BioMap2 Technical Report ­ Building a Better BioMap A supplement to BioMap2: Conserving the Biodiversity of Massachusetts in a Changing World A Project of the Massachusetts Department of Fish & Game and The Nature Conservancy Produced by the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife and the Massachusetts Program of The Nature Conservancy November 2011 The preferred citation for BioMap2 is: Woolsey, H., A. Finton, J. DeNormandie. 2010. BioMap2: Conserving the Biodiversity of Massachusetts in a Changing World. MA Department of Fish and Game/Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program and The Nature Conservancy/Massachusetts Program. http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/nhesp/land_protection/biomap/biomap2_summary_report.pdf The preferred citation for this technical report is: Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program. 2011. BioMap2 Technical Report – Building a Better BioMap: A supplement to BioMap2: Conserving the Biodiversity of Massachusetts in a Changing World. Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program, Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, Westborough, MA. http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/nhesp/land_protection/biomap/biomap2_technical_report.htm BioMap2 Technical Report ­ Building a Better BioMap � A supplement to BioMap2: Conserving the Biodiversity of Massachusetts in a Changing World A Project of the Massachusetts Department of Fish & Game and The Nature Conservancy Produced by the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife and the Massachusetts Program of The Nature Conservancy Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, Governor Executive Office of Energy & the Environment, Richard K. Sullivan, Jr., Secretary Department of Fish & Game, Mary B. Griffin, Commissioner November 2011 Table of Contents Chapter One: Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 Chapter Two: BioMap2 General Methodology .............................................................................. 6 Section A: Study Area and Ecoregions....................................................................................... 6 Section B: Incorporating SWAP into BioMap2........................................................................ 12 Section C: Incorporating Climate Change Adaptation into BioMap2 ...................................... 15 Section D: Index of Ecological Integrity (IEI) ......................................................................... 21 Chapter Three: Components of Core Habitat ............................................................................... 27 Section A: Species of Conservation Concern ........................................................................... 27 Section B: Priority Natural Communities................................................................................. 48 Section C. Vernal Pool Core Habitats....................................................................................... 52 Section D: Forest Core Habitats ............................................................................................... 54 Section E: Wetland Core Habitats ............................................................................................ 64 Section F: Aquatic Core Habitats ............................................................................................. 72 Chapter Four: Components of Critical Natural Landscape........................................................... 84 Section A: Landscape Blocks ................................................................................................... 84 Section B: Upland Buffers of Wetland and Aquatic Cores ...................................................... 91 Section C: Coastal Adaptation Areas........................................................................................ 96 Section D: Tern Foraging Habitat........................................................................................... 101 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 102 Appendices.................................................................................................................................. 105 Appendix A. List of Attendees of External Review Session ................................................. 106 Appendix B. SWAP Species and BioMap2 ........................................................................... 107 Appendix C. SWAP Habitats and BioMap2 .......................................................................... 113 Appendix D. Ecological Land Units....................................................................................... 115 Appendix E. Land Cover Classes used for Index of Ecological Integrity. ............................ 125 Appendix F. Input Data Layers used for Index of Ecological Integrity ................................ 127 Appendix G. CAPS Integrity Metrics.................................................................................... 129 Appendix H. Metric Parameterizations.................................................................................. 133 Appendix I. NHESP Rare Species Observation Forms ......................................................... 136 Appendix J. NHESP Mapping Guidelines Outline................................................................ 142 Appendix K. NHESP Data Acceptance Guidelines............................................................... 145 Appendix L. Road Buffer Polygon Layer.............................................................................. 147 Appendix M. NHESP Priority Natural Communities by Ecosystem Type ........................... 148 Appendix N. Aquatic MESA-listed species that were included in Aquatic Core and buffered by 30 meters..................................................................................................... 152 Table of Figures Figure 1. BioMap2 process. ............................................................................................................ 3 Figure 2. BioMap2 study area boundary......................................................................................... 6 Figure 3. Level III and IV Ecoregions of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. ........... 9 Figure 4. The eight ecoregions used to stratify and select ecosystems in BioMap2..................... 11 Figure 5. BioMap2 wetlands on various physical settings............................................................ 19 Figure 6. Building the IEI. ............................................................................................................ 22 Figure 7. IEI scaled by 4 different extents (statewide, ecoregion, watershed, and integrated) .... 24 Figure 8. CAPS IEI for ecological communities. ......................................................................... 25 Figure 9. CAPS IEI for natural cover. .......................................................................................... 25 Figure 10. An example of Core Habitat polygon delineated for New England Cottontail........... 47 Figure 11. Two clusters of vernal pools identified by the model and the upland habitat surrounding and between the pools............................................................................. 53 Figure 12. Forest Cover within Massachusetts............................................................................. 55 Figure 13. Forests scored by the Index of Ecological Integrity (IEI). .......................................... 56 Figure 14. Forests with the top 20% Integrated IEI scores........................................................... 57 Figure 15. Forest Core selection criteria....................................................................................... 60 Figure 16. Final selection of Forest Cores.................................................................................... 61 Figure 17. Elevation zones used to assign ELU type to wetland complexes................................ 66 Figure 18. Distribution of geology types used to assign ELUs to wetland complexes. ............... 67 Figure 19. All anadromous runs selected for inclusion in Aquatic Core...................................... 75 Figure 20. Components of the Aquatic Core for the mouth of the Mattapoisett River. ............... 77 Figure 21. Aquatic Core extent for the Mattapoisset River.......................................................... 77 Figure 22. Example of a Living Waters coarse-filter stream segment that was “enhanced.”....... 82 Figure 23. An example of a high-quality stream segment that bridged the gap between two MESA-listed fish species habitats. ............................................................................. 83 Figure 24. Landscape Blocks showing ecoregional boundaries. .................................................. 87 Figure 25. Regional connectedness............................................................................................... 88 Figure 26. Landscape Blocks that were added.............................................................................. 89 Figure 27. Forest Cores that were added ...................................................................................... 90 Figure 28. Example of the buffer created by the buffer tool surrounding a Wetland Core.......... 92 Figure 29. Example of the buffer created by the