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, site establishment 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.
The TSM study areas were the USDA-defined Great Valley (GV) and Mojave Desert (MD) ecoregions, truncated to California state boundaries. A grid of hexagons adapted from the USDA Forest Inventory and Analysis program, each having an approximate radius of 2,600 meters, was used as the sampling frame. Initially, a spatially-balanced, stratified random sampling approach was used to identify hexagons to be included in the study. Vegetation maps from a variety of sources were used to calculate the total cover of key lifeforms within each ecoregion. These lifeforms were determined based not only on distinct categories of vegetation, but also on habitats or features known or thought to be important to wildlife. A spatially-balanced random sample was drawn for the Mojave Desert ecoregion, while site selection in the Great Valley was more opportunistic based on the greater proportion of private land ownership.To select discrete survey locations within the hexagons, a finer-scale grid of approximately 2,400 points spaced 100 meters apart was created within each selected hexagon; for parcels that did not encompass an entire hexagon, the 100-meter grid was limited to the area within the parcel boundary. Generally, two survey points located 1,000-2,000 meters apart were selected in each hexagon. Initial points were identified by assigning random numbers to all of the grid points in each hexagon, and then selecting the lowest numbered points that met other constraints, including stratified sampling goals and land access restrictions. On rare occasions, more than two sites were located within a given hexagon, but the preferred practice was to avoid duplication or monitoring in adjacent hexagons. Study sites were not repeated between the two years, so that the entire monitoring effort comprised unique locations.
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Extent
| West | -122.262150 | East | -113.842257 |
| North | 40.217404 | South | 33.862025 |
| 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.