In the Atlas Handbook, the fourth guideline on block completion indicates a block is complete if “All habitat types within the block have been visited (if access was available).”
But how can you figure out which habitat types are in your block?
Here we introduce a new tool, based on Wiscland 2. Wiscland 2 is a new land-cover dataset, created as part of a multiagency effort and hosted by Wisconsin DNR. They used satellite imagery to produce a map that shows different types of land cover types.
When Wiscland recently became available, we added it to our atlas interactive map. If you haven’t seen the interactive map, it’s a resource you can use on your computer or your smartphone to quickly see where atlas block boundaries fall, and you can also pull up other informative layers to help you explore your block.
Here we’ll walk you through what you need to know to pull up the Wiscland layers (or any other layers) on the interactive map.
Walkthrough instructions
- Open up the interactive map, and click “I Accept” on the disclaimer.
- Use the plus button on the left or double-click to zoom in on an area of interest. As you do this, additional atlas block details will fill in. You can click and hold to pan around the map. (If you want to follow along exactly with our example, we’re zooming into Argonne CE in southern Forest County, but you can zoom in wherever you wish).
- Click the little arrow that looks like a “less than” symbol, which will open up the list of layers.
- Before we open up the landcover layers, let’s add an aerial photo – there are two versions, a 2010 leaf-off version and a 2015 leaf-on version. To turn them on, click the box to the left of the name, and a checkmark will appear. (If you have them both on at once, the 2015 layer will be on top, obscuring the 2010 layer. Any time you click a checkbox, a layer turns on. For deeply nested layers, you may have to have all the parent boxes checked for a layer to show. If you’re wondering why something isn’t showing, try turning another layer off.)
- If you are in a block with polygons that denote properties like county forest, state forest, national forest, state natural areas, or other regions, you may want to turn those down for now, as they can obscure the aerial photo. You can adjust the transparency of this layer by dragging the slider next to the Main Basemap.
- To open up the Wiscland layers, click the plus sign next to “Landcover (WISCLAND2 2016)”. Any time you click a plus sign on the side bar, it opens up the next level of nested folders.
- To start, click on the Level 1 Statewide layer. Level 1 and 2 are fairly similar, and cover the whole state. What do the colors mean? Click the plus sign, and then this icon to display the legend:
You can see this block has a lot of forest and wetland, and some grassland and agricultural areas. But what exactly are those? To find out more specifically what kinds of fields, forests, and wetlands we have, we’ll have to experiment with clicking on and off some Level 3 and 4 sublayers.
- Unclick the Level 1 layer for now. Then click the plus to open up the level 3 maps. Click on Broadleaf Forest, and you can see that most of the upland forest in this block is classed as the same thing – Northern Hardwoods.
To explore this cover type even more, unclick the Broadleaf Forest layer, then open up the layer in Level 4 called Northern Hardwoods. When you open the legend and you can see they differentiate between Sugar Maple dominated forests (yellow) and Other Northern Hardwoods (presumably Yellow Birch, White Ash, Basswood, etc.).
- It’s a bit of trial and error, turning layers on and off to figure out what certain regions are, but if you try Level 4 Coniferous Wetland, you can see the conifer swamps in this block differ – some are White Cedar dominated, while others are Black Spruce, and others Tamarack or mixed.
Similarly, clicking on various Level 3 layers can allow you to see how the open fields differ, some are dairy rotation, some are cool-season grassland, and some are pasture.
That’s it! You can’t really mess up anything with the interactive map, feel free to zoom and pan around the map and click the layers on and off to learn more about your block.
What’s it good for?
We find this tool to be quite useful because some remote scouting like this can help you make good use of your time in the field. We know that most people won’t be able to get into every nook and cranny of a block, but this tool should help you make efficient use of your survey time, spreading it out into the major important habitats to find as many species as possible.
Getting some inside information on what landcover types are far from roads can be especially helpful, and can answer common questions like:
- Is it worth hiking into that distant wetland?
- Which tracts look worthwhile to ask landowner permission for?
- What is that woodlot really composed of?
If you’re missing certain species, maybe exploring this map will clue you in to where to look. Need a Scarlet Tanager? Try those oak woods. Need a Black-throated Green Warbler? Try that hemlock patch.
One final note: The Wiscland layers do not always categorize things perfectly, since it relies on satellite photos to make assumptions about the situation on the ground. However, it’s surprisingly good most of the time, and is certainly a useful tool for atlasers, one which should allow you to maximize your atlasing success in your block.