20250416 11272700 1.0 FALSE ACIMS_Ecological_Community_Elements 002 20250604 14433000 20250605 13133100 150000000 5000 NAP 370B4A96-1546-45F1-9F9C-932D9144B4DB dataset Alberta Environment and Protected Areas, Government of Alberta 9920 - 108 Street NW Forestry Building Edmonton Alberta T5K 2M4 CA epa.acimsdata@gov.ab.ca Alberta Environment and Protected Areas, Government of Alberta Alberta Environment and Protected Areas, Government of Alberta Environmental Knowledge & Data Stewardship 20250605 Enterprise Geodatabase Feature Class 3.0 Alberta Environment and Protected Areas, Government of Alberta Provincial Geospatial Centre 14th Floor, Oxbridge Place Edmonton Alberta T5K 2J6 PGC.Data@gov.ab.ca CA 9820 - 106 Street NW This data can be accessed via Layer Manager. Please contact the distributor with any questions or if you need assistance. Alberta Environment and Parks, Government of Alberta Alberta Environment and Protected Areas, Government of Alberta ACIMS Ecological Community Elements Table 2025-06-04T00:00:00 2026-03-24T00:00:00 Alberta Environment and Protected Areas, Government of Alberta 9920 - 108 Street NW Forestry Building Edmonton Alberta T5K 2M4 CA epa.acimsdata@gov.ab.ca Alberta Environment and Protected Areas, Government of Alberta Environmental Knowledge & Data Stewardship The Alberta Conservation Information Management System (ACIMS) Ecological Community Elements Table lists Ecological Communities reported for Alberta along with conservation status ranks. Those deemed to be of conservation concern are tracked. Spatial data is collected for tracked elements and used to create Element Occurrences. ACIMS is the Alberta member of the international network of NatureServe Conservation Data Centers. The Government of Alberta is the owner of the Element data stored in the NatureServe Canada Biotics database. An ecological community is a distinct assemblage of plant species with similar total species composition and vegetation structure often associated with specific environmental conditions. Given the right conditions, it can reoccur predictably. NatureServe Canada <DIV STYLE="text-align:Left;"><DIV><DIV><P><SPAN>ACIMS Ecological Community records</SPAN><SPAN> have been developed through a review process, and continue to be refined as new community types are proposed and as more information is gathered on types already on the list. The communities on the lists are first split into terrestrial or aquatic types, then further organized into physiognomic classes. The work to document the ecological communities of Alberta is ongoing and new types not yet documented are to be expected. Some will be rare types that should be added to the tracking list.</SPAN><SPAN> </SPAN><SPAN>There are many different kinds of ecological communities, ranging from those that are natural, to those that are dominated by cultivated species. Only natural, near-natural and some modified/managed communities are considered of conservation concern from the ecological community perspective. For example, communities that have formed in roadside ditches or those that have been planted or substantively altered by cultivation may well provide habitat for species of conservation concern, and hence be significant for other reasons, but they would not be considered rare communities</SPAN><SPAN>. </SPAN><SPAN>Ecological communities can be divided into three main pattern types; (1) Matrix communities are widespread and cover large areas across the landscape, (2) Large patch communities are less extensive and cover less of the landscape, but overall may still form large, uninterrupted patches, and (3) Small patch communities form small, discrete areas, usually associated with specific, specialized habitats, such as cliff faces or saline seepages</SPAN><SPAN>. </SPAN><SPAN>Together, matrix and large patch communities usually make up the main, representative vegetation of an area. Small patch communities, although small in area, contain a disproportionately large percentage of the total flora, and also support a specific and restricted set of associated fauna (e.g. invertebrates or herpetofauna) dependent on specialized conditions. Rare ecological communities are often, but not always, small patch types. An occurrence for a tracked community should meet the minimum patch size specification.</SPAN><SPAN> This data updates on a daily basis.</SPAN></P></DIV></DIV></DIV> Alberta Environment and Protected Areas, Government of Alberta 9920 - 108 Street NW Forestry Building Edmonton Alberta T5K 2M4 CA epa.acimsdata@gov.ab.ca Alberta Environment and Protected Areas, Government of Alberta Alberta Environment and Protected Areas, Government of Alberta Environmental Knowledge & Data Stewardship The Information is licensed “as is”, and the Information Provider excludes all representations, warranties, obligations, and liabilities, whether express or implied, to the maximum extent permitted by law. The Information Provider is not liable for any errors or omissions in the Information and will not under any circumstances be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential, or other loss, injury or damage caused by its use or otherwise arising in connection with this licence or the