Learn what each species location type in Transect means
Critical Habitat
USFWS designs Critical habitats as those areas that are essential to the conservation of a species and may require special management and protection. Critical habitat may trigger additional regulatory review where projects have a federal nexus (i.e., federal permitting, funding, or land). Critical habitat often coincides with the presence of certain species; additional investigation is highly recommended.
Element Occurrence (EO) - Official
Element occurrences (EO) include locations of known species occurrences, buffered by the estimated geographic precision of the source data. Species occur (past or present) within the EO area but may not always occur throughout the entire EO area (due to the precision buffer). Data is created and maintained by a state agency or institution and may be generalized per the agency's terms of distribution.
Element Occurrence (EO) - Transect
Element occurrences (EO) include locations of known species occurrences, buffered by the estimated geographic precision of the source data. Species occur (past or present) within the EO area but may not always occur throughout the entire EO area (due to the precision buffer).
Element Occurrence (EO) - Anonymized
These element occurrences (EO) are obtained from sources requiring some anonymization or obfuscation of data to be shared with third parties. For example, some entities may require an EO record's specific location or species names to be excluded. In most cases, you can request the complete, deanonymized data directly from the source entity. Forwould like more information about these records, you can contact Transect Support (support@transect.com).
Zone
A zone is delineated by, or on behalf of, an environmental agency or land management entity. A zone suggests the potential for a species or its habitat to occur in a particular geographic area based on habitat modeling and/or species occurrence data. Additional investigation may be warranted if the zone designation implies the presence of a potential species.
Range - Official
A species range is the geographic area within which a species can be found or is thought to occur. Official ranges are delineated by or on behalf of USFWS or a regional or institutional organization. It should not be assumed that a species occurs throughout its range; instead, it may occur in areas where appropriate habitat is present. Additional investigation may be warranted to determine if potential habitat is present.
Range - Transect
Where an official sub-county range is unavailable, Transect has developed a proprietary range dataset utilizing federal species documents, scientific research, and other open sources about species population locations and/or the current range of a species. It should not be assumed that a species occurs throughout its range; instead, it may occur in areas where appropriate habitat is present. Additional investigation may be warranted to determine if potential habitat is present.
Range - USFWS ECOS
USFWS ECOS species range data. Range data alone does not indicate the potential presence of a species but should be considered in combination with known occurrences, critical habitat, probability zones, and sub-county range data to determine if a species may occur in an area. Individual species listing changes are updated within 24-48 hours of notice in the Federal Register. This entire dataset is updated in Transect every two months.