River Network for Coastal Marten Connectivity Modeling in Oregon and California

A rivers data layer derived from the USGS National Hydrography Dataset (2013) and used to model landscape resistance for the coastal marten (Martes caurina humboldtensis). The layer incorporates stream lines from Strahler stream orders 4 to 10, with resistance values assigned based on estimated difficulty for martens to cross. The dataset was created by the Department of the Interior and last updated on March 4, 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling landscape resistance for the coastal marten based on river and stream features.
• Analyzing potential barriers to wildlife movement using Strahler stream order classifications.
• Integrating linear hydrological features into least-cost path or connectivity analyses.
• Assessing the impact of major rivers like the Klamath, Rogue, and Columbia on species dispersal.

Strengths

• Derived from the authoritative USGS National Hydrography Dataset (2013).
• Incorporates a hierarchical classification (Strahler stream order 4-10) to weight river barriers.
• Explicitly models linear features as 30m-wide pixels to minimize artificial breaks in barriers.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The description is noted as abbreviated and incomplete, requiring reference to spatial metadata for full methods.

Provenance

Source

Department of the Interior, using the USGS National Hydrography Dataset.

Collection Method

Developed from the NHDFlowline vector features and NHDFlowlineVAA attribute table within NHD geodatabases for Oregon and California.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-04 08:21:03.461690; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Modeling extent covering parts of Oregon and California, USA, referencing specific rivers like the Klamath, Rogue, Coquille, Umpqua, Eel, Smith, Siuslaw, Alsea, and Columbia.