DOI: 10.5061/dryad.931zcrjww
title: Zone Matcher: A climate-based web application for deployment and assisted migration of forest trees

description: Populations of forest trees are generally adapted to the climates they
 inhabit. The farther trees are moved from their local climates, the more
 long-term growth and survival tend to decrease. Current tree deployment
 and assisted migration rely on ‘climate distance thresholds’ (CDTs), which
 are climatic distances beyond which tree performance is considered
 unacceptable. Fixed zone systems, which have been used to guide deployment
 of native or orchard seedlots for more than 50 years, usually consist of
 contiguous geographic areas (zone units) divided into elevational bands
 (zones). In contrast, focal zone systems allow seed transfer among fixed
 zones that have similar climates. By using recent historical climates and
 future climate projections, focal zones can be used for current tree
 deployment or assisted migration. We developed a focal-zone system for the
 Pacific Northwest region of North America. First, we worked with
 stakeholders to select the base zones for the system. These consisted of
 geographic zone sets from Washington, Oregon, California, and
 Idaho/western Montana, and ecological zone sets from the U.S. and British
 Columbia. Second, by analyzing climate variation across the region, we
 developed a normalized Euclidean climate distance function consisting of
 nine climate variables from ClimateNA. Third, we inferred CDTs from
 analyses of climate variation within the base zones and from provenance
 tests. Fourth, we compared seed deployment areas using the fixed zone
 versus focal zone system, with and without assisted migration. Finally, we
 developed the Zone Matcher web application which implements our focal zone
 system. Across the region, we identified climate matches among 4,393
 partially overlapping zones covering approximately 252 M ha. The unique
 area covered by these zones was about 167 M ha. Compared to fixed zones,
 our focal zone system increased the deployment area about 19- to 39-fold
 for the ecological zones and 72- to 342-fold for the geographic zones.
 This expands seed deployment options, allows more seedlots to be
 considered for a planting site, facilitates assisted migration, and
 simplifies sharing of seedlots among organizations. In addition to
 climate, seed transfer should also consider factors such as plantation
 soils, microtopography, and projections of competing vegetation, insects,
 diseases, and fire.
description: # Zone Matcher: A climate-based web application for deployment and
 assisted migration of forest trees
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.931zcrjww](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.931zcrjww) ## **Description of the data and file structure** Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data was generated using data from the USGS GMTED2010 Viewer ([https://topotools.cr.usgs.gov/gmted_viewer/index.html](https://topotools.cr.usgs.gov/gmted_viewer/index.html)) (U.S. Geological Survey 2010). Climate data was generated using ClimateNA v7.42. LANDFIRE Remap Canopy Height (CH) data ([https://www.landfire.gov/ch.php](https://www.landfire.gov/ch.php); Earth Resources Observation and Science Center (EROS) and U.S. Geological Survey 2020) was used to identify forest and non-forest zones. Zone rasters were derived from existing shapefiles and and shapefiles built from our DEM. ## **Files and variables** ### **File: Zone_Matcher_v3.2.zip (Zenodo upload)** **Description:** Folder of files for the Zone Matcher web application (ZM). **These files are hosted on Zenodo.