GIS Data: Biodiversity

GIS Biodiversity Data include biodiversity metrics (e.g. intactness, richness, uniqueness) that provide information on the health of biodiversity, species richness, and composition, as well as province-wide species distribution maps predicting current abundance and reference abundance if there was no human footprint.

Species Intactness

To report on the status of biodiversity in Alberta, the ABMI has developed a metric called the Biodiversity Intactness Index. Intactness reflects how modifications to habitat as a result of human activities result in changes to species’ abundance.

Species Richness

The ABMI has created an index of species richness for Alberta that is a relative measure of the number of common native species within 1-km² grid cells across the province.

Species Uniqueness

The ABMI has developed a relative index of uniqueness for each Natural Region in Alberta; the index identifies the degree to which species composition in a 1-km² grid cell area is distinct compared to all other pixels within the Natural Region.

Predicted Relative Abundance Maps

The ABMI generates province-wide species relative abundance maps using statistical models that predict relative abundance in 1-km² units using species relationships with vegetation types, human footprint, and geographic location.