Summer, Winter Alpine, and Winter Forest-Dwelling habitat model for caribou in the Itcha, Ilgachuz, and Rainbow Mountains of West-Central BC. This habitat model was developed using telemetry from the Itcha-Ilgachuz, Rainbow, and Charlotte Alplands Herds. [Season] field should be used to split the data out into separate summer, winter alpine, and winter forest-dwelling habitat models. Model development is detailed in _Apps, C. D., T. A. Kinley, and J. A. Young. 2001. Multi-scale habitat modeling for woodland caribou in the Itcha, Ilgachuz, and Rainbow mountains of west-central British Columbia.Wildlife Section, Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, Williams Lake, British Columbia, Canada_. See also: https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/caribou-habitat-model-for-the-western-cariboo-region-2017-. __Note: The 2017 habitat model covers a similar area, but does not supersede the 2001 habitat model.__

Summer/Fall and Winter/Forest-Dwelling 2017 habitat model for caribou in the Itcha Ilgachuz area. [Season] field should be used to split the data out into separate summer/fall and winter/forest-dwelling habitat models. Model development is detailed in _Apps, C., and N. Dodd. 2016.. Caribou habitat modeling and evaluation of forest disturbance influences across landscape scales in west-central British Columbia – March, 2016. Prepared for Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, Williams Lake, British Columbia_. See also: https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/7ea6556b-c113-4194-92f2-7ddb55a340b6 __Note: The 2001 habitat model covers a similar area, but is not replaced by the 2017 habitat model.__

Summer, Spring, Early Winter, and Late Winter multi-scale habitat model for mountain caribou in the Western Cariboo Region / Columbia Highlands / Northern Columbia Mountains. [Season] field should be used to split the data out into separate summer, spring, early winter, and late winter habitat models. [Model development is detailed in _Apps, C. D. and T. A. Kinley. 2000. Multiscale Habitat Modeling for Mountain Caribou in the Columbia Highlands and Northern Columbia Mountains Ecoregions, British Columbia.Wildlife Section, Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, Williams Lake, British Columbia, Canada](http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/cariboo/env_stewardship/wildlife/inventory/caribou/mtncar/hmi/habitatmod04-00.pdf).

The Observed Habitat Polygons show the various types of particular habitat that have been observed or calculated by biologists as well as an expectation of different species found in the habitats. Each bioarea has several observed habitats, and it is the combination of the bioarea and habitat observed number that identifies each unique observed habitat.

The Observed Habitat Lines show the various types of particular habitat that have been observed or calculated by biologists as well as an expectation of different species found in the habitats. Each bioarea has several observed habitats, and it is the combination of the bioarea and habitat observed number that identifies each unique observed habitat.

Stand structure habitat classes associated with mule deer winter range in the Cariboo Region.

The Itcha Ilgachuz Caribou Habitat Area (IICHA) and associated quadrants were developed as a part of the 2002 Northern Caribou Strategy, with revisions in 2011. The boundary is based on caribou telemetry to 2011, and is used to form the outer boundary of the quadrants that are used to help determine the rate of cut within WHA 5-086.

Landscape Units (Subdivisions) were developed as a part of the 2002 Northern Caribou Strategy and are used for landscape level planning within Wildlife Habitat Area 5-086. For details please see: [Apps, C. D., T. A. Kinley, and J. A. Young. 2001. Multi-scale habitat modeling for woodland caribou in the Itcha, Ilgachuz, and Rainbow mountains of west-central British Columbia. Wildlife Section, Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, Williams Lake, British Columbia, Canada.](http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/cariboo/env_stewardship/wildlife/inventory/caribou/northcar/hmi/hsi06-01.pdf)

Effective fisheries and habitat management processes require knowledge of the distribution of areas of high ecological or biological significance. On the Scotian Shelf and Slope, a number of benthic ecologically or biologically significant areas consisting of habitat-forming species such as sponges and deep-water corals have been identified. However, knowledge of their spatial distribution is largely based on targeted surveys that are limited in their spatial extent. We used a species distribution modelling approach called random forest (RF) to predict the probability of occurrence and biomass of sponges, sea pens, and large and small gorgonian corals across the entire spatial extent of Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO) Maritimes Region. We also modelled the rare sponge Vazella pourtalesi, which forms the largest known aggregation of its kind on the Scotian Shelf. We utilized a number of data sources including DFO multispecies trawl catch data and in situ benthic imagery observations. Most models had excellent predictive capacity with cross-validated Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve (AUC) values ranging from 0.760 to 0.977. Areas of suitable habitat were identified for each taxon and were contrasted against their known distribution and when applicable, the location of closure areas designated for their protection. Generalized additive models (GAMs) were developed to predict the biomass distribution of each taxonomic group and serve as a comparison to the RF models. The RF and GAM models provided comparable results, although GAMs provided superior predictions of biomass along the continental slope for some taxonomic groups. In the absence of data observations, the results of this study could be used to identify the potential distribution of sensitive benthic taxa for use in fisheries and habitat management applications. These results could also be used to refine significant concentrations of these taxa as identified through the kernel density analyses.Cite this data as: Beazley, Lindsay; Kenchington, Ellen; Murillo-Perez, Javier; Lirette, Camille; Guijarro-Sabaniel, Javier; McMillan, Andrew; Knudby, Anders (2019). Species Distribution Modelling of Corals and Sponges in the Maritimes Region for Use in the Identification of Significant Benthic Areas. Published July 2023. Ocean Ecosystems Science Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Dartmouth, N.S. https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/356e92f3-5bf3-4810-98b1-3e10cd7742aa

SK2 Woodland Caribou Habitat Potential