Projected Biogeoclimatic Units and Tree Suitability for Western North America

Biogeoclimatic Projections provide raster data for Western North America across five future 20-year periods from 2001 to 2100. The dataset includes 37 rasters for BGC unit classifications and 450 rasters for tree species environmental suitability and change. It was produced by the Government of British Columbia using an ensemble of 60 global climate model projections.

Use Cases

• Analyze shifts in the ensemble vote winner BGC zone across the five 20-year time periods to model ecosystem migration.
• Assess Tree Species Environmental Suitability projections for 15 species across 3 edatopes to inform reforestation planning.
• Map climatic novelty estimates for all BGC projections to identify areas where future climates lack current analogs.
• Compare BGC projections for the 5 representative global climate model simulations to understand projection uncertainty.

Strengths

• Provides projections for five distinct future time periods (2001-2020, 2021-2040, 2041-2060, 2061-2080, 2081 2100).
• Includes 450 raster layers dedicated to Tree Species Environmental Suitability and change for 15 species.
• Based on an ensemble of 60 global climate model projections, offering a consensus view.
• Covers observed climate periods (1961-1990 and 2001-2020) for baseline comparison.

Limitations

• Data is raster-based (TIF files), requiring GIS software for analysis, not a simple tabular format.
• Projections are limited to Western North America, not a global or comprehensive national scope.
• Future climate projections contain inherent model uncertainty not quantified in the provided data layers.

Provenance

Source

Government of British Columbia.

Collection Method

Spatial projections generated from an ensemble of 60 global climate models and classified by biogeoclimatic unit.

Time Range

1961-1990 to 2081-2100, with focus on five future 20-year periods in the 21st century.

Freshness

Updated March 2026, indicating active maintenance.

Geography

Western North America.