Products & Services

Users Manual

Following are NatureServe Vista User Manual Sections available for download. Alternatively you may download the entire User Manual (PDF, 7MB); note that the user manual is a large PDF that may take several minutes to download. The User Manual is embedded in the software and will be installed automatically with Vista.

The User Manual content is also fully integrated into the Vista software. Updates are made for new releases and posted here when available. Date of last update is indicated in parentheses after each section. Sections/subsections in bold indicate our selection for minimum required reading as you develop your Vista project.

Section one: Preface, Acknowledgements, Introduction, Requirements

(updated June 30, 2009)

  • Background information on NatureServe and NatureServe Vista (Vista).
  • The Introduction provides an important overview of the planning process behind Vista and its functionality within that process.
  • Requirements provides information about the software and hardware necessary to install and run Vista.
Section two: Getting Started

(updated June 30, 2009)

  • Installation guide: how to set up Vista on your computer.
  • This section provides guidelines to help you set up your Vista project: project area extent, number of elements, and spatial resolution.
  • The Common Project Requirements subsection gives recommendations on data inputs and guidance on selecting the right tools and personnel for a Vista project.
  • The sub-section Project Types offers example applications where Vista can provide decision-support and spatial analyses.
  • Background information on NatureServe and NatureServe Vista (Vista).
  • Getting started with Vista: a hands-on exercise using the sample dataset to produce basic results and walk novice users through some basic Vista functions.
Section three: Element database, Data for Conservation Value Analysis, Data for Scenario Evaluations

(updated June 30, 2009)

  • Section three goes into depth about the data requirements for the Element database, Conservation Value Analyses and Scenario Evaluations.
Section four: Analytical tools, Conservation Value Analyses, Landscape Conditioning Modeling, Scenario Evaluations

(updated June 30, 2009)

  • The subsections on Analytical tools, Conservation Value Analyses, Landscape Conditioning Modeling, Scenario Evaluations provide more in-depth information about Vista?s functions and how they can be used to create, refine, model and evaluate data.
  • Landscape Condition Modeling will guide users through Vista?s landscape condition modeler function as well as the interoperation with NOAA?s Nonpoint-Source Pollution and Erosion Comparison Tool (N-SPECT).
Section five: Site explorer & Conservation Solutions generation

(updated June 30, 2009)

  • Site explorer offers the user the ability to select sites within a conservation value summary or a scenario evaluation. In the latter situation, Site explorer will provide a wealth of attributes generated about elements and land-use at the site and compare it to the project area. Use site explorer to specify alternative land uses and implementation mechanisms to create site mitigations or new alternative scenarios.
  • Conservation solutions will guide users through Vista?s interface with conservation site optimization tools Marxan and SPOT.
Section six: Additional topics, Project management functions, Windows in NatureServe Vista, Reports from NatureServe Vista, Limitations of NatureServe Vista

(updated June 30, 2009)

  • Additional topics and Project management functions supply additional information about determining the appropriate set-up of the snap raster and grid cell size. Metadata generation from Vista is also covered here.
  • Windows in NatureServe Vista presents many of the GUI windows that appear in Vista. This section includes definitions for the button functions in each window.
  • Reports from NatureServe Vista: Vista is capable of generating reports at many steps that provide tabular and graphical information on the results of Vista?s inputs and outputs.
  • Limitations of NatureServe Vista: This section provides important guidelines regarding the selection of elements, appropriate use of scale, use of viability/integrity values and conservation value summaries.
Section seven: Appendices

(updated June 30, 2009)

There are seven appendices covering the following topics:

  • NatureServe Vista Inputs and Outputs: a comprehensive guide that identifies the inputs that Vista needs in order to produce the described outputs.
  • NatureServe Conservation Status Definitions
  • Scale-of-Occurrence Classes for Terrestrial Ecological Elements
  • Sources of Element Distribution Data
  • Element Occurrence Ranks
  • NatureServe Vista Default IUCN-CMP Land Use Categories: A complete bibliography for the entire user?s manual is included with this section