Metadata
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| (In alphabetical order) |
California Rare Plant Rank
The California Rare Plant Rank status applies to plants only. The California Rare Plant Ranks are a ranking system originally developed by the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) to better define and categorize rarity in California's flora. These ranks were previously known as the CNPS lists but were renamed to the California Rare Plant Ranks to better reflect the joint effort among the CNPS, the CNDDB, and a wide range of botanical experts, who work together to assign a rarity ranking. All plants tracked by the CNDDB are assigned to a California Rare Plant Rank category. These categories are:
| CA Rare Plant Rank | Description |
| 1A | Plants presumed extinct in California and rare/extinct elsewhere |
| 1B.1 | Plants rare, threatened, or endangered in California and elsewhere; seriously threatened in California |
| 1B.2 | Plants rare, threatened, or endangered in California and elsewhere; fairly threatened in California |
| 1B.3 | Plants rare, threatened, or endangered in California and elsewhere; not very threatened in California |
| 2A | Plants presumed extirpated in California, but more common elsewhere |
| 2B.1 | Plants rare, threatened, or endangered in California, but more common elsewhere; seriously threatened in California |
| 2B.2 | Plants rare, threatened, or endangered in California, but more common elsewhere; fairly threatened in California |
| 2B.3 | Plants rare, threatened, or endangered in California, but more common elsewhere; not very threatened in California |
| 3.1 | Plants about which we need more information; seriously threatened in California |
| 3.2 | Plants about which we need more information; fairly threatened in California |
| 3.3 | Plants about which we need more information; not very threatened in California |
| 4.1 | Plants of limited distribution; seriously threatened in California |
| 4.2 | Plants of limited distribution; fairly threatened in California |
| 4.3 | Plants of limited distribution; not very threatened in California |
California Department of Fish and Wildlife Status
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Status applies to animals only. The possible values for CDFW Status are:
| Status | Description |
| FP | Fully Protected: This classification was the State of California's initial effort to identify and provide additional protection to those animals that were rare or faced possible extinction. Lists were created for fish, amphibians and reptiles, birds and mammals. Most of the species on these lists have subsequently been listed under the state and/or federal endangered species acts. |
| SSC | Species of Special Concern: It is the goal and responsibility of the Department of Fish and Wildlife to maintain viable populations of all native species. To this end, the Department has designated certain vertebrate species as "Species of Special Concern" because declining population levels, limited ranges, and/or continuing threats have made them vulnerable to extinction. The goal of designating species as "Species of Special Concern" is to halt or reverse their decline by calling attention to their plight and addressing the issues of concern early enough to secure their long-term viability. |
| WL | Watch List: The Department of Fish and Wildlife maintains a list consisting of taxa that were previously designated as "Species of Special Concern" but no longer merit that status, or which do not yet meet SSC criteria, but for which there is concern and a need for additional information to clarify status. |
Common Name
The Common Name of an element or taxon, recognized at the state level. The Common Name value for natural communities is the same as that for Scientific Name.
County Name
The name of the California county containing the element data.
Data Status
This field is used to indicate the status of the data for a particular element for a particular area. The possible values for Data Status are:
| Status | Description |
| Mapped | Indicates that there is currently information from the specified quad/county and element within the CNDDB occurrence database. |
| Unprocessed | Indicates that there is not currently any information from that quad/county for that element within the quality-controlled CNDDB occurrence database but there is unprocessed data at the CNDDB waiting to be evaluated. |
| Mapped and Unprocessed | Indicates that there is both: information from the specified quad/county and element within the CNDDB occurrence database and within the CNDDB unprocessed data. |
Element Code
The Element Code is a ten-character code assigned to each element/taxon by NatureServe for data management purposes. These codes are common to all Natural Heritage Programs and Conservation Data Centers both within and outside of the United States and allow efficient inter-jurisdictional communication. The upper level of classification is presented below. Complete coding information is contained in the Natural Heritage Program Operations Manual, TNC, Arlington, Virginia, April 1982, revised June 1988.
