Harvard Forest

Data Archive

HF366

Forest Type Maps for New England from Historical Studies 1912-1956

Related Publications

Data

• hf366-01: forest types as shown in Hawley and Hawes, 1912
• hf366-02: forest types as shown in Fisher, 1933
• hf366-03: forest types from Westveld map, 1956

Overview

• Lead: Brian Hall, David Foster
• Investigators:
• Contact: Information Manager
• Start date: 1912
• End date: 1956
• Status: complete
• Location: New England
• Latitude: +41.00 to +47.47 degrees
• Longitude: -73.70 to -67.00 degrees
• Elevation: 0 to 1917 meter
• Datum: WGS84
• Taxa:
• Release date: 2023
• Language: English
• EML file: knb-lter-hfr.366.4
• DOI: digital object identifier
• EDI: data package
• DataONE: data package
• Related links:
• Forest Change and Human Populations in New England 1600-2015
• Wildlands and Woodlands: A Vision for the New England Landscape
• Study type: historical
• Research topic: conservation and management; historical and retrospective studies; regional studies
• LTER core area: disturbance patterns
• Keywords: geographic information systems, land cover, land use, management, maps, spatial vector
• Abstract:

  This data package contains 3 GIS layers showing generalized forest types across New England as delineated in older forestry publications. These were digitized so that they can be used to illustrate broad vegetation patterns across the region in modern publications.

  These GIS layers include maps drawn by Hawley and Hawes (1912), RT Fisher (1933), and Westveld and the Committee on Silviculture, New England Section, Society of American Foresters (1956).

• Methods:

  Maps from historic research reports were digitized by Brian Hall at the Harvard Forest. All are in USA_Contiguous_Albers_Equal_Area_Conic projection.

  hf366-01-forests-hawley-hawes-1912.zip

  This layer contains forest types as shown in Hawley, R.C., Hawes, A.F. 1912. Forestry in New England: A Handbook of Eastern Forest Management, First Edition. John Wiley and Sons, New York.

  VEGETATION Column: HWD = hardwood; NHWD = northern hardwood

  hf366-02-forests-fisher-1933.zip

  This layer contains forest types as shown in Fisher, R. T. 1933. New England Forests: Biological Factors. New England's Prospect: 1933. American Geographical Society Special Publication 16: 213-223.

  VEGETATION Column: HWD = hardwood; NHWD = northern hardwood

  hf366-03-forests-westveld-1956.zip

  This layer was digitized from a simplified/generalized version of the original Westveld map created by an unidentified researcher at the Harvard Forest. The original Westveld map was published in Westveld, M., and Committee on Siliviculture, New England Section, Society of American Foresters. 1956. Natural forest vegetation zones of New England. Journal of Forestry 54: 332-339.

• Organization: Harvard Forest. 324 North Main Street, Petersham, MA 01366, USA. Phone (978) 724-3302. Fax (978) 724-3595.

• Project: The Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program examines ecological dynamics in the New England region resulting from natural disturbances, environmental change, and human impacts. (ROR).

• Funding: National Science Foundation LTER grants: DEB-8811764, DEB-9411975, DEB-0080592, DEB-0620443, DEB-1237491, DEB-1832210.

• Use: This dataset is released to the public under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 (No Rights Reserved). Please keep the dataset creators informed of any plans to use the dataset. Consultation with the original investigators is strongly encouraged. Publications and data products that make use of the dataset should include proper acknowledgement.

• License: Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal (CC0-1.0)

• Citation: Hall B, Foster D. 2023. Forest Type Maps for New England from Historical Studies 1912-1956. Harvard Forest Data Archive: HF366 (v.4). Environmental Data Initiative: https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/7c42c6daf02a7869bd05a3233d6ef3c4.

Detailed Metadata

hf366-01: forest types as shown in Hawley and Hawes, 1912

• Compression: zip
• Format: Esri shapefile
• Type: vector GIS

hf366-02: forest types as shown in Fisher, 1933

• Compression: zip
• Format: Esri shapefile
• Type: vector GIS

hf366-03: forest types from Westveld map, 1956

• Compression: zip
• Format: Esri shapefile
• Type: vector GIS