The Crestridge Ecological Reserve (CER) is owned by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and managed by the Endangered Habitats Conservancy (EHC), while the South Crest Preserve Complex which is owned and managed by EHC. Together these properties comprise approximately 4,000 acres of conserved land in San Diego County, CA. They high value species and habitats, and function as a critical linkage between conserved lands in the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge to the south and the Cleveland National Forest to the north and east.
CBI has provided science support for these lands since 2000, including baseline surveys, vegetation mapping, rare plant monitoring, invasive species mapping and management, habitat restoration, and experimental programs to develop or refine Best Management Practices (BMPs) for adaptive management onsite and in the region. In addition, CBI prepared the Habitat Management and Monitoring Plan for Crestridge and is currently preparing the Resource Management Plan for the South Crest Preserve Complex. These activities are documented in reports. Please refer to Data Basin for spatial data:
https://databasin.org/groups/92c7bce8d88d43b3a800dd686195007e/content#expand=22873
https://databasin.org/groups/92c7bce8d88d43b3a800dd686195007e/content#expand=22873%2C22874
https://databasin.org/groups/92c7bce8d88d43b3a800dd686195007e/content#expand=22873%2C28744
https://databasin.org/groups/92c7bce8d88d43b3a800dd686195007e/content#expand=22873%2C28744%2C82726
Southern California NCCPs support edaphic endemic plants that face low genetic diversity due to reduced population sizes, geographic isolation, and loss of pollinators. To enhance the resilience of these species across their ranges, we must manage threats to increase population sizes, identify potentially suitable habitat to connect existing populations, find or restore new populations, and provide opportunities for shifting distributions due to climate change. The Management Strategic Plan for San Diego County requires prioritization and management for edaphic endemic plants, including the five species addressed in this proposal: Acanthomintha ilicifolia, Brodiaea filifolia, Deinandra conjugens, Nolina interrata, and Tetracoccus dioicus. Regional goals include maintaining or expanding existing occurrences or establishing new occurrences to increase resilience to environmental stochasticity, maintaining genetic diversity, and ensuring persistence over the long-term in native plant communities.
This study presents an approach for identifying and describing geographic areas that support edaphic endemic species and their habitat in a design that enhances resilience and provides opportunities for shifting distributions. We developed conceptual models to inform field studies and management, refined soils and vegetation attributes, and assessed regional population structure and threats. We used results to suggest prioritized locations for surveys, management, potential translocation, and additional conservation or acquisition. Project partners (U.S. Geological Survey and San Diego Management and Monitoring Program) modeled suitable habitat for the target species under current and future climate scenarios; we reference models as appropriate.
All target species occur on nutrient poor soils, and each species is associated with a unique suite of physical and chemical soil properties. We provide a range of variables for each species that can inform site selection for management and restoration. Testing soil before enhancing or augmenting small occurrences will allow us to locate suitable sites and eliminate or remediate unsuitable sites with remnant populations before investing management funds.
We used distribution data, habitat suitability models, genetic principles and information to develop regional population structures for each target species. We then identified populations or population groups important for long-term resilience and locations where conservation and management actions would be most beneficial.
Models predict declining habitat in the future for all target species under various climate scenarios, although the amount of predicted habitat remaining varies among species. We recommend conserving future predicted suitable habitat within or beyond San Diego County, and experimentally translocating target species into this habitat as climatic conditions change if monitoring indicates further species declines.
This work contributes to San Diego NCCP subarea plans in progress and other NCCPs. The project area includes the North County MSCP, South County MSCP, and MHCP.
CBI biologists Patricia Gordon-Reedy, Spring Strahm, and Jessie Vinje worked with the San Diego Management and Monitoring Program, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, The Nature Conservancy, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR), and San Diego County land managers on this project. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife funded this work under a Local Assistance Grant.
CBI and AECOM Technical Services, Inc. are coordinating and implementing regional rare plant monitoring in San Diego County to determine status, threats, and management actions for 27 highly restricted rare plants. This work is in partnership with the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), San Diego Management and Monitoring Program (SDMMP), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and San Diego County land managers. Many of these rare plant species are declining due to invasive plants, small population size, or other threats. For some species, status or presence of one or more populations are unknown. Thus, key objectives of the program are to (1) determine current status, (2) document threats and vulnerabilities, and (3) identify appropriate management to ensure long-term species persistence.
CBI worked with project partners to test and refine the Management Strategic Plan (MSP) Inspect and Manage (IMG) rare plant monitoring protocol and data collection methods in 2014 and 2015, and we continue to refine the program, as necessary. Currently, CBI trains land managers and other participants in the IMG protocol method at workshops and in the field, conducts rare plant surveys across the county, compiles and manages survey data, and coordinates with project partners on all project components.
Regional monitoring data identify trends and priorities for management. Monitoring results guide land managers in routine management or provide information so they can apply for regional funding for management actions that exceed routine capacity and budgets. Next steps for the project include assessing rare plant population status and threats through 2021.
The Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP), a major component of California’s renewable energy planning efforts, is designed to provide effective protection and conservation of desert ecosystems while allowing for the appropriate development of renewable energy projects. Approximately 22.5 million acres of federal and non-federal California desert land are in the DRECP Plan Area. The federal portion of plan area was released by the Bureau of Land Management as a Land Use Plan Amendment (LUPA). The project is now transitioning into Phase II, which focuses on county-level planning designed to work in conjunction with the LUPA.
During Phase I of the project, CBI provided science support for this ambitious planning process including a wide range of spatial models and assessments (e.g., species distribution, intactness, conservation value, and climate change). CBI also developed and continues to maintain the DRECP Gateway (launched on September 26, 2014) and various interpretation applications to support the determination of the Final Plan and its implementation. One example of an interpretation application is the DRECP Climate Console, which was designed to allow users to explore climate projections to better understand how climate change could alter ecosystems in the California desert. It provides science-based and actionable climate data to encourage smarter, more comprehensive landscape-level conservation planning efforts and decisions.
During Phase II of the project, CBI is customizing the Gateway to support the adaptive management aspects of the LUPA and to support the county-level planning processes.
To access the gateway, please visit http://drecp.databasin.org/
To access the Climate Console, please visit http://drecp.consbio.webfactional.com/climate
To learn more about the DRECP, please visit www.drecp.org or visit the Data Basin Guide and Case Study about DRECP at http://databasin.org/articles/1408e0eed6754d68a06047aaa0e64c2b
Conserved lands in southern San Diego County form the cornerstone of the San Diego Natural Community Conservation Planning (NCCP) network. This region supports the largest expanse of remaining coastal habitats in southern California—coastal sage scrub, maritime succulent scrub, chaparral, riparian woodlands, vernal pools, and grasslands. Intact landscapes are critical to genetic interchange within plant and animal populations and allow dispersal and recolonization of new areas. Large landscapes that span elevational gradients, such as this core area in south San Diego County, also enable populations to shift in response to environmental and land use changes.
State Route 94 (SR-94) cuts through the heart of this core area, potentially impeding wildlife movement across otherwise intact landscapes. New residential development and a casino under construction in Jamul will increase traffic and potentially impact the wildlife value and connectivity of adjacent conserved lands. Proposed road improvements associated with these new land uses provide an opportunity to mitigate the potential barrier effects of SR-94. Scientific literature suggests that strategically-placed wildlife fencing along roads, combined with effective wildlife crossing areas (e.g., undercrossings, overcrossings, bridges) are the most effective means of influencing animal behavior and directing animal movement, thereby reducing roadkill, enhancing connectivity, and improving traffic safety.
The purpose of this document is to provide available background information and connectivity objectives for multiple taxa that use this area and to identify potential infrastructure examples that could improve connectivity across the south county preserves. This document describes land uses, vegetation communities, and existing infrastructure along 12 miles of SR-94 and identifies potential locations, by road segment, where enhancements to existing undercrossings and additional fencing could facilitate wildlife movement across conserved lands. Because there are little wildlife movement data for this area, we outline wildlife movement studies and systematic collection of roadkill data that should begin now to inform and refine the actual design and placement of wildlife fencing and crossing structures. Once implemented, post-construction monitoring should be conducted to ensure that the new infrastructure is functional and cost-effective.
CBI and AECOM worked with the San Diego Management and Monitoring Program (SDMMP) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) – with oversight from the wildlife agencies – to develop preserve management plans that incorporate elements of the Management Strategic Plan for Conserved Lands in western San Diego County, related Strategic Plans for invasive species and wildlife connectivity, and any relevant regional habitat conservation subarea plans. These management plans serve as pilots for the standardized development of resource management plans by other land managers throughout the region. We developed plans for two preserve complexes: (1) the Southwest Otay Mesa preserve complex, which includes lands owned and managed by the City of San Diego, County of San Diego, and California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and (2) the Greater Crestridge Ecological Reserve Complex, which includes lands owned and managed by the Endangered Habitats Conservancy (EHC). The latter plan was finalized (including a detailed, 5-year budget) in 2017, updated with additional preserves in 2018, and is being implemented by EHC land managers.
Plan development differs from traditional approaches in that we conducted rapid assessments to identify threats that needed immediate management attention rather than comprehensive biological surveys. We also identified potentially-occurring biological resources, future survey needs, preserve-specific management priorities, SMART goals, objectives, and action items, and opportunities for coordinated management across preserve boundaries.
Funding for this project was through the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), with additional funding from the Endangered Habitats Conservancy to update the Greater Crestridge Ecological Reserve Complex Framework Resource Management Plan.
The San Joaquin Valley Data Basin Gateway was created to support a multi-stakeholder effort to identify least conflict lands for utility scale solar development in the San Joaquin Valley in Central California. Stakeholders represented include the solar industry, farming community, ranching community, and environmental community. Each stakeholder group addressed the least conflict question from their perspectives and generated map-based results. After compiling the results, around 470,000 acres of land was identified as potentially desirable to solar developers and least conflict from the standpoint of the other groups. Phase I is complete with a final report due out in February 2016, but the Gateway persists with an extremely valuable data library (~600 datasets pertinent to the region) and other content, and stakeholders have expressed interest in continuing to use the system to continue refining the work into the future.
The availability and accessibility of accurate information increases the likelihood of efficient allocation of conservation resources to those areas that can maximize protection of biodiversity. This is especially true as conservationists respond to the complex and uncertain ecological changes triggered by climate change. To date, systematic conservation plans have been based on current patterns of biodiversity. However, climate-driven shifts in biomes, species, and ecosystem functions have the potential to make plans based on current patterns of biodiversity less effective. Conservation strategies that lack access to information on the location of areas that maximize resiliency, the methods for climate adaptation conservation planning as well as the pros and cons of the available approaches may misallocate resources by allowing key areas to remain unprotected.
CBI has built AdaptWest – Climate Adaptation Conservation Planning Database for Western North America powered by Data Basin in partnership with project Scientists Carlos Carroll, Josh Lawler and Scott Nielsen. AdaptWest will build on previous work such as the Yale Framework and Reed Noss’s three track approach to conservation planning (Noss and Cooperrider 1994) to provide a coherent planning framework for climate adaptation conservation. AdaptWest will include a comprehensive comparison and synthesis of the many planning approaches that have previously been developed, along with detailed explanation of the application of those methods to the majority of western North America. It will describe whether those conservation efforts are complementary or duplicative, develop a spatial database from the results of these analyses and provide users with integrative analyses and tools that can inform climate adaptation conservation planning and prioritization across much of western North America.
This project differs from previous studies in that it seeks to 1) compare a full spectrum of alternative methods over many contrasting regions, and 2) refine understanding of the conceptual relationship between the various methods and their practical relationship in the planning process. The results of this project, including physical habitat data, climate data, and species model based metrics and prioritizations as well as integrated priority mapping, will be available on Data Basin.
CBI is providing scientific and technical support to Greenpeace Canada and AV Terrace Bay as they work together to maintain the ecological integrity of the Kenogami-Ogoki Forests in Ontario, Canada while providing a sustainable wood supply to the AV Terrace Bay mill and protecting cultural values of First Nations peoples.
There are two major, interrelated components of the project. First, CBI is examining a series of important aspects of woodland caribou conservation in the region, which has been a major focus throughout boreal Canada for a number of years as ongoing development is continually eroding woodland caribou habitat resulting in serious declines in some populations. Using data provided by the Ontario government, CBI is attempting to identify key caribou activity areas, regional movement patterns, and crucial habitat.
CBI is also creating a series of risk-based protected areas scenarios by defining areas of high landscape value and high biological value. High biological value is determined by considering representation of native ecosystems, overall forest values, concentrations of rare species, wetlands, and vital woodland caribou habitat.
Upon development of the scenarios, CBI will facilitate a discussion to review the trade-offs of the different scenarios between AV Terrace Bay and Greenpeace Canada, using Data Basin to support the discussion given the spatially explicit nature of the effort. In the end, the hope is to forge a land management agreement between the two parties that will allow for sustained economic development of the forest resources while protecting the ecological integrity of the region (including woodland caribou viability) and cultural values of the local First Nations peoples.
CBI is working with Utah’s Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) and The Bureau of Land Management to develop decision support models to inform current conservation initiatives in Utah and throughout the Colorado Plateau ecoregion. Based on previous REA (Rapid Ecoregional Assessment) work, CBI is updating the existing terrestrial landscape and aquatic intactness models for the Colorado Plateau ecoregion as well as updating habitat profiles for a number of identified conservation elements of interest (largely native species and communities). CBI is extending the models to cover the entire state of Utah as well as fine-tuning the models to be more effective at answering different management questions over smaller geographic areas.
CBI is also updating a previously created climate stress logic model with the most recent climate data from the 5th Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report as well as carryout some new analyses. For example, mapping potential climate refugia – areas where plants and animals may find shelter from changes in climatic conditions. CBI is also examining past and future climate variability to model climate velocity, which is the speed along the Earth’s surface needed to maintain constant climate conditions with the rationale being that species survival may depend as much on keeping pace with moving climate as the climate’s ultimate persistence. Results of the climate modeling will illustrate at the landscape level the degree to which locations in the landscape will be impacted by climate stress over the next century and help estimate the likelihood that certain species will survive shifting suitable habitat conditions.