File Geodatabase Feature Class
Tags
Coastal Sage Scrub, Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan, Community sampling, Vegetation, biota, environment, Riverside County, California
The primary goal for coastal sage scrub monitoring in 2004 was to begin characterizing plant and animal communities in coastal sage scrub and transition zones between CSS and non-native grassland habitats at different sites across the Plan Area. Other objectives of the study were to identify taxa and processes that could be monitored to indicate the quality of habitat at a particular location or that were associated with Covered Species, to develop initial community sampling protocols, and to gather location data for use in niche modeling (CCB 2005).
The University of California Riverside's Center for Conservation Biology (CCB) began developing methods and collecting data to describe coastal sage scrub and riparian communities in the Western Riverside County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (WRCMSHCP) preserve system as part of the Community Monitoring Program (Barrows et al. 2005; CCB 2005). This data was used to help determine the status of many of the 146 species protected by the WRCMSHCP plan and provide information on ecological relationships and processes important in managing these communities. Effective monitoring of this community requires characterizing changes in coastal sage scrub habitats, predicting areas susceptible to conversion, and determining how these altered environmental conditions are affecting Covered Species. Eight sites were selected for CSS community monitoring in 2004 based on habitat variation, presence of non-native grasses and level of anthropogenic disturbance. The aim was to characterize the distribution and abundance of native coastal sage scrub shrubs and herbaceous plants in comparison to the distribution of invasive, non-native grasses and herbs (Allen et al. 2005). At each site, a grid of survey points was established that spanned the transition zone from coastal sage scrub to non-native grassland with survey points 250 m apart. These sites were surveyed for vegetation, arthropods, reptiles, small mammals, and birds.
Shrub vegetation was sampled at the CSS grid points using 100-m line transects, which extended in the two opposite directions at the grid point. Transects were surveyed from the central point of the transect outward by one or two biologists. The locations (start and end) that the living foliage of a shrub was observed along the transect were recorded and the height measured (excluding flowering portions). If any portion of the plant was dead, the percent dead was estimated and recorded.
This data layer was compiled as part of the Southern California Data Integration Project and represents the shrub cover data of the CSS community shrub sampling, which was conducted May - August 2004.
REFERENCES
Allen, M.F., John T. Rotenberry, Kristine L. Preston, Ken J. Halama, Tracy Tennant, Cameron W. Barrows, Vanessa Rivera del Rio, Antonio Celis Murrillo, Xiongwen Chen, and Veronique M. Rorive. 2005. CCB 2005: Towards developing a monitoring framework for Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plans. Part I. Center for Conservation Biology. Paper CCB2005. http://repositories.cdlib.org/ccb/CCB2005
Barrows, C.W., M.B. Swartz, W.L. Hodges, M.F. Allen, J.T. Rotenberry, and B.L. Li. 2005. A framework for monitoring multiple species conservation plans. Journal of Wildlife Management 69: 1333-1345.
Center for Conservation Biology. 2005. Western Riverside County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan. Calif. Dept. of Fish and Game, Inland Ecosystems of California: Resource Assessment Program.
Roberts, F.M., Jr., S.D. White, A.C. Sanders, D.E. Bramlett, and S. Boyd. 2004. The Vascular Plants of Western Riverside County, California: An Annotated Checklist. F.M. Roberts Publications, San Luis Rey, CA.
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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.
Recommended Citation: Center for Conservation Biology (CCB). (2005). UCRCCB_CSSshrubcover2004 [ds XXX]. Digital Data. Biogeographic Information and Observation System (BIOS). Retrieved on DATE from http://bios.dfg.ca.gov.
Extent
| West | -117.268840 | East | -116.971011 |
| North | 33.873674 | South | 33.576743 |
| Maximum (zoomed in) | 1:5,000 |
| Minimum (zoomed out) | 1:150,000,000 |
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.
Recommended Citation: Center for Conservation Biology (CCB). (2005). UCRCCB_CSSshrubcover2004 [ds XXX]. Digital Data. Biogeographic Information and Observation System (BIOS). Retrieved on DATE from http://bios.dfg.ca.gov.