BIOCLIMATIC PREDICTORS FOR SUPPORTING ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS IN THE CONTERMINOUS UNITED STATES Michael S. O'Donnell(1) and Drew A. Ignizio(2) (1) U.S. Geological Survey (2) Cherokee Services Group, Fort Collins, Colo. 2012 U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 691 ABSTRACT The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has developed climate indices, referred to as bioclimatic predictors, which highlight climate conditions best related to species’ physiology. A set of 20 bioclimatic predictors were developed as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) continuous raster surfaces for each year between 1895 and 2009. The Parameter-elevation Regression on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM) and down-scaled PRISM data, which included both averaged multi-year and averaged monthly climate summaries, was used to develop these multi-scale bioclimatic predictors. Bioclimatic predictors capture information about annual conditions (annual mean temperature, annual precipitation, annual range in temperature and precipitation), as well as seasonal mean climate conditions and intra-year seasonality (temperature of the coldest and warmest months, precipitation of the wettest and driest quarters). Examining climate over time is useful when quantifying the effects of climate changes on species’ distributions for past, current, and forecasted scenarios. These data, which have not been readily available to scientists, can provide biologists and ecologists with relevant and multi-scaled climate data to augment research on the responses of species to changing climate conditions. The relationships established between species demographics and distributions with bioclimatic predictors can inform land managers of climatic effects on species during decisionmaking processes. DISCLAIMERS Any use of trade, product or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Geological Survey. Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also contains copyrighted material as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items for other than personal use must be secured from the copyright owner. This database, identified as DS 691, has been approved for release and publication by the Director of the USGS. Although this database has been subjected to rigorous review and is substantially complete, the USGS reserves the right to revise the data pursuant to further analysis and review. Furthermore, it is released on condition that neither the USGS nor the United States Government may be held liable for any damages resulting from its authorized or unauthorized use. Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the U.S. Geological Survey, no warranty, expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data on any other system, or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. The U.S. Geological Survey shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and/or contained herein. CONTACT INFORMATION Michael S. O'Donnell U.S. Geological Center Fort Collins Science Center 2150 Centre Avenue, Bldg C Fort Collins, CO 80526-8118 Phone: 970-226-9407 Fax: 970-226-9230 Email: odonnellm@usgs.gov FORT website: www.fort.usgs.gov or FORT GIS/RS Team Leader 970-226-9100 CONTENTS 00Readme.txt DS691_pamphlet Metadata at Project Level: Composites_400m.html Composites_800m.html Composites_2km.html Composites_4km.html Data Files: Bioclimate composites folders: Composites_400m Definition: Multiband GeoTiff representing 20 bioclimatic datasets, which are derived from 400 m resolution climate normals Data Contents: Contains single dataset (5 files total, tfw, tif, aux.xml, ovr, xml), which is downloadable as single zip Composites_800m Definition: Multiband GeoTiff representing 20 bioclimatic datasets, which are derived from 800 m resolution climate normals Data Contents: Contains single dataset (5 files total, tfw, tif, aux.xml, ovr, xml), which is downloadable as single zip Composites_2km Definition: Annual Multiband GeoTiffs each representing 20 bioclimatic datasets, which are derived from 2 km resolution climate time-series data Data Contents: Contains multiple datasets (195 files total, tfw, tif, aux.xml, ovr, xml) Composites_4km Definition: Annual Multiband GeoTiffs each representing 20 bioclimatic datasets, which are derived from 4 km resolution climate time-series data Data Contents: Contains multiple datasets (570 files total, tfw, tif, aux.xml, ovr, xml) Data Links: BioClimatic Variables for the Continental U.S., derived from 400 m Normals Climate Data for 1971-2000 Project Level Metadata: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/file/get/4ff32906e4b0e183ef5a2f16?f=__grid__4ff32906e4b0e183ef5a2f15&transform=1 Download all data: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/file/get/4ff32906e4b0e183ef5a2f16 BioClimatic Variables for the Continental U.S., derived from 800 m Normals Climate Data for 1971-2000 Project Level Metadata: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/file/get/4fee179ce4b0395def3a11f7?f=__grid__4fee179ce4b0395def3a11f6&transform=1 Download all data: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/file/get/4fee179ce4b0395def3a11f7 BioClimatic Variables from 1895-2008 for the Continental U.S., derived from 2-km Time Series Climate Data Project Level Metadata: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/file/get/4ffd9c09e4b0f6f142e5a1d0?f=__disk__1a%2Fb0%2F72%2F1ab07203f1d04ad0c8ce64cf38f7fcb197be888a&transform=1 Download data by decade: BioClimComposite 1970s 2km: https://my.usgs.gov/catalog/file/get/4ff32a9de4b0e183ef5a2f1c BioClimComposite 1980s 2km: https://my.usgs.gov/catalog/file/get/4ff32b76e4b0e183ef5a2f20 BioClimComposite 1990s 2km: https://my.usgs.gov/catalog/file/get/4ff3374de4b0e183ef5a2f92 BioClimComposite 2000s 2km: https://my.usgs.gov/catalog/file/get/4ff33ae0e4b0e183ef5a2ff7 BioClimatic Variables from 1895-2008 for the Continental U.S., derived from 4-km Time Series Climate Data Project Level Metadata: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/file/get/4ff340b7e4b0e183ef5a3067?f=__disk__e8%2F73%2Fdc%2Fe873dc705601fe236c466d720e3b209a66b834c1&transform=1 Download data by decade: BioClimComposite 1890s 4km: https://my.usgs.gov/catalog/file/get/4ff3313fe4b0e183ef5a2f38 BioClimComposite 1900s 4km: https://my.usgs.gov/catalog/file/get/4ff33490e4b0e183ef5a2f51 BioClimComposite 1910s 4km: https://my.usgs.gov/catalog/file/get/4ff334dae4b0e183ef5a2f5c BioClimComposite 1920s 4km: https://my.usgs.gov/catalog/file/get/4ff33827e4b0e183ef5a2fa6 BioClimComposite 1930s 4km: https://my.usgs.gov/catalog/file/get/4ff33834e4b0e183ef5a2fa8 BioClimComposite 1940s 4km: https://my.usgs.gov/catalog/file/get/4ff33a2fe4b0e183ef5a2fdf BioClimComposite 1950s 4km: https://my.usgs.gov/catalog/file/get/4ff33a37e4b0e183ef5a2fe1 BioClimComposite 1960s 4km: https://my.usgs.gov/catalog/file/get/4ff33c24e4b0e183ef5a3018 BioClimComposite 1970s 4km: https://my.usgs.gov/catalog/file/get/4ff33c2fe4b0e183ef5a301a BioClimComposite 1980s 4km: https://my.usgs.gov/catalog/file/get/4ff33e16e4b0e183ef5a3042 BioClimComposite 1990s 4km: https://my.usgs.gov/catalog/file/get/4ff33e1ee4b0e183ef5a3044 BioClimComposite 2000s 4km: https://my.usgs.gov/catalog/file/get/4ff33ef7e4b0e183ef5a305a Data content details: Each raster dataset is a multiband composite that includes 20 bioclimatic variables (20 bands within each composite raster dataset). The bioclimatic variables are derived from 400 m and 800 m resolution climate normals (table 1), and 2 km and 4 km resolution climate time-series (table 1). Each dataset consists of a world file (.tfw), an FGDC metadata file (.xml), a pyramids overview file (.ovr), an auxiliary file (.aux.xml), a summary statistics file (.aux.xml) and a GeoTiff (.tif). Users only require the GeoTiff file, but auxiliary files are provided for metadata, faster rendering display time (purpose of overview file), and dataset summary statistics (aux.xml). These data are organized and bundled in zip compression files for download within each of the four bioclimatic composite folders (Composites_400m, Composites_800m, Composites_2km, and Composites_4km). The composite folders for the 400 m and 800 m bioclimatic data contain a single zip file. The 2 km and 4 km time- series data contains multiple zip files that bundle a range of years (for example, 1971_2009 or 1980_1989). For instance, users will find a zip file called Composites_2km_1980_1989.zip, which contains ten composite raster datasets (one for each year) of the 2 km resolution derived bioclimatic variables. Bioclimate GeoTiff band designation: Band 1: (Bio 1) Annual Mean Temperature Band 2: (Bio 2) Annual Mean Diurnal Range Band 3: (Bio 3) Isothermality Band 4: (Bio 4) Temperature Seasonality (Standard Deviation) Band 5: (Bio 4a) Temperature Seasonality (CV) Band 6: (Bio 5) Max Temperature of Warmest Month Band 7: (Bio 6) Min Temperature of Coldest Month Band 8: (Bio 7) Annual Temperature Range Band 9: (Bio 8) Mean Temperature of Wettest Quarter Band 10: (Bio 9) Mean Temperature of Driest Quarter Band 11: (Bio 10) Mean Temperature of Warmest Quarter Band 12: (Bio 11) Mean Temperature of Coldest Quarter Band 13: (Bio 12) Annual Precipitation Band 14: (Bio 13) Precipitation of Wettest Month Band 15: (Bio 14) Precipitation of Driest Month Band 16: (Bio 15) Precipitation Seasonality (CV) Band 17: (Bio 16) Precipitation of Wettest Quarter Band 18: (Bio 17) Precipitation of Driest Quarter Band 19: (Bio 18) Precipitation of Warmest Quarter Band 20: (Bio 19) Precipitation of Coldest Quarter HOW TO OBTAIN THE DIGITAL FILES The digital files constituting this report can be obtained via the Internet from the U.S.Geological Survey publications website. Go to the web page at http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/691/ and follow the directions to download the files. The pamphlet is a Portable Document Format (.pdf) map, which requires Adobe Acrobat for viewing. Acrobat software runs on a variety of systems, and is available for download free of charge from Adobe at http://www.adobe.com. The GIS files included in this report can be viewed by most GIS/RS software. Although the user has many options for viewing these data, several free software programs are also listed here for the user's convience. ArcReader may be downloaded free of charge from http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/arcreader/download.htm. ArcGIS Explorer Desktop may also be downloaded free of charge from http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/explorer/download.htm. The metadata files provided at the composite level are provided as ASCII files. Individual bioclimate composite GeoTiff datasets also provide metadata via an XML format. These metadata can be viewed in some GIS/RS software, they can be converted to ASCII files using free software (http://www.fgdc.gov/metadata), and they can be viewed in free XML editors (for example, XML note pad [http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=7973] and Crimson editor [http://www.crimsoneditor.com/]).