Forest communities of northeast Minnesota based on estimated total above-ground tree biomass

This data publication includes a fine-grain forest cover type raster based on estimated total above-ground tree biomass across northeast Minnesota from 2009 to 2020. The forest community type is a 30-meter resolution raster covering a 22,522 square kilometer area of northeast Minnesota. We combined relative total above-ground biomass estimates (years 2014 - 2018) of 23 tree species from the United States Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis’s (FIA) Big Data, Mapping and Analytics Platform (BIGMAP) project with forest community definitions from Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ Native Plant Community Class-level (NPCC) information to classify each cell into one of 22 forest communities. Data are provided as both a geodatabase and a georeferenced TIFF file with attribute tables that contain specific information on NPCCs, non-forest classifications, and website sources for each.
Land managers can use this forest community type map for planning and management activities. We created the map because forest cover type is frequently classified broadly (e.g., deciduous, evergreen, mixed forests) and at large spatial extents based on remotely-sensed, multi-spectral satellite imagery that emphasizes the overstory tree canopy composition, but wildlife habitat studies often require fine-grain forest cover type information at a large spatial extent.
For more information about these data, see the research map (Donner et al. in press).