** **Usage:** .R script files can be opened using R or an IDE such as RStudio. RDS files should be read in using the commands in the scripts. **List of files:** App.R: Zone Matcher web application (R script) shiny_instructions_ZM_3.2_v1.txt: Text of instructions for the ZM web application transfer_limits_ZM_v3.2_v1.txt: Text for the ZM description of transfer limits Input files for Zone Matcher are: CNA_v742_polygon_map_v11_0.2.rds: R package RDS file of zone polygons CNA_v742_shiny_input_N_PNW_v11_zone_alias.rds: RDS file with uniqueID and other zone information CNA_v742_shiny_input_N_PNW_v11_F126_25 to CNA_v742_shiny_input_N_PNW_v11_H_95.rds 1. sc_code: Climate scenario code 2. scenario: Climate scenario denoting historical data (norm) or future projection (e.g., ssp126 is Shared Socioeconomic Pathway SSP1-2.6) followed by the years 3. uniqueID: Unique zone ID across all zone sets 4. setID: Unique zone set ID across all zone sets 5. zoneID: Unique zone ID within a zone set 6. zone: Zone name formed from zone_set, zone_unit, and observed min and max elevations 7. zone_input: Original zone name with a priori minimum and maximum elevations (not observed elevations) 8. zone_set_2: Zone set name with zone_set ORWA66 separated into OR66 and WA66 9. species: Species name 10. zone_unit: Zone unit name 11. zone_low and zone_high: Observed min and max elevations observed for the zone (feet) 12. ELEV_M and ELEV_FT: Median elevation for the zone in meters and feet 13. LAT and LONG: Median latitude and longitude for the zone 14. PHOTO: Median photoperiod for the zone (hours) using the date midway between the summer solstice and autumnal equinox 15. EMT to TD and EMT.T to TD.T are median values for non-normalized and normalized climate variables described in Table S2 16. CURRENT_FOREST indicates whether the zone is considered forested (1 = yes; 0 = no) 17. LARIOCC proportion of suitable habitat for *Larix occidentalis* and given climate scenario 18. PICEENG proportion of suitable habitat for *Picea engelmannii* and given climate scenario 19. PICESIT proportion of suitable habitat for *Picea sitchensis* and given climate scenario 20. PINUCON proportion of suitable habitat for *Pinus contorta* and given climate scenario 21. PINUMON proportion of suitable habitat for *Pinus monticola* and given climate scenario 22. PINUPON proportion of suitable habitat for *Pinus ponderosa* and given climate scenario 23. PSEUMEN proportion of suitable habitat for *Pseudotsuga menziesii* and given climate scenario 24. TSUGHET proportion of suitable habitat for *Tsuga heterophylla* and given climate scenario ### **File: Zone_rasters.zip** **Description:** For each zone set, the netCDF file (.nc) has the zone ID (zones) in raster format and the CSV file (.csv) has correspondence between the zone ID (id), final zone name (zone), and original zone name (input_zone). The zone_input variable has the *a priori* minimum and maximum elevations (in feet) of the zone, whereas the zone variable has the measured minimum and maximum elevations (in feet) for the included locations (raster cells). These data were derived by rasterizing the zone set shapefiles described below. **Usage:** The netCDF (.nc) files can be visualised using any GIS software package, such as ESRI ArcGIS or QGIS (open source), or using open source interpreters such as R or Python. A raster is essentially an image made up of many cells; these images can then be interpreted based on the values in each cell. ### **File: Zone_shapefiles.zip** **Description:** Zone polygons are zones for BEC and EPA4 and zone units for CA, IDMT, OR66, WA66, OR96_PSME and WA02_PSME. Shapefiles can be opened and used in any GIS software and in R or Python. **Usage:** A shapefile consists of multiple file types beyond the .shp (specifically, .cpg, .dbf, .prj, .sbn, and .sbx). The user only interacts directly with the .shp file but the other files need to be in the same directory. GDB (ESRI GeoDataBase) folders can be read in their entirety using ESRI ArcGIS or QGIS software (i.e., individual files in folder should not be opened). #### **British Columbia Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification (BEC) zones (BEC v11)** * \BEC_zones\BEC_BIOGEOCLIMATIC_POLY: * BEC_BIOGEOCLIMATIC_POLY.html: Web page describing all variable definitions for BEC polygons. * Original BEC shapefile downloaded from [https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/](https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/) BEC_POLY_polygon.shp (etc) * \BEC_zones\BEC_AGGREGATED: * BEC_aggregated.csv: CSV file of 207 BEC zones * Original BEC shapefile aggregated by ZONE, SUBZONE, VARIANT (N=207) BEC_aggregated.shp (etc) * BEC_aggregated_variable_definitions.csv: CSV file of variable definitions for BEC_aggregated.csv * BC zones - Appendix 2 from O'Neill et al (2017).pdf - List of pre-v11 BEC zones in BC, with latitude and climate variable descriptors for each zone. This is provided for context and reference as to how the climate based seed transfer system in BC has been developed. #### **California seed zones (zone units) in ESRI GeoDatabase file format** * \CA_zones\seedzones02_1.gdb: Folder with and ESRI GeoDatabase (GDB) of CA zone units - \CA_zones\TN_Forest_CA_43-CaliforniaTreeSeedZones.pdf: List and description of California seed zones. #### **U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Level IV Ecoregions** * \EPA4_zones\Ecozones_IV: Folder with a shapefile of EPA4 zones; us_eco_l4.shp (etc.) #### **ID/MT zones** * \IDMT_zones\IDMT_zones: Folder with a shapefile of IDMT zone units; IDMT_zones.shp (etc.) #### **Oregon and Washington Zones** * \OR96_zones\SeedZones.gdb: Folder with ESRI GeoDatabase (GDB) of 1996 species-specific zones in Oregon * \ORWA66_zones\ORWA66_zones: Folder with a shapefile of combined OR66 and WA66 zone units * \WA02_zones\WA02_zones\PSME.shp: Shapefiles of 2002 zones in Washington for 14 different species * ABAM: *Abies balsamea*, balsam fir * ABGR: *Abies grandis*, grand fir * ABPR; *Abies procera*, noble fir * ALRU; *Alnus rubra*, red alder * CHNO; *Chaemacyparis nootkatensis*, Alaska yellow-cedar * LAOC; *Larix occidentalis*, western larch * PICO; *Pinus contorta*; lodgepole pine * PIEN; *Picea engelmannii*, Engelmann spruce; * PIMO; *Pinus monticola*, western white pine * PIPO; *Pinus ponderosa*, ponderosa pine * PISI; *Picea sitchensis*, sitka spruce * PSME; *Pseudotsuga menziesii*, Douglas-fir * THPL; *Thuja plicata*, western redcedar * TSHE; *Tsuga heterophylla*, western hemlock ### **File: DEM_and_ClimateNA_data.zip** **Description:** PNW_DEM.GeoTIFF: Digital Elevation Model for the PNW study area (elevation in m) **Usage:** GeoTIFF raster files can be opened using R, Python, or GIS software such as ESRI ArcGIS or QGIS. The following fields list the properties of the DEM raster. SpatRaster is a format easily read in R by packages such as terra. Dimesions indicates the number of cells in the raster. extent is the boundaries of longitude and latitude. coord. ref. indicates the coordinate reference system being used to project the raster. name indicates the layer in the raster, which in this case is just the elevation in each cell. **DEM properties:** PNW_DEM.GeoTIFF: Digital Elevation Model for the PNW study area (elevation in meters) class : SpatRaster dimensions : 6593, 7332, 1 (nrow, ncol, nlyr) resolution : 0.004166667, 0.004166667 (x, y) extent : -139.0501, -108.5001, 32.52903, 59.99986 (xmin, xmax, ymin, ymax) coord. ref. : lon/lat WGS 84 (EPSG:4326) source : PNW_DEM.GeoTIFF name : elev min value : -82 max value : 4352 **Description of climate data:** Climate data from ClimateNA v7.42 ([https://climatena.ca/Versions](https://climatena.ca/Versions)) Raster data are based on PNW_DEM.GeoTIFF elev: elevation (m), long: longitude, lat: latitude, photo: photoperiod (h) TD to PAS and TD.t to PAS.t are non-normalized and normalized climate variables described in Table S2 of the manuscript Photoperiod is the daylength (hours) on the date midway between the summer solstice and autumnal equinox File names denote historical data (Normal) or future projections (e.g., ssp126 is Shared Socioeconomic Pathway SSP1-2.6 and ssp585 is SSP5-8.5). The time period in years is shown after the SSP. CNA_v742_Normal_1941_1970.GeoTIFF: Historical climate for years 1941-1970 CNA_v742_Normal_1951_1980.GeoTIFF: Historical climate for years 1951-1980 CNA_v742_Normal_1961_1990.GeoTIFF: Historical climate for years 1961-1990 CNA_v742_Normal_1971_2000.GeoTIFF: Historical climate for years 1971-2000 CNA_v742_Normal_1981_2010.GeoTIFF: Historical climate for years 1981-2010 CNA_v742_Normal_1991_2020.GeoTIFF: Historical climate for years 1991-2020 CNA_v742_ssp126_2011-2040.GeoTIFF: Projected climate for SSP1-2.6 and years 2011-2040 CNA_v742_ssp126_2041-2070.GeoTIFF: Projected climate for SSP1-2.6 and years 2041-2070 CNA_v742_ssp126_2071-2100.GeoTIFF: Projected climate for SSP1-2.6 and years 2071-2100 CNA_v742_ssp245_2011-2040.GeoTIFF: Projected climate for SSP2-4.5 and years 2011-2040 CNA_v742_ssp245_2041-2070.GeoTIFF: Projected climate for SSP2-4.5 and years 2041-2070 CNA_v742_ssp245_2071-2100.GeoTIFF: Projected climate for SSP2-4.5 and years 2071-2100 CNA_v742_ssp370_2011-2040.GeoTIFF: Projected climate for SSP3-7.0 and years 2011-2040 CNA_v742_ssp370_2041-2070.GeoTIFF: Projected climate for SSP3-7.0 and years 2041-2070 CNA_v742_ssp370_2071-2100.GeoTIFF: Projected climate for SSP3-7.0 and years 2071-2100 CNA_v742_ssp585_2011-2040.GeoTIFF: Projected climate for SSP5-8.5 and years 2011-2040 CNA_v742_ssp585_2041-2070.GeoTIFF: Projected climate for SSP5-8.5 and years 2041-2070 CNA_v742_ssp585_2071-2100.GeoTIFF: Projected climate for SSP5-8.5 and years 2071-2100 ### **File: Landfire_current_forest.zip** **Description:** LANDFIRE's (LF) Remap Forest Canopy Height (CH) describes the average height of the top of the canopy for a stand. Units are meters * 10; to retrieve the actual canopy height for a given pixel, simply divide by 10. 0 values = All non-forest values, including herbaceous and most shrub systems and non-burnable types such as urban, barren, snow and ice, and agriculture. We considered CH &lt; 1.8 meters as non-forest. **Data description:** CONUS (LF 2.0.0) 2020 Originator: LANDFIRE, Earth Resources Observation and Science Center (EROS), U.S. Geological Survey Publication_Date: 20200821 Title: LANDFIRE Remap Forest Canopy Height (CH) CONUS Edition: LF Remap Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: raster digital data Publication_Information: Publication_Place: Sioux Falls, SD Publisher: Earth Resources Observation and Science Center (EROS), U.S. Geological Survey Online_Linkage: [https://www.landfire.gov](https://www.landfire.gov) [https://landfire.gov/DataDictionary/LF2022/LF22_CHADD_230.pdf](https://landfire.gov/DataDictionary/LF2022/LF22_CHADD_230.pdf) Downloaded Landfire folders are: lf03286973_US_200CH_20, lf30950836_US_200CH_20, lf32985649_US_200CH_20, lf68573756_US_200CH_20, lf81075964_US_200CH_20, lf93281274_US_200CH_20 Landfire_CH_forest.GeoTIFF: Raster data for Forest Canopy Height (forest_CH) and percent of area forested (forest_pct) based on PNW_DEM.GeoTIFF Landfire_CH_forest.R: R script used to create Landfire_CH_forest.GeoTIFF LANDFIRE Forest Canopy Height Attribute Data Dictionary.pdf ### **PDF files (Zenodo upload)** Table S1 - Sources of zone shapefiles and citations.pdf Table S2 - Climate variable abbreviations, definitions, and units **These files are hosted on Zenodo** ## **Code/software** All software is written in R 4.4.2. The script Data_archive*_*files.R contains code for reading archive files and is hosted on Zenodo. Packages used to run the code in this archive are: * data.table * sp * terra * DT * leaflet * sf * shiny * shinydashboard * shinyBS * shinybusy * shinyjs * shinyWidgets * tableHTML * tidyverse * xlsx * raster