The Appalachian Elktoe Potential Habitat dataset is a polygon layer depicting high, moderate and low potential habitat locations for Appalachian Elktoe in NC counties.

Appalachian Elktoe(Alasmidonta raveneliana) is known only from the mountain streams of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. Although the complete historical range of the Appalachian elktoe is unknown, available information suggests that the species once lived in the majority of the rivers and larger creeks of the upper Tennessee River system in North Carolina. In Tennessee, the species is known only from its present range in the main stem of the Nolichucky River. The elktoe has been reported from relatively shallow, mediumsized creeks and rivers with cool, clean, well-oxygenated, moderate- to fast-flowing water. The species is most often found in riffles, runs, and shallow flowing pools with stable, relatively silt-free, coarse sand and gravel substrate associated with cobble, boulders, and/or bedrock. Stability of the substrate appears to be critical to the Appalachian elktoe, and the species is seldom found in stream reaches with accumulations of silt or shifting sand, gravel, or cobble. Individuals that have been encountered in these areas are believed to have been scoured out of upstream areas during periods of heavy rain, and have not been found on subsequent surveys.

The three levels are: Low, Moderate, and High Probability of Potential Habitat (based on similarity of environmental conditions to those found at known occurrence locations). The category thresholds were set based on the distribution of predicted values for known habitat. The High-Moderate threshold is set at the level where 90% of the observed potential habitat (species presence and reviewer judgments) falls within the High category (Presence Percent Correctly Classified). The Moderate-Low threshold were set at the level where 8% of the observed potential habitat (species presence and reviewer judgments) falls within the Moderate category and 2% within the Low category. The final thresholds for this species are 0.271 and 0.583 for the Low-Moderate and Moderate-High thresholds, respectively. Lower thresholds result in more of the range labelled as High probability of habitat and greater misclassification of known non-habitat locations. Higher thresholds result in more of the range labelled as Low probability of habitat and greater misclassification of known habitat locations.

Given the larger spatial unit of ecological models and ecological characteristics of aquatic species, the landscape scale environmental attributes of potential habitat varied greatly among sites and could closely resembled non-habitat sites. It is important to remember that potential habitat (and non-habitat) can occur at any classification level within a catchment and must be verified by a qualified biologist.

For more information please click here https://xfer.services.ncdot.gov/gisdot/Metadata/Atlas/TechDocs/

Datasets developed under Project ATLAS do not replace any NRTR work for future projects and may not be used as a replacement for site visits / field surveys by qualified professionals and hence should be used only as a supporting platform for decision making. Use of this dataset for project scoping or screening is merely pre-decisional.