The Quebec Natural Heritage Data Center (CDPNQ) is the most comprehensive information management system on species in a precarious situation in Quebec. It broadcasts more than 6,700 occurrences of floristic species for 506 species in a precarious situation. This information is the source data used to generate ranges.

By definition, a range is a generalized geographic area where a species occurs without taking into account its particular habitat needs. This information is particularly useful for planning inventories or supporting the planning of conservation projects.

The creation of ranges for all species in precarious situations in Quebec is an exercise that can be particularly complex, due in particular to the number of species involved, the evolutionary nature of the geomatic information available and the natural spatial distribution of species.

The project for the automated creation of distribution areas was developed in order to avoid the problems raised previously. This approach makes it possible to provide, for all plant species in precarious situations in Quebec, a product that is standardized, reliable, easily reproducible and much easier to maintain.

Each range has up to three “zones”: “presence,” “historical,” and “possible presence.” These three zones are defined according to the viability ratings and the level of precision of the occurrences of the species present in each ecological district.**This third party metadata element was translated using an automated translation tool (Amazon Translate).**