EFG T1.3 Trop montane rainforests – current maps

T1. Tropical-subtropical forests biome

Published

June 7, 2024

Modified

July 24, 2024

This page provides information about the valid indicative distribution map for the ecosystem functional group T1.3 Tropical/Subtropical montane rainforests. For older or alternative maps, see here.

Methods

Here is the methods summary for Map code and version: T1.3.WM.nwx v1.0.

The distribution of tropical montane rainforest was approximated from a model of environmental suitability based on climatic variables and cloud cover (Wilson and Jetz, 2016, Karger et al. 2021). Occurrences were aggregated to half degree spatial resolution and cells reclassified as major occurrences (>25% of cell area) and minor occurrences (< 25% of cell area).

Datasets

EarthEnv-Cloud-v1.0 (Wilson and Jetz 2016):

Source of modelled distribution. Resolution: ca. 1km2, static. Accuracy evaluation: quantitative (variable).

TCF-2021 (Karger et al. 2021):

Source of suitable areas. Resolution: ca. 1km2, time series. Accuracy evaluation: >80%.

dataset url
EarthEnv-Cloud-v1.0 https://earthenv.org//cloud
TCF-2021 http://www.earthenv.org/cloudforest :: https://gitlabext.wsl.ch/karger/cloudforests

Processing

Processing steps used in this map are: Thresholds.

Map evaluation

This map is considered to be a Fine quality map series based on the following characteristics:

Concept alignment is Direct.

Ground observations are Indirect.

The accuracy evaluation Quantitative accuracy assessment.

How to use the data

Available files

Following maps are considered current and valid indicative distribution maps for this ecosystem functional group. Web navigation maps are optimised for use in webapps, but they have similar methods and differ only in details of format and processing.

  • Web navigation (code: T1.3.web.alt, version v2.1)
  • Indicative Map (code: T1.3.WM.nwx, version v1.1)

You can download geospatial data for this map from the following repositories:

  • Web navigation (code: T1.3.web.alt, version v2.1) DOI
  • Indicative Map (code: T1.3.WM.nwx, version v1.1) DOI

Alternative links for accessing the maps in different formats:

T1.3.web.alt (v2.1): Google Cloud bucket :: Zenodo repository (bundle of maps) :: Zenodo repository (EFG map) :: Mapbox tileset :: GitHub repository :: Earth Engine assets :: GitHub repository

Note that you need to login to some services like mapbox or earthengine, and in some cases you also need to request access to the files.

Reproducible code

Code to reproduce the maps from the source datasets is available in following gist:

License information

Indicative maps have been released with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

Datasets used to create this map might have some restriction for commercial use, see details below.

dataset license_info
EarthEnv-Cloud-v1.0 https://www.re3data.org/repository/r3d100013469 :: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
TCF-2021 https://www.re3data.org/repository/r3d100013469 :: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

References

References used in this version of the maps.

  • Wilson AM, Jetz W (2016) Remotely Sensed High-Resolution Global Cloud Dynamics for Predicting Ecosystem and Biodiversity Distributions. PLoS Biol 14(3): e1002415. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002415. Dataset available on-line
  • Karger, D.N., Kessler, M., Lehnert, M. et al. (2021) Limited protection and ongoing loss of tropical cloud forest biodiversity and ecosystems worldwide Nat Ecol Evol DOI:10.1038/s41559-021-01450-y