Information, even if specifically advised of the possibility of such loss, injury or damage. Esri ArcGIS 13.0.3.36057 Alberta Conservation Information Management System ACIMS Sensitive Ecological Element Occurrence EO Ecological Community Ecosystem NatureServe Element Elements of biodiversity Alberta, Canada 1 -120 -110 49 60 Disclaimer and limitation of liability: ACIMS Data accessible through this product , are provided "as is" without warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement or other violation of rights. The Government of Alberta makes no warranties regarding the use, accuracy, timelines, applicability, performance, security, availability or reliability of this website. The Government of Alberta will not be liable for any direct, indirect, special, punitive, incidental or consequential damages arising from the use of, or the inability to use, ACIMS Data. By using the ACIMS Ecological Community Elements Table layer (ACIMS Data), you understand and agree that: ACIMS Data accessible through this product does not represent a complete record of all conservation information available. Many areas in Alberta have not been subjected to an inventory/survey. Information accessible through this product only represents the data currently residing in ACIMS; and is not intended to be a definitive statement on the presence, absence or status of conservation information within a given area, nor as a substitute for on-site surveys. ACIMS Data accessible through this product are current only to the most recent update displayed. Data are updated as new information warrants. Copyright of ACIMS Data accessible through this product are protected by the Copyright Act and are either owned or licensed by the Government of Alberta. Unless indicated otherwise, ACIMS Data accessible through this product may be copied and distributed for non-commercial use without charge or further permission from epa.acimsdata@gov.ab.ca. We only ask that the materials not be modified, users exercise due diligence in ensuring the accuracy of the materials, the Government of Alberta be identified as the source of the materials, and the reproduction is not represented as an official version of the materials reproduced, nor as having been made in affiliation with or with the endorsement of the Government of Alberta. ACIMS Data accessible through this product may not be copied and/or distributed for commercial purposes without prior written permission from epa.acimsdata@gov.ab.ca. For permission to reproduce material, trademarks or official marks on the Government of Alberta web pages, please contact epa.acimsdata@gov.ab.ca. Other ACIMS Data products have additional or different terms of use that will apply where specified. Public/Unrestricted Government of Alberta Data and Information Security Classification https://imtpolicy.sp.alberta.ca/standards/Pages/Data-and-Information-Security-Classification.aspx Reports and descriptions of the ecological communities of Alberta come from a wide variety of sources including academic publications, ecological site guides, range plant community guides, and other regional surveys. Some ecological communities have been matched (crosswalked) to communities recognized in other jurisdictions, like the United States, in collaboration with partners from the NatureServe network. Background sources were reviewed and targeted fieldwork conducted to develop a list of ecological communities in 2014 ("Alberta Conservation Information Management System Ecological Tracking List"), which describes community types that were considered rare, uncommon, or of limited extent. It also includes community types that have been described by vegetation experts as in decline or threatened. Importantly, many ecological communities in Alberta are under sampled making them difficult to rank. Likewise, some ecological communities could remain undescribed or poorly described in Alberta. All rare ecological communities are significant at the provincial scale. Some may be nationally or globally significant. A rare ecological community may or may not include individual plant species of conservation concern. It is the grouping, the community itself, which is the element of interest. The results of a data search by ACIMS are not intended as a final statement on the presence, absence or condition of elements within a given area, or as a substitute for on-site surveys which may be required for environmental assessments. Many individuals and organizations have contributed data to the Alberta Conservation Information Management System (ACIMS). Many areas in Alberta have never been comprehensively surveyed. EPSG ACIMS_Ecological_Community_Elements Table 390 OBJECTID OBJECTID OID 4 10 0 Internal feature number. Esri Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated. ELCODE ELCODE String 2048 0 0 ELEMENT_SUBNATIONAL_ID ELEMENT_SUBNATIONAL_ID String 2048 0 0 SNAME SNAME String 2048 0 0 SCOMNAME SCOMNAME String 2048 0 0 GNAME GNAME String 2048 0 0 S_RANK S_RANK String 20 0 0 G_RANK G_RANK String 12 0 0 EO_TRACK_STATUS_DESC EO_TRACK_STATUS_DESC String 2048 0 0 DIST_CONFIDENCE_DESC DIST_CONFIDENCE_DESC String 100 0 0 PRESENCE_ABSENCE PRESENCE_ABSENCE String 2048 0 0