Model inputs and outputs used for the development of the Everglades Vulnerability Analysis (EVA) vegetation model

Tools that accurately and reliably forecast potential ecological responses to both climate variability and natural resource management can improve the decision process, especially for landscapes where decision points occur iteratively across time. In the Everglades, natural resource practitioners use models and decision support tools to assist their evaluations of restoration progress, to choose between competing restoration plans, and to think about how long-term climate shifts may impact future restoration progress. The Everglades Vulnerability Analysis (EVA) is a modeling framework that takes a system-wide landscape-scale approach to forecast ecological responses directly tailored for Everglades restoration and management decisions across a decade or longer time span. The vegetation model within the EVA framework was updated and refined to provide more utility as a decision-support tool for Everglades restoration practitioners. This data release includes a crosswalk table used to translate fine-scale vegetation communities to the 11 broader vegetation communities used in EVA vegetation. Additionally, we include the water depth and salinity inputs along with the model predicted output used to demonstrate EVA’s ability to predict changes in vegetation cover due to changing water depth and salinity conditions across the landscape.