California State University, Chico, Geographical Information Center 20150929 vector digital data https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Data/BIOS https://filelib.wildlife.ca.gov/Public/BDB/GIS/BIOS/Public_Datasets/1300_1399/ds1328.zip The Geographical Information Center (GIC) at California State University, Chico, completed a vegetation map of the Proposed Tehachapi Pass High-Speed Rail Corridor (HSRC), covering 199,493 acres. The project was funded by the Strategic Growth Council to support routing and mitigation planning for the high-speed rail system. The map was produced using heads-up digitizing based on 2012 National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery. The minimum mapping unit (MMU) is one acre for most vegetation types, with a smaller MMU for wetlands. Although the primary purpose of the map is to document vegetation communities, it provides additional structural data such as herbaceous, shrub, and tree cover, and information about the level of disturbance within the vegetation stand. The overall accuracy of the map exceeded the state standard of 80 percent. The purpose of this map is to support routing and mitigation planning for the high-speed rail system. Minimum Mapping Resolution All vegetation was digitized at a scale of 1:2,000 using National Agricultural Inventory Program 2012 aerial imagery (USDA Summer 2012). Additional imagery and layers such as Google maps, Bing maps, Normalized Data Vegetation Index, and Color Infrared assisted in photo interpretation. The minimum mapping unit (MMU) for a vegetation polygon was one acre with an average width of >10 meters. Exceptions to the MMU rules were allowed for important or special stand types, such as Celtis reticulata. Vegetation Types Vegetated polygons were mapped to the “Alliance” level of the National Vegetation Classification System (NVCS) hierarchy if it was possible to discern the vegetation type at the given resolution of the imagery. Otherwise, vegetation was mapped more broadly to the “Group” level. The mapping units (i.e., groups and alliances) were based on the vegetation classification key created by the Vegetation Classification and Mapping Program (VegCAMP) (Klein and Keeler-Wolf 2014) and in A Manual of California Vegetation (Sawyer et al. 2009). Vegetation Cover All vegetation cover was estimated using “Birdseye Total Cover,” i.e. what can be seen on the aerial photo excluding understory layers when covered by an overstory layer. Polygons were delineated following the cover class rules listed below. Boundaries and breaks in polygons within the same alliance were determined by significant changes in density, species composition, size, and disturbance. These boundaries and breaks were often driven by changes in slope, aspect, and/or soil type. Absolute cover: The actual percentage of the surface area of a polygon that is covered by a species. When surveying from the ground the total percentage can actually exceed 100%, due to overlapping layers of vegetation types. When doing aerial estimates, the overlapping layers are not accounted for and the maximum value for a polygon is 100%. Typically this value is far lower due to the porosity of vegetation. Relative cover: The percentage of surface area within a polygon that is covered either by one species relative to other species within the same physiognomic stratum (tree, shrub, herbaceous) or one stratum relative to the total vegetation cover in a polygon. Thus, 50 percent relative cover of Quercus douglasii in the tree layer means that Q. douglasii comprises half the cover of all tree species within a polygon; 50 percent relative shrub cover means that shrubs make up half the cover of all vegetation within a polygon. Relative cover values are proportional numbers that, when added together, total 100 percent for each species within a stratum or each stratum within a stand of vegetation. Tree type alliances were mapped when trees were > 5% of the polygon. The trees that were exempt from this rule were Juniperus californica, Yucca brevifolia, and Pinus monophylla (threshold values can be found in the “Mapping Thresholds” section of the High Speed Rail Corridor Mapping Standards report https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=101359). The percent of absolute tree cover was estimated taking into account the porosity of the tree canopy. Tree canopies over water, were digitized following the canopy line (as opposed to estimating the shore line beneath the canopy). If there was a change in canopy overstory density or size class within the same alliance, the polygon was segregated if it was >5 acres. If it was the understory layer that changed and the alliance remained the same, the polygon was segregated if >10 acres. Shrub vegetation alliances were mapped when tree cover was <5%, and shrub cover was >10%. The percent of absolute shrub cover was estimated taking into account the porosity of the shrub layer. There are several exceptions to this rule when in desert or transitional desert eco-regions, and select shrub alliances were mapped when evenly dispersed down to 2% (threshold values can be found in the “Mapping Thresholds” section of the High Speed Rail Corridor Mapping Standards report https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=101359). Most of the herbaceous polygons were left at the group level due to the limits of aerial photo interpretation and resolution. Herbaceous vegetation types were mapped to the group/alliance level when tree cover was < 5%, shrub cover was <10%, and the herbaceous plant cover was >10%. The percent of absolute herbaceous cover was estimated taking into account the porosity of the herbaceous layer. Agriculture, Urban, Water, Barren Gravel, Sand, Pastures, and Roads The MMU for agricultural polygons (AGR) was 10 acres. The MMU for urban polygons (URB) was 10 acres. The MMU for water (WAT) was 1 acre. The MMU for Quarry, Mine, Gravel (QMG) was 1 acre. Pasture and grazing land that didn’t appear to be irrigated was mapped as CAI, the California Introduced Annual and Perennial Herbaceous group, if over 1 acre in size. If pasture was less than 5 acres and appeared to be irrigated, it was usually grouped with AGR, unless it was in an urban setting, when it was grouped with URB (for example, pastures around ranchettes). If it was irrigated and over 5 acres, it was mapped as AGR. When mapping urban or transitional urban settings, agriculture and grasslands were pulled out when over 5 acres. Bare Gravel and Sand (BGS) polygons were delineated when the polygon consisted of < 5% tree cover, <10% shrub cover, <10% herbaceous plant cover, and was over one acre in size. Roads less than 10 meters wide were dissolved into other polygon types, while roads wider than 10 meters were labeled as Urban or Agriculture depending on their adjacency/proximal location. Tree canopy hanging over roads, regardless of road width, was mapped as the tree type. Wind power installations were mapped as Quarry, Mine, Gravel when polygons were greater than one acre. This map was independently verified by staff of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The producers (GIC) scored an 84.7% on the accuracy of the assessed polygons. A report discussing the map accuracy can be found here: https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=100932. References: Buck-Diaz, J., S. Batiuck and J. Evens. 2012. Vegetation Alliances and Associations of the Great Valley Ecoregion, California. California Native Plant Society. https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=64011 Klein, A. and T. Keeler Wolf. 2014. Hierarchical Field and Mapping Key to the Vegetation Map of the Proposed Tehachapi Pass High Speed Rail Corridor. California Department of Fish and Wildlife. https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=101349. Mayer, K. and W. Laudenslayer, Jr. (eds.) 1988. A Guide to Wildlife Habitats of California. State of California, Resources Agency, Department of Fish and Game Sacramento, CA. 166 pp. Sawyer, J.O., T. Keeler-Wolf, and J.M. Evens. 2009. A Manual of California Vegetation, 2nd Edition. California Native Plant Society, Sacramento, CA. Vegetation Classification and Mapping Program (VegCAMP). 2013. Vegetation Classification and Mapping Program. 2015. Accuracy assessment of the East Sacramento Valley Natural Vegetation Map. California Department of Fish and Wildlife Vegetation Classification and Mapping Program. Sacramento, Ca. https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=58678 Complete None planned -118.845188 -118.144854 35.365976 35.023798 ISO 19115 Topic Category environment ISO 19115 Topic Category biota None vegetation None California Kern County None Alliance level None 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.DFW appreciates learning how our datasets are being used so that we can leverage support for classifying and mapping new areas and let users know of any updates. Please contact VegCAMP Lead by email or by phone at (916) 324-9765. California Department of Fish and Wildlife VegCAMP (Vegetation Classification and Mapping Program) Vegetation Classification and Mapping Program Lead mailing and physical

1700 9th Street, 4th Floor

Sacramento CA 95811 US (916) 324-9765 VegCAMP@wildlife.ca.gov M-F 9-5 Geographic Information Center @ Chico Research Foundation Jason Schwenkler Director mailing and physical

35 Main Street

Chico CA 95929-0327 US 530-898-4372 schwenkl@gic.csuchico.edu M-F 9-5 California Department of Fish and Wildlife VegCAMP (Vegetation Classification and Mapping Program) Vegetation Classification and Mapping Program Lead mailing and physical

1700 9th Street, 4th Floor

Sacramento CA 95811 US (916) 324-9765 VegCAMP@wildlife.ca.gov M-F 9-5 Geographic Information Center, Chico Research Foundation Version 6.2 (Build 9200) ; Esri ArcGIS 10.6.1.9270 This map was independently verified by staff of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The producers (GIC) scored an 84.7% on the accuracy of the assessed polygons. A report discussing the map accuracy can be found here: https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=100932. Vector GT-polygon composed of chains 9455 NAD 1983 California Teale Albers 34.0 40.5 -120.0 0.0 0.0 -4000000.0 coordinate pair 0.0001 0.0001 meter D North American 1983 GRS 1980 6378137.0 298.257222101 Vegetation - Proposed Tehachapi Pass High Speed Rail Corridor [ds1328] OBJECTID Auto caluculated number assigned to each polygon Esri Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated. HT_CODE Tree height. Average tree height for the polygon was estimated by taking a modal mean. Outliers were removed and then an average of the most commonly occurring height class was taken. Four height classes were used: 2-5, 5-10, 10-15, and >15 meters. A Guide to Wildlife Habitats of California (USDA et. al. 1988). SIZE_CATEG Size Category. Average tree diameters were estimated at breast height for each polygon and classified into one of five categories: Seedlings (<1”), Saplings (1-6”), Pole (6-11”), Small (11-24”), Medium-large (>24”) and Multi layered medium/large over small. A Guