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NatureScape Map: Map shows integration of key aquatic connectivity areas with terrestrial significant habitats throughout the Appalachians to guide conservation planning and decision making.

Conservation Design Elements Map: Depiction of conservation design for the Appalachian LCC with all five of the design elements - regional cores, local cores, regional linkages, valley and ridge linkages, and local build outs - combined.

Other Important Areas: Smaller, isolated areas that are locally significant. Identified in two primary ways: (1) build outs acted as buffers around existing protected areas suggesting that many conservation values around the protected area are not fully protected; and (2) small areas that had unique conservation value regionally but are under no current protection. Thirty-six of these areas were identified.

Local Connectors: Bridging valley and ridge topography and connecting mountainous regions with low plateaus in an east-west orientation. Four linkages were identified and mapped: 1) Big South Fork-Cumberland River; 2) Cumberland-Interior Low Plateau; 3) Ohio River; 4) Flint Creek-Plateau Escarpment

Regional Connectors: Regional-scale corridors that connect large cores. Three were identified and mapped: 1) Northern Cumberland-Blue Ridge (connects South Blue Ridge to Central Appalachian core to the north); 2) Southern Cumberland-Blue Ridge (connects Southern Blue Ridge to Central Appalachian Core to south); 3) Northern Sandstone Ridges (connect Central Appalachian-Allegheny Regional core to Delaware Water Gap-Catskills)

Local Cores: Areas that are locally significant due to irreplaceability and have high internal local connectivity. Eight areas were identified and mapped: 1) Cumberland Plateau-Chattanooga; 2) Daniel Boone; 3) Nashville Basin; 4) Hoosier-Interior Low Plateau; 5) Mammoth Cave-Campbellsville-Chickamauga; 6) Cumberland Gap-Big South Fork; 7) Southern Finger Lakes-Allegheny Plateau; 8) Lower Tennessee-Bankhead-Wheeler

Regional Cores: Broad areas of regional significance that have high internal landscape connectivity. Five cores were identified and mapped: 1) Shawnee-Peabody-Land between the Lakes; 2) Southern Blue Ride-Upper Tennessee River Basin; 3) Central Appalachian-Allegheny; 4) Heart's Content-Northwest Pennsylvania; 5) Delaware Water Gap-Catskills

Core Corridor Image: For Interactive Conservation Planning and Design research project.

Conservation Design Elements Map: Depiction of conservation design for the Appalachian LCC with all five of the design elements - regional cores, local cores, regional linkages, valley and ridge linkages, and local build outs - combined.

Local Connectors: Bridging valley and ridge topography and connecting mountainous regions with low plateaus in an east-west orientation. Four linkages were identified and mapped: 1) Big South Fork-Cumberland River; 2) Cumberland-Interior Low Plateau; 3) Ohio River; 4) Flint Creek-Plateau Escarpment

Regional Connectors: Regional-scale corridors that connect large cores. Three were identified and mapped: 1) Northern Cumberland-Blue Ridge (connects South Blue Ridge to Central Appalachian core to the north); 2) Southern Cumberland-Blue Ridge (connects Southern Blue Ridge to Central Appalachian Core to south); 3) Northern Sandstone Ridges (connect Central Appalachian-Allegheny Regional core to Delaware Water Gap-Catskills)

Local Cores: Areas that are locally significant due to irreplaceability and have high internal local connectivity. Eight areas were identified and mapped: 1) Cumberland Plateau-Chattanooga; 2) Daniel Boone; 3) Nashville Basin; 4) Hoosier-Interior Low Plateau; 5) Mammoth Cave-Campbellsville-Chickamauga; 6) Cumberland Gap-Big South Fork; 7) Southern Finger Lakes-Allegheny Plateau; 8) Lower Tennessee-Bankhead-Wheeler

Regional Cores: Broad areas of regional significance that have high internal landscape connectivity. Five cores were identified and mapped: 1) Shawnee-Peabody-Land between the Lakes; 2) Southern Blue Ride-Upper Tennessee River Basin; 3) Central Appalachian-Allegheny; 4) Heart's Content-Northwest Pennsylvania; 5) Delaware Water Gap-Catskills

Cave and Karst Data Access: The cave and karst dataset from this research is available through our Conservation Planning Atlas.

Other Important Areas: Smaller, isolated areas that are locally significant. They were identified in two primary ways: (1) buffers around existing protected areas suggesting that many conservation values around the protected area are not fully protected; and (2) small areas that had unique conservation value regionally but are under no current protection. Thirty-six of these areas were identified.

Core Corridor Image: For Interactive Conservation Planning and Design research project.

Data Needs Assessment Foundational Research: The Data Needs Assessment research project was undertaken to review a variety of resources on conservation planning - such as datasets and tools - and provide packages of products, data, and identified gaps to improve conservation planning in the Appalachian LCC. A suite of core conservation planning products and data from principal investigators at Clemson University are found below. These products and information generated from this foundational assessment were incorporated into the Interactive Conservation Planning and Design effort and in the drafting of the regional conservation plan for the Cooperative.

Data Access: The first phase of the Appalachian NatureScape study identified five highly essential conservation design elements; regional cores, local cores, regional connectors, local connectors, and other important areas.

Conservation Planning and Design Report: Conservation planning is concerned with spatially identifying and prioritizing lands and waters important for functioning ecosystems and biodiversity. It is a science utilizing geographic information systems and large datasets to generate scenario-based maps of conservation potential. These scenarios can balance social, economic, and regulatory constraints with processes that occur over time and space. The planning process itself, as well as final products, helps practitioners prioritize where and when to take conservation action.