{ "culture": "en-US", "name": "", "guid": "", "catalogPath": "", "snippet": "The Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre (SKCDC) serves the Saskatchewan public by gathering, interpreting and distributing standardized information on the ecological status of provincial wild species and communities. The data are collected and maintained by the SKCDC using a standardized methodology to provide accurate and current biodiversity and conservation information to public and private agencies and individuals. Uses of the data can include: natural resource management, conservation planning, environmental review, biological and ecological research, land acquisition, and economic development. Through aggregation of the wild species data at regional, national, or range-wide scales, these data can be used to examine broad patterns and set priorities in a global context.", "description": "
For more details on the <\/SPAN><\/SPAN>Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre <\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/A>(SKCDC), the rare and endangered species layer, and definitions of conservation ranks, see the SKCDC Training Manual and Data Sharing Agreement: <\/SPAN><\/SPAN>http://www.biodiversity.sk.ca/Docs/SKCDCWildlife-manual.pdf<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/A>. <\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/P> The Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre collects and distributes data on wild species of concern in Saskatchewan. The database contains records of mapped Element Occurrences for tracked elements in Saskatchewan. \u201cElements of Biodiversity\u201d is the term coined by The Nature Conservancy used to refer to a species, subspecies, vegetative community, or a special feature. <\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/P> An Element Occurrence (EO) is an area of land and/or water in which a species or natural community is, or was, present. An EO should have practical conservation value for the Element as evidenced by potential continued (or historical) presence and/or regular recurrence at a given location. An Element Occurrence record has both spatial and tabular components including a mappable feature (i.e., an Element Occurrence Representation) and its supporting database attributes. <\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/P> The definition of what constitutes an EO is specific to the particular element. For species Elements, the EO often corresponds with the local population, but when appropriate may be a portion of a population (e.g., long distance dispersers) or a group of nearby populations (e.g., metapopulation). As an example, an EO of a Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) is defined as one nesting pair, whereas an EO of most plant species is any natural population separated from other such populations by at least 1.6 kilometers. For community Elements, the EO may represent a stand or patch of a natural community, or a cluster of stands or patches of a natural community. <\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/P>