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Digital Distribution Maps of the Mammals of the Western Hemisphere
Version 3.0
Overview

The data presented here represent an updated version of a major product—a digital map library of the distributions of the terrestrial mammals of the Western Hemisphere, now covering 1,737 species.

Value

Habitat for mammals is disappearing quickly from the Earth's surface. Conservationists are in a race against time to protect remaining habitat to stem the loss of biodiversity. Critical to these conservation efforts is focusing on-the-ground actions on the places where threatened species are found. To aid conservationists in determining where these species occur, NatureServe and a consortium of conservation organizations joined forces to develop a digital library of the distributions of the mammals of the Western Hemisphere. The goal of the project was to make these maps easily accessible to conservation planners and other interested users.

Features & Benefits

The maps are fully annotated to indicate scale, sources, taxonomic decisions, and such issues as historic versus current ranges, origin (native or introduced) and island distributions, where applicable.

These maps are presented as a free resource for conservationists, researchers, and the general public. To view the map for each species, visit our NatureServe Explorer website, search for the species you are interested in, and click on "Range Map." The map files can be viewed using ESRI ArcExplorer software, which can be downloaded for free from ESRI's website. Please contact ESRI, not NatureServe, for any support needs related to the software.

Read the original Project Description (228K pdf).

Read the Metadata for Version 3.0 (84K pdf).

View the References used to compile the maps. (335K pdf).

Citation and Acknowledgements

Citation of this data compilation is as follows:

Patterson, B. D., G. Ceballos, W. Sechrest, M. F. Tognelli, T. Brooks, L. Luna, P. Ortega, I. Salazar, and B. E. Young. 2007. Digital Distribution Maps of the Mammals of the Western Hemisphere, version 3.0. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia, USA.

All products that make use of these data (produced in any media, including but not limited to publications, databases, theses, websites, and oral presentations) should acknowledge the data contributors in the following manner:

"Data provided by NatureServe in collaboration with Bruce Patterson, Wes Sechrest, Marcelo Tognelli, Gerardo Ceballos, The Nature Conservancy—Migratory Bird Program, Conservation International—CABS, World Wildlife Fund—US, and Environment Canada—WILDSPACE."

For additional detailed information about citing and using these data, see the original Project Description.

Copyright Notice

Compilation ©2007 NatureServe. All Rights Reserved.
NatureServe grants to the public a non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free license to reproduce, translate, publish and use these data for non-commercial purposes.