Terrestrial Ecosystem Mapping - Database Dictionary
Provides the location and attributes for sensitive and important modified ecosystems throughout Metro Vancouver. Revised Date: January 2026
Terrestrial Ecosystem Mapping (TEM) is the stratification of a landscape into map units, according to a combination of ecological features, including climate, physiography, and vegetation. TEM can include a bioterrain component. Ecosystem mapping provides basic information on the distribution of ecosystems and can be used to inform planning and management. The Metro Vancouver TEM dataset maps ecosystems within the three Water Supply Areas (Coquitlam, Seymour, and Capilano watersheds), the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve, and the Regional Parks system which includes regional parks, regional greenways, ecological conservancy areas, and regional park reserves. The Metro Vancouver TEM follows provincial TEM standards (BC Standard for Terrestrial Ecosystem Mapping in British Columbia), with some non-standard mapping units used where needed. TEM data for the three Water Supply Areas and the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve was created between 1994 and 1998. Capilano, Seymour and the LSCR were updated in 2025 by a contractor using provincial 3D imagery. Coquitlam is currently being updated. The Regional Parks system TEM was initially developed between 2000 and 2006, with a few individual parks updated between 2008 and 2018. A complete review of Regional Parks TEM was conducted in 2022 based on 2020 orthophotos, and any changes were reflected in the mapping. This update also improved mapping of wetlands by assigning BC Wetland Classification codes wherever possible. Published Date - September 2025. Last Update - August 2025
The Metro Vancouver TEM data was created according to the British Columbia standards for ecosystem mapping at scales of 1:5,000 to 1:50,000. These mapping standards use a three-level classification hierarchy of ecological units, including ecoregion units and biogeoclimatic units at broader levels, and site units and vegetation developmental stages (combined as ecosystem units) at a more detailed scale. Ecoregion classification is hierarchical, with five levels of generalization; the lowest level, ecosection, is used here. Biogeoclimatic classification includes four levels, including zone, subzone, variant, and phase. Ecoregion and biogeoclimatic units are broad-level delineations derived from provincial maps. Within these broader units, site-level polygons describe ecosystem units composed of site series, site modifiers, and structural stages. At the first stage of ecosystem mapping, ecosystem units are delineated on aerial photographs. To draw and label polygons, the mapper considers vegetation, topographic, and sometimes terrain (surficial geology) features. Site and vegetation attributes are recorded in a polygon database, and final map completed. The polygons are digitized and compiled in a geographic information system.
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Additional Info
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| Last Updated | June 16, 2026, 20:17 (UTC) |
| Created | June 16, 2026, 20:17 (UTC) |
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Domain / Topic
Domain or topic of the dataset being cataloged.
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Title
Title for the Dataset.
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Terrestrial Ecosystem Mapping - Database Dictionary |
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Description
A description of the dataset.
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Provides the location and attributes for sensitive and important modified ecosystems throughout Metro Vancouver. Revised Date: January 2026 Terrestrial Ecosystem Mapping (TEM) is the stratification of a landscape into map units, according to a combination of ecological features, including climate, physiography, and vegetation. TEM can include a bioterrain component. Ecosystem mapping provides basic information on the distribution of ecosystems and can be used to inform planning and management. The Metro Vancouver TEM dataset maps ecosystems within the three Water Supply Areas (Coquitlam, Seymour, and Capilano watersheds), the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve, and the Regional Parks system which includes regional parks, regional greenways, ecological conservancy areas, and regional park reserves. The Metro Vancouver TEM follows provincial TEM standards (BC Standard for Terrestrial Ecosystem Mapping in British Columbia), with some non-standard mapping units used where needed. TEM data for the three Water Supply Areas and the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve was created between 1994 and 1998. Capilano, Seymour and the LSCR were updated in 2025 by a contractor using provincial 3D imagery. Coquitlam is currently being updated. The Regional Parks system TEM was initially developed between 2000 and 2006, with a few individual parks updated between 2008 and 2018. A complete review of Regional Parks TEM was conducted in 2022 based on 2020 orthophotos, and any changes were reflected in the mapping. This update also improved mapping of wetlands by assigning BC Wetland Classification codes wherever possible. Published Date - September 2025. Last Update - August 2025 The Metro Vancouver TEM data was created according to the British Columbia standards for ecosystem mapping at scales of 1:5,000 to 1:50,000. These mapping standards use a three-level classification hierarchy of ecological units, including ecoregion units and biogeoclimatic units at broader levels, and site units and vegetation developmental stages (combined as ecosystem units) at a more detailed scale. Ecoregion classification is hierarchical, with five levels of generalization; the lowest level, ecosection, is used here. Biogeoclimatic classification includes four levels, including zone, subzone, variant, and phase. Ecoregion and biogeoclimatic units are broad-level delineations derived from provincial maps. Within these broader units, site-level polygons describe ecosystem units composed of site series, site modifiers, and structural stages. At the first stage of ecosystem mapping, ecosystem units are delineated on aerial photographs. To draw and label polygons, the mapper considers vegetation, topographic, and sometimes terrain (surficial geology) features. Site and vegetation attributes are recorded in a polygon database, and final map completed. The polygons are digitized and compiled in a geographic information system. |
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Tags / Keywords
Keywords/tags categorizing the dataset.
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Format (CSV, XLS, TXT, PDF, etc)
File format of the dataset.
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Dataset Size
Dataset size in megabytes.
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549.02 |
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Metadata Identifier
Metadata identifier – can be used as the unique identifier for catalogue entry
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Published Date
Published date of the dataset.
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2026-03-27 |
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Time Period Data Span (start date)
Start date of the data in the dataset.
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Time Period Data Span (end date)
End date of time data in the dataset.
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GeoSpatial Area Data Span
A spatial region or named place the dataset covers.
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Access category
Type of access granted for the dataset (open, closed, service, etc).
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public |
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License
License used to access the dataset.
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Open Government License |
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Limits on use
Limits on use of data.
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Location
Location of the dataset.
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https://open-data-portal-metrovancouver.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/metrovancouver::terrestrial-ecosystem-mapping-database-dictionary |
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Data Service
Data service for accessing a dataset.
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Owner
Owner of the dataset.
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agoladmin2_metrovancouver |
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Contact Point
Who to contact regarding access?
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Metro Vancouver |
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Contact Point Email
The email to contact regarding access?
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[email protected] |
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Publisher
Publisher of the dataset.
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Metro Vancouver |
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Publisher Email
Email of the publisher.
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Author
Author of the dataset.
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agoladmin2_metrovancouver |
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Author Email
Email of the author.
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Accessed At
Date the data and metadata was accessed.
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2026-03-27 |
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Identifier
Unique identifier for the dataset.
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6a400bffb4244e44a0dcc5503d6398b9 |
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Language
Language(s) of the dataset
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English |
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Link to dataset description
A URL to an external document describing the dataset.
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https://open-data-portal-metrovancouver.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/metrovancouver::terrestrial-ecosystem-mapping-database-dictionary |
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Persistent Identifier
Data is identified by a persistent identifier.
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Globally Unique Identifier
Data is identified by a persistent and globally unique identifier.
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Contains data about individuals
Does the data hold data about individuals?
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Contains data about identifiable individuals
Does the data hold identifiable data about individual?
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Contains Indigenous Data
Does the data hold data about Indigenous communities?
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Portal Type
Platform type of the source portal.
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Version
Version of the datatset
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None |
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Source
Source of the dataset.
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None |
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Version notes
Version notes about the dataset.
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Is version of another dataset
Link to dataset that it is a version of.
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Other versions
Link to datasets that are versions of it.
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Provenance Text
Provenance Text of the data.
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Metro Vancouver |
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Provenance URL
Provenance URL of the data.
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Temporal resolution
Describes how granular the date/time data in the dataset is.
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GeoSpatial resolution in meters
Describes how granular (in meters) geospatial data is in the dataset.
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GeoSpatial resolution (in regions)
Describes how granular (in regions) geospatial data is in the dataset.
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Indigenous Community Permission
Who holds the Indigenous Community Permission. Who to contact regarding access to a dataset that has data about Indigenous communities.
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Community Permission
Community permission (who gave permission).
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The Indigenous communities the dataset is about
Indigenous communities from which data is derived.
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Number of data rows
If tabular dataset, total number of rows.
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Number of data columns
If tabular dataset, total number of unique columns.
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Number of data cells
If tabular dataset, total number of cells with data.
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Number of data relations
If RDF dataset, total number of triples.
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Number of entities
If RDF dataset, total number of entities.
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Number of data properties
If RDF dataset, total number of unique properties used by the triples.
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Data quality
Describes the quality of the data in the dataset.
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Metric for data quality
A metric used to measure the quality of the data, such as missing values or invalid formats.
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