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    • Climate Suitability Models

    Metadata Updated: January 21, 2026

    These data were compiled to assess potential changes in the climatic suitability for 66 species (dominant and associate plant species) within major plant communities in the southwestern United States. An objective of our study was that species within plant communities have unique climate suitability signatures and forecast changes in climatic suitability will not be uniform within the species respective communities or among species within the community. We developed these spatial models of climate suitability under a modern baseline (1960-90) and future climate scenario (2041-2060) using Maxent and WorldClim temperature and precipitation variables. Plant species were chosen that are characteristic species of plant communities in the southwest as mapped by GAP/LANDFIRE National Terrestrial Ecosystems v1 (USGS-Core Science Analytics, Synthesis, and Library – Gap Analysis Project, 2011). Monthly average minimum and maximum temperature and monthly total precipitation values were acquired from WorldClim v1.4 for current climate conditions and Community Climate System Model 4.0 (CCSM4, Gent et al. 2011) representative concentration pathway (rcp) models, 4.5 and 8.5, for the future climate scenario.

    Access & Use Information

    Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

    Downloads & Resources

    Dates

    Metadata Created Date January 11, 2026
    Metadata Updated Date January 21, 2026

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

    Other Data Resources

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Created Date January 11, 2026
    Metadata Updated Date January 21, 2026
    Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
    Maintainer
    Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/USGS_63853874d34ed907bf779908
    Data Last Modified 2022-12-01T00:00:00Z
    Category geospatial
    Public Access Level public
    Bureau Code 010:12
    Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
    Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
    Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
    Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
    Datagov Dedupe Retained 20260121130127
    Harvest Object Id 40993b6e-2289-4532-8f25-991fef73f92c
    Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
    Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
    Metadata Type geospatial
    Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -120.1400, 31.3250, -120.1400, 42.0100, -104.5200, 42.0100, -104.5200, 31.3250, -120.1400, 31.3250}
    Source Datajson Identifier True
    Source Hash a14d536b01db007bb9aff33e7c3cd420659530fe5b04a3ced0adff7d506d2cd8
    Source Schema Version 1.1
    Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -120.1400, 31.3250, -120.1400, 42.0100, -104.5200, 42.0100, -104.5200, 31.3250, -120.1400, 31.3250}

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