| First character | Meaning |
| A | Vertebrate animal |
| C | Community (as in Natural Community or plant community) |
| I | Invertebrate animal |
| N | Non-vascular plant |
| P | Vascular plant |
| O | Other (State trees, etc.; not used by the CNDDB) |
| G | Geologic (not used by the CNDDB) |
Element Type
The Element Type indicates the general taxonomic group that an element falls within. The following Element Types are currently used by the CNDDB:
Animals |
Amphibians |
| Arachnids | |
| Birds | |
| Crustaceans | |
| Fish | |
| Insects | |
| Mollusks | |
| Reptiles | |
Community |
Aquatic |
| Terrestrial | |
Plants |
Bryophytes |
| Lichens | |
| Vascular |
Federal Status
The United States legal status under the Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA).
| Listing Status | Description |
| Endangered | The classification provided to an animal or plant in danger of extinction within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range. |
| Threatened | The classification provided to an animal or plant which is likely to become an Endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range. |
| Proposed Endangered | The classification provided to an animal or plant that is proposed for federal listing as Endangered in the Federal Register under Section 4 of the Endangered Species Act. |
| Proposed Threatened | The classification provided to an animal or plant that is proposed for federal listing as Threatened in the Federal Register under Section 4 of the Endangered Species Act. |
| Candidate | The classification provided to an animal or plant that has been studied by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Service has concluded that it should be proposed for addition to the Federal Endangered and Threatened species list. |
| None | The plant or animal has no federal status. |
| Delisted | The plant or animal was previously listed as Endangered or Threatened, but is no longer listed on the Federal Endangered and Threatened species list. |
(Please see the Federal Register for the current legal definitions of Federal status.)
Quad Code
A code used by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to uniquely identify USGS 7.5 minute quadrangles (quads). The USGS quad code consists of one degree blocks sub-divided into sixty-four 7.5 minute maps. The one degree block is referenced by the latitude and longitude of its southeast corner (e.g., 38121). Individual maps within the block are referenced by an alpha-numeric code. This code originates at the same southeast corner as the one degree block and runs numerically east to west, and alphabetically south to north. This creates a grid allowing maps to be coded by the intersection of these axes (e.g., B5). An example of a complete map code would be 38121B5. The CDFW Quad Code converts this value to an integer by replacing the alpha character with a numeric equivalent (A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, D = 4, E = 5, F = 6, G = 7, H = 8).
Quad Name
The name of the USGS 7.5 minute quadrangle (quad) map containing the element data.
Scientific Name
The Scientific (Latin) Name of a plant or animal or the name of a Natural Community recognized at the state level.
State Status
The State of California legal status.
| Listing Status | Description |
| Endangered | The classification provided to a native species or subspecies of a bird, mammal, fish, amphibian, reptile, or plant which is in serious danger of becoming extinct throughout all, or a significant portion, of its range due to one or more causes, including loss of habitat, change in habitat, overexploitation, predation, competition, or disease. |
| Threatened | The classification provided to a native species or subspecies of a bird, mammal, fish, amphibian, reptile, or plant that, although not presently threatened with extinction, is likely to become an endangered species in the foreseeable future in the absence of special protection and management efforts. |
| Rare | The classification provided to a native plant species, subspecies, or variety when, although not presently threatened with extinction, it is in such small numbers throughout its range that it may become endangered if its present environment worsens. This designation stems from the Native Plant Protection Act of 1977. |
| None | The plant or animal has no state status. |
| Delisted | The plant or animal was previously listed as Endangered, Threatened or Rare but is no longer listed by the State of California. |
| Candidate Endangered | The classification provided to a native species or subspecies of a bird, mammal, fish, amphibian, reptile, or plant that the Fish and Game Commission has formally noticed as being under review by the Department of Fish and Wildlife for addition to the list of endangered species, or a species for which the commission has published a notice of proposed regulation to add the species to the list of endangered species. |
| Candidate Threatened | The classification provided to a native species or subspecies of a bird, mammal, fish, amphibian, reptile, or plant that the Fish and Game Commission has formally noticed as being under review by the Department of Fish and Wildlife for addition to the list of threatened species, or a species for which the commission has published a notice of proposed regulation to add the species to the list of threatened species. |
(See Fish and Game code, sections 1901, 2062, 2067, and 2068 for legal definitions of California State status.)
Taxonomic Sort
This field is used to sort the results into hierarchical taxonomic groupings. When a query is run with the CNDDB QuickView Tool, the results are returned based on this hierarchy so that similar organisms are grouped together (i.e. all birds are grouped together, all amphibians are grouped together, etc.).