File Geodatabase Feature Class
Tags
TSM, Terrestrial Species Stressor Monitoring, drought, central valley, Great Valley, Mojave Desert, environment, California, biodiversity, bird, bat, reptile, amphibian, vegetation, quadrat survey
In response to a drought State of Emergency declared by the Governor in January 2014 and subsequent executive orders, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) was charged to implement projects that respond to drought conditions through habitat restoration and other measures. To provide scientific information necessary to meet these conservation challenges, leadership at CDFW prioritized establishment of a statewide resource assessment program, one component of which would be to monitor wildlife populations and their vulnerability to drought stressors. The purpose of Terrestrial Species Stressor Monitoring (TSM) was to begin the monitoring process by collecting baseline survey data on a wide variety of common wildlife species throughout the Great Valley and Mojave Desert ecoregions. Data collected at some or all study sites include infrared camera trap images, ultrasonic acoustic recordings, audible acoustic recordings, visual encounter surveys for reptiles and amphibians, avian point counts, and vegetation surveys. The data will be used to estimate occupancy and abundance of wildlife species and to model associations with drought and other habitat conditions.
A total of 36 visual encounter quadrat surveys were conducted at a subset of study sites in the Great Valley between April and July 2016. A time-constrained search of 1 hour was conducted within a one-hectare quadrat, which was positioned to overlap survey site center and to be representative of the lifeform associated with the survey site. Waypoints were established at the four corners of a 100m by 100m square, and a single observer systematically surveyed by visually searching for any surface-active reptiles, amphibians, or other terrestrial vertebrates, while also checking under cover objects, crevices, and within burrows using a hand mirror. For each encounter, the observer noted time, substrate, and behavior such as basking, foraging, courtship/reproduction, territoriality, and fleeing. As with transect surveys, all wildlife sign (tracks, scat, burrows, nests) were noted.
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License: This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ). Using the citation standards recommended for BIOS datasets ( https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Data/BIOS/Citing-BIOS ) satisfies the attribution requirements of this license.
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 | -122.044724 | East | -118.906010 |
| North | 39.637979 | South | 35.235456 |
| Maximum (zoomed in) | 1:5,000 |
| Minimum (zoomed out) | 1:150,000,000 |
License: This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ). Using the citation standards recommended for BIOS datasets ( https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Data/BIOS/Citing-BIOS ) satisfies the attribution requirements of this license.
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.