Mohave Ground Squirrel Core Areas and Populations [ds556]

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Mohave ground squirrel, Spermophilus mohavensis, core areas, known populations, California, Mojave Desert, environment, biota, boundaries

Summary

To display the Mohave ground squirrel core areas.

Description

The Mohave ground squirrel (Spermophilus mohavensis) is found only in the western Mojave Desert of California. Although it is listed as Threatened by the State of California, there is little published information regarding its current distribution and status. An analysis of 198 positive records identified 4 core areas that continue to support relatively abundant Mohave ground squirrel populations and 4 other areas in which there are multiple recent records of the species. The Mohave ground squirrel core areas is comprised of data collected over the past 10 years which has made it possible to identify 4 areas within the range of the Mohave ground squirrel that still support relatively abundant and widespread populations. These core areas are defined by 3 criteria. First, there must be evidence that Mohave ground squirrel populations have persisted for a substantial period of time, on the order of 2-3 decades. Second, the species must be currently found at a minimum of 6 locations throughout the area. Third, the total number of individuals detected since 1998 must be greater than 30. The 4 areas that are currently known to satisfy these criteria are Coso/Olancha, Little Dixie Wash, Coolgardie Mesa/Superior Valley, and Edwards Air Force Base. These 4 core areas total about 1,672 km2, or about 8.4% of the entire historic range. During the period 1998-2007, there have been 135 positive records in core areas, accounting for 68.2% of the total 198 positive records. It is important to emphasize that these identified core areas are simply the only important population centers that have been identified thus far. There are very likely to be other core areas in parts of the geographic range that have not been adequately sampled in the last 10 years.

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Use limitations

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.

This information represents one person's best assessment as of 2008 and will undoubtedly change as we learn more. This is not CDFG official data, but was supplied by a private individual, who's ultimately responsible for the accuracy.

Extent

West -118.104742 East -116.755538 North 36.320042 South 34.755037

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Maximum (zoomed in) 1:5,000 Minimum (zoomed out) 1:150,000,000

Topics and Keywords

Themes or categories of the resource biota, boundaries, environment

Content type Downloadable Data

Export to FGDC CSDGM XML format as Resource Description No

Place keywords California, Mojave Desert

Theme keywords Mohave ground squirrel, Spermophilus mohavensis, core areas, known populations

Theme keywords environment, biota, boundaries

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Citation

Title Mohave Ground Squirrel Core Areas and Populations [ds556]

Publication date 2008

Presentation formats digital map

FGDC geospatial presentation format vector digital data

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Responsible party

Organization's name Philip Leitner
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Resource Details

Dataset languages English(UNITED STATES)

Status under development

Spatial representation type vector

Supplemental information

*The paper supporting this dataset can be accessed at: http://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=15148 Coso/Olancha Core Area -- China Lake NAWS sponsored field studies of the Coso Hot Springs area in 1978 that detected 35 Mohave ground squirrels at a number of sites through trapping and visual observations (Zembal and Gall 1980). In the following year, trapping was carried out at 8 sites throughout the Coso Range and in Rose Valley to the west (Leitner 1980). A total of 124 individual Mohave ground squirrels were captured at 7 of the 8 trapping grids. A monitoring program in the Coso Range and Rose Valley from 1988 through 1996 resulted in the capture of over 1400 juvenile and adult Mohave ground squirrels (Leitner and Leitner 1998). Aardahl and Roush (1985) failed to trap the species at a site near Olancha in 1980, but did observe several individuals in the same general area. During each of the past 7 years (2001-2007), Mohave ground squirrels have been trapped at 2 permanent grids in the Coso Range (Leitner 2001, 2006, 2008). A total of 89 adults have been captured over this period. The species has also been detected regularly in the Olancha area, where 29 adult captures were recorded at 5 sites from 2002 to 2005. The Coso/Olancha area clearly qualifies as an important core area, based upon the persistence of Mohave ground squirrel populations here for 30 years, the presence of the species at many sites, and the number of animals detected. Little Dixie Wash Core Area -- Mohave ground squirrels were first recorded in the Little Dixie Wash region in 1931 and 1932, when specimens were collected at Freeman Junction and on the east side of Walker Pass (CNDDB Occ. #21 and #52). Trapping surveys by the BLM in 1974 and 1975 resulted in 17 captures at 7 localities in Dove Springs Canyon and Bird Spring Canyon (CNDDB Occ. #84, #174, #175, and #191-194). Aardahl and Roush (1985) reported capturing a total of 94 individuals (both adults and juveniles) at 6 grids in the Little Dixie Wash area from April-July 1980. Finally, trapping at 2 sites in 1994 yielded a total of 12 Mohave ground squirrels (Scarry et al. 1996). Additional occurrences were documented at 10 other locations in this region during the period 1974-1990. Thus, Mohave ground squirrels were recorded at 27 locations in the Little Dixie Wash area from 1931 through 1996. Recent field studies have been conducted in the Little Dixie Wash area during the period 2002-2007. In 2002, a total of 19 adult Mohave ground squirrels were captured at 6 of 7 grid locations (Leitner 2008). This was followed by more intensive studies at the Freeman Gulch site, with a total of 108 adults and 101 juveniles recorded from 2003 through 2007. Pit-fall trapping for reptiles in the Dove Springs Open Area resulted in the incidental capture of 6 Mohave ground squirrels at 4 different locations. Finally, a trapping survey in 2007 yielded 7 adults at 4 grids near the northern boundary of Red Rock Canyon State Park (Leitner 2008). The Little Dixie Wash core area has supported Mohave ground squirrel populations for over 70 years and recent records confirm that the species is abundant and widespread here. Coolgardie Mesa/Superior Valley Core Area -- Mohave ground squirrels were first discovered in 1977 north of Barstow on the plateau that stretches from Coolgardie Mesa north to Superior Valley (Wessman 1977). The species was detected at 9 locations, with 1-3 individuals reported at each site. In 1980, Aardahl and Roush (1985) trapped 2 grids in Superior Valley, capturing 24 individuals (both adults and juveniles). A total of 24 Mohave ground squirrels were subsequently recorded at 5 sites in 1981 and 1982 (CNDDB Occ. #206-210). In 1994, 4 individuals were captured at 2 trapping grids in this area (Scarry et al. 1996). Two recent surveys have been carried out in the Coolgardie Mesa/Superior Valley area. Trapping at 4 sites in 2002 yielded Mohave ground squirrel captures at each location for a total of 14 adults. A more extensive survey of the Western Expansion Area of Fort Irwin in 2006 and 2007 resulted in 36 individuals captured at 10 of 12 trapping grids. There is clear evidence that Mohave ground squirrels have persisted here for at least 30 years. Recent surveys have documented that the species was present at 14 of 16 trapping sites and in several cases a substantial number of individuals was captured. This core area is at the eastern edge of the range and several captures or observations of animals that appear to be round-tailed ground squirrels have been recorded here. The potential for hybridization in this area between these 2 closely related species should be carefully investigated. Edwards Air Force Base Core Area -- A number of surveys have documented the past occurrence of Mohave ground squirrels on Edwards Air Force Base, with most records located to the north, east, and south of Rogers Dry Lake. The earliest observations were made during the period 1973-1977 in the area south of Rogers Dry Lake (CNDDB Occ. #265). Seventeen Mohave ground squirrels were trapped in 1988 at 3 sites northeast of Rogers Dry Lake (ERC Environmental and Energy Services Company 1989). Additional trapping in 1993 in this same area resulted in captures of many adults and juveniles (Deal et al. 1993, Mitchell et al. 1993). Surveys at Mt. Mesa to the southeast of Rogers Dry Lake yielded 9 Mohave ground squirrels in 1992 (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 1993) and over 30 individuals in 1993 (Deal et al. 1993, Mitchell et al. 1993). A total of 13 Mohave ground squirrels were trapped in 1994 at 4 sites in halophytic saltbush scrub to the south and southwest of Rogers Dry Lake (Buescher et al. 1995). The species was recorded at 4 additional locations to the east of Rogers Dry Lake during the period 1981-1991. Recent field studies have clearly delineated a core area on Edwards Air Force Base, with all Mohave ground squirrel records since 2000 localized to the east and south of Rogers Dry Lake. Trapping surveys were conducted at 19 grids in this area during the period 2000-2005, with a total of 29 adults and 4 juveniles captured at 8 of the study sites (Vanherweg 2000, Leitner 2003, Air Force Field Test Center 2004 and 2005, Leitner 2008). Although no captures were recorded at the 8 grids south of Rogers Dry Lake in 2005, Mohave ground squirrels are known to be present here, based upon 6 incidental observations. Mohave ground squirrel populations have been known in this core area for over 30 years and the large numbers of recent records demonstrate that the species is still well-distributed here. To date, this is the only core area known to exist in the southern part of the range.

Processing environment Microsoft Windows Vista Version 6.1 (Build 7601) Service Pack 1; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.3.1.4095

ArcGIS item properties

Name ds556
Location file://\\geodata.\\ds500-599\556-Mohave_Ground_Squirrel_Core_Areas\v1\v1_final\ds556.gdb

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* West longitude 173343.618900
* East longitude 290976.209000
* South latitude -357502.306400
* North latitude -186786.437600
* Extent contains the resource Yes

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Individual's name Philip Leitner
Organization's name California State University - Stanislaus
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Type Projected
Geographic coordinate reference GCS_North_American_1983
Projection NAD_1983_California_Teale_Albers
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* Value 3310
* Codespace EPSG
* Version 6.8(9.2.0)

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Feature class name ds556

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When the process occurred 2008-08-27
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Date 2021-06-2912:19:02
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