DMP Section Type:
Data Input - Existing Collection
Description:
This map identifies the focus area of the California Rangeland Conservation Coalition (CRCC) and CRCC priority conservation areas. The focus area includes the foothills around the Central Valley and most of the southern Inner Coast Range. The goal of this prioritization process was to identify areas of privately-owned rangelands that have high biodiversity value and require conservation action in the next 2-10 years. The Nature Conservancy assembled the most current and complete data for species and vegetation systems representative of rangeland ecosystems. The approach was not solely driven by GIS data, as much critical information on the status, condition and economic viability of rangelands has not been formally captured in databases.
Source:
http://www.carangeland.org/focusarea.html
Processing & Workflow:
All model outputs and results were clipped to the focus area boundary.
The priority conservation area dataset was used to define critical habitat in the study area. Unprotected priority conservation areas were used to generate conservation masks that were applied in land use-land cover (LULC) change modeling. LULC change maps for each scenario were overlaid with the map of priority conservation areas to determine rates of conversion to critical habitat on rangelands.
Backup & Storage:
external hard drive at USGS Menlo Park office, TNC offices
Repository for Data:
http://www.carangeland.org/focusarea.html
Citation:
Reference: The Nature Conservancy (TNC). 2007. California Rangeland Conservation Coalition Biological Prioritization of Rangelands: Approach and Methods. Available online at: http://www.carangeland.org/images/Appraoch_and_Methods.pdf.
