Big Picture 2002 natural cores and linkages analysis (English, HTML)

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2026-05-27

The Big Picture 2002 is a legacy geographic information system (GIS) based landscape analysis. It is a partnership between the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Ministry of Natural Resources’ Natural Heritage Information Centre. Many digital layers covering the Mixedwood Plains ecozone plus a portion of the Ontario Shield ecozone were compiled for this analysis. These layers include: * evaluated wetlands * forest cover * old growth forest * rare species and communities * waterbodies and watercourses * parks and protected areas * Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSIs) The data layers are overlaid in a GIS system and points are assigned to the features in each layer according to their conservation value. Core natural areas were identified by a combination of minimum size and a minimum point score per pixel. Potential linkages between these cores were computed by assigning scores to the landscape surrounding the cores based on the probable resistance to wildlife movement. We do not currently use this methodology for similar analyses.

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