slopes and across northern Alberta. The data were generally mapped at the geomorphic unit level using the 1:50 000 scale National Topographic System maps as a base. The PLC hardcopy maps were scanned, georeferenced, rectified, cleaned, vectorized, merged and attributed to form GIS polygons. The polygons are attributed for parent geologic material, landform / surface expression, modifying process, slope, texture, soil taxonomy and soil drainage. This classification system was designed to enhance and replace the Canada Land Inventory (CLI) and Alberta Landform Inventory (ALI) Landform classification systems. There is more attribution associated with PLC mapping than with ALI / CLI Landform mapping. There is some overlap with the ALI / CLI Landform maps but much of the PLC mapping was conducted in areas not covered by ALI / CLI Landform maps. PLC mapping is considered to be more reliable than ALI / CLI Landform mapping as field checking was more extensive.