DOI: 10.5061/dryad.wwpzgmsv8
title: Presettlement tree distributions and forest types of northeast Ohio, USA, mapped with species distribution models

description: European colonization radically transformed the landscapes of eastern
 North America. Understanding this legacy is vital to managing current
 ecological communities. To do so requires spatially explicit information
 about presettlement vegetation. Here we test the ability of species
 distribution models, which have rarely been used with historical data like
 land survey records, to generate useful predictions of presettlement tree
 distributions. These models also allow us to assess pre-disturbance
 vegetation-environment relationships. Location: Cuyahoga County, Ohio, USA
 Methods: Generalized linear models, generalized boosting models, random
 forests, and maximum entropy models related the distributions of 17 tree
 taxa to elevation, slope, aspect, and soil type, based on 4234 tree
 observations from circa-1800 surveys. Cluster analysis defined forest
 types and created a prediction map of forest types using random forests.
 Results: This study generated high-resolution predictions of presettlement
 tree distributions. Fagus grandifolia and Carya spp. were predicted to
 have found suitable habitat in over half the area. Elevation was by far
 the most important predictor, followed by slope. Many taxa were more
 likely to occur at higher elevations, corresponding to the Allegheny
 Plateau, while others followed river valleys. Broadly, 51% of the county
 was predicted to support forest types with Fagus grandifolia and/or Acer
 spp., and 48% of the county was predicted to support forest types with
 Quercus spp., Carya spp., and/or Castanea dentata. Conclusions: This study
 demonstrates that species distribution modeling with historical data
 provides insights into presettlement vegetation and vegetation-environment
 relationships. Our results reveal striking ecological patterns not
 apparent in today’s landscape, such as the sharp difference in vegetation
 between the Central Lowland and Allegheny Plateau. The maps created here
 offer a historical perspective that can inform conservation, education,
 and further research.
description: We analyzed historical survey data on 17 individual tree species
 and 10 forest types using species distribution models to create prediction
 maps of pre-settlement distributions. 
description: # Presettlement tree distributions and forest types of northeast Ohio,
 USA, mapped with species distribution models
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.wwpzgmsv8](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.wwpzgmsv8) ## Description of the data and file structure The accompanying code and data was used to generate distribution models and prediction maps for analyses described in Flinn et al. Raster versions of the maps included in the paper are included here.  ### Files and variables #### File: Flinn\_et\_al.\_JVS\_forest\_type.txt **Description:** Data file for forest type analysis described in Flinn et al.  ##### Variables * Unique_ID: unique identifier for survey lines  * POINT_X: Longitude coordinate (WGS84) * POINT_Y: Latitude coordinate (WGS84) * Group10: forest type code, with values assigned as follows: 1 = Quercus-Castanea, 2 = Fraxinus, 3 = Fraxinus-Acer-Tilia, 7 = Fagus-Acer, 70 = Acer, 75 = Quercus-Carya, 91 = Fraxinus-Ulmus, 92 = Quercus, 384 = Fagus, 390 = Tsuga, Picea, or Pinus ## Code/software Code can be read in the R statistical environment and includes all analyses and output presented in Flinn et al.  Map files from Flinn et al. are shared as .tif files that can be read be either proprietary (e.g.,  ArcGIS) or free (e.g., QGIS) GIS software. ## Access information Other publicly accessible locations of the data: * NA Data was derived from the following sources: * NA