2  From cloud to local

Running the analysis for the Red List of Ecosystems assessment of the target macrogroup requires downloading and preparing data from different sources.

Some steps can be performed in a local environment, while others require the use of cloud services.

We first set-up the local folder for downloading local data. Then provide an overview of digital assets for the project and external data sources used as input data for some steps of the assessment. The next chapters will provide detailed instructions for data download and preparation.

2.1 Local folder

Before downloading all data, we will start by creating a local folder to keep the data handy for analysis.

For R sessions, we use functions from the here package to find the relative path where we create a folder to hold the downloaded data.

here::i_am("data-preparation/download-osf.qmd")

here() starts at /Users/z3529065/proyectos/Forests-Americas/RLE-example-dry-forest-guajira

target_dir <- "downloaded-data"
if (!file.exists(here::here(target_dir)))
  dir.create(here::here(target_dir))

We use the function dir to get a list of the data already found in that folder.

dir(here::here(target_dir))

 [1] "1.A.1.Ei.563---Guajiran-Seasonal-Dry-Forest-1km.gpkg"        
 [2] "1.A.1.Ei.563---Guajiran-Seasonal-Dry-Forest-1km.gpkg.aux.xml"
 [3] "20181123_MacrogroupsCountry.rda"                             
 [4] "anthromes"                                                   
 [5] "GFC-2024-v1.12"                                              
 [6] "GFC2015"                                                     
 [7] "IVC_NS_v7_270m_RLE_results.csv"                              
 [8] "IVC_NS_v7_270m_robin_categories.tif"                         
 [9] "IVC_NS_v7_270m_robin.tif"                                    
[10] "IVC_NS_v7_270m_unit_information.csv"                         

The list will be empty at the beginning of the project but will keep growing as we go through each session of data download.

Now we are ready to download the necessary data from different cloud storage services and repositories.

2.2 Project data

The data from the RLE assessment is available in several repositories as shown in the following table. The column instructions links to the sections that document data download and preparation for each source.

Reference	Repository	Data	Instructions
Ferrer-Paris (2018)	figshare	Rdata tables with summaries of assessment	Chapter 3
Ferrer-Paris and Zager (2021)	Zenodo	Supporting information for the assessment
Ferrer-Paris (2023)	OSF project	No data (Links to project components)
Ferrer-Paris (2024)	OSF project component	Vector maps	Chapter 4
Ferrer-Paris (2025)	OSF project component	Raster maps	Chapter 4
Non public project asset	Earth Engine	Raster maps (Image)	Chapter 5

2.3 External data (inputs for assessment)

Data inputs for the variables and indicators used in the assessment include:

• Anthromes v2.0 (Ellis et al. 2010), see Chapter 6, and
• Global Forest Change (Hansen et al. 2013, various versions), see Chapter 7 for downloading and preparing local copies and Chapter 5 for access through Earth Engine.

Ellis, Erle C., Kees Klein Goldewijk, Stefan Siebert, Deborah Lightman, and Navin Ramankutty. 2010. “Anthropogenic Transformation of the Biomes, 1700 to 2000.” Global Ecology and Biogeography 19 (5): 589–606. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00540.x.

Ferrer-Paris, José Rafael. 2018. “IUCN Red List of Ecosystem assessment results for IVC Forest Macrogroups in the Americas region.” figshare. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.7488872.v1.

———. 2023. “Lista Roja de Ecosistemas de UICN de Los Bosques de Las Américas.” OSF. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/M6AFP.

———. 2024. “Datos Espaciales de La Evaluación de Lista Roja de Ecosistemas de Los Bosques de Las Américas.” OSF. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/WME3B.

———. 2025. “Resultados de La Evaluación de Lista Roja de Ecosistemas de Los Bosques de Las Américas.” OSF. osf.io/57bcv.

Ferrer-Paris, José Rafael, and Irene Zager. 2021. “IUCN Red List of Ecosystems of the Forest Macrogroups of the Americas: First Release of Original Dataset.” Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5168500.

Hansen, M. C., P. V. Potapov, R. Moore, M. Hancher, S. A. Turubanova, A. Tyukavina, D. Thau, et al. 2013. “High-Resolution Global Maps of 21st-Century Forest Cover Change.” Science 342 (6160): 850–53. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1244693.