SDE Feature Class
Tags
Western Riverside County, California, HCP, inventory, monitoring, animal, plant, invertebrate, species, observation
These data document locations of species at specific places and times. They can be useful for satisfying Western Riverside County MSHCP species-specific monitoring objectives, modeling species-habitat associations, documenting species distributions, and any other presence-only data applications.
Each record represents an observation of a specific species at a given location on a given date and time. Included are data for all MSHCP Covered Species of vertebrates, rare plants, and invertebrates recorded during targeted field surveys. Species not covered by the MSHCP are omitted, unless they are part of the survey protocol, due to the large numbers of observations and typically ubiquitous distributions of these species. Incidental observations of Covered Species made at any time in the field are included, as well as incidental observations of selected non-covered species of interest.
All surveys* were conducted within the MSHCP Conservation Area, as established at the moment of the surveys. However, data in this dataset represent observations made within the boundaries of the Conservation Area as it existed in December 2022. The December 2022 quarterly update of the Conservation Area is the most inclusive representation of the areas that were in conservation in 2022. A buffer of 30 meters around Conservation Area boundaries is allowed to account for error in GPS coordinates recorded in the field. [*Carnivore stations were excluded from this spatial restraint, since they are located along roads and underpasses.]
This dataset is intended for distribution to outside agencies and land managers as documentation of species presence at a specific place and time. These data are useful for satisfying MSHCP species-specific objectives, modeling species-habitat associations, documenting species distributions, and any other presence-only data applications.
Data assumptions and limitations : We assumed that all observers were equally capable of confirming all target species for each taxa-specific survey activity after completing training exercises and passing any required species-identification tests. If known, surveys were conducted within the optimal range of dates, times, and weather conditions to maximize target species detection probability. These data have all been proofed after entry and are now assumed to be free from data entry error. However, if an observer recorded data incorrectly in the field it is possible that those errors persist in this dataset.
This is a presence-only dataset. Because the lack of recorded species observations in a given area may be the result of a lack of surveys in that area or the failure to detect a species during a survey when it is actually present, true absence is not implied by this dataset and should not be inferred.
Known caveats of the data : The Accuracy field (ObsAcc) describes the maximum potential amount of error in the geographic coordinates associated with each observation record. The magnitude of potential error for any observation is the result of survey protocol decisions made to increase data collection efficiency and vary across taxa.
Some observation records were omitted from this dataset because an accurate identification could not be made to the species, subspecies, or variety level. Others were omitted because their coordinates fell beyond 30 meters of the December 2022 Conservation Area boundary. Observations of humans recorded in camera station photographs were also omitted.
Supplemental Information : Because many survey protocols involve gathering data for a specified period of time at a single location, and because survey locations are often repeatedly visited in a given year, many observation locations have multiple observations of the same species or of different species. In the case of carnivore camera stations and Quino Checkerspot Butterfly camera stations, detections of the same species within a defined time period are considered to be the same individual, and the number of individuals of each species is totaled for each day and camera. The time period is 30 minutes for mammal species and 3 minutes for butterflies and other flying insects. Detections of human beings are not included in camera data, but are available upon request.
Additional information and data collected during these surveys (e.g., notes made in the field, environmental conditions and habitat condition made at the time of observation) and about the survey efforts that produced these data are available by request from the Monitoring Program and are summarized where relevant in annually distributed survey reports.
Spatial data capture methods : All spatial data were either recorded in the field using a hand-held GPS unit, digitized in ArcMap, or generated with specialized computer software. Coordinates of field observations were obtained by GPS, recorded on paper datasheets, and manually entered into the MSHCP Biological Monitoring Program Database. Coordinates of sampling stations were generated by computer software when protocols called for random, spatially distributed features (points and transect lines). Station names and coordinates were uploaded into the MSHCP Biological Monitoring Program Database and observations for which additional field coordinates were not collected are represented by these station coordinates.
There are no credits for this item.
Access Constraints: These data are available to public users of BIOS. No portion of this dataset, nor any prior dataset released by the Biological Monitoring Program, should be redistributed without prior written approval from the Biological Monitoring Program or the Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority.
Disclaimer: The State makes no claims, promises, or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, reliability, or adequacy of these data and expressly disclaims liability for errors and omissions in these data. No warranty of any kind, implied, expressed, or statutory, including but not limited to the warranties of non-infringement of third party rights, title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and freedom from computer virus, is given with respect to these data.
Extent
West | -117.686314 | East | -116.550776 |
North | 34.053331 | South | 33.417479 |
Maximum (zoomed in) | 1:5,000 |
Minimum (zoomed out) | 1:150,000,000 |
Access Constraints: These data are available to public users of BIOS. No portion of this dataset, nor any prior dataset released by the Biological Monitoring Program, should be redistributed without prior written approval from the Biological Monitoring Program or the Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority.
Disclaimer: The State makes no claims, promises, or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, reliability, or adequacy of these data and expressly disclaims liability for errors and omissions in these data. No warranty of any kind, implied, expressed, or statutory, including but not limited to the warranties of non-infringement of third party rights, title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and freedom from computer virus, is given with respect to these data.
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