Predicted prehuman forest ecosystem functional groups

Spatial predictions of prehuman non-wetland forest cover across mainland New Zealand, classified into two IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (GET) Level 3 Ecosystem Functional Groups (EFGs): T2.3 Oceanic cool temperate rainforests and T2.4 Warm temperate laurophyll forests. Predictions represent the likely distribution of forest prior to human arrival (c. 1280 AD) and associated land-use change, modelled using a hierarchical Bayesian joint species distribution model fitted to 12,961 vegetation plots and 13 environmental predictors at 100 m resolution. A classification stability layer is included. This dataset forms version 1.0 of the New Zealand Past Ecosystem Map (PEM), produced for the Ministry for the Environment as part of the National Ecosystem Typology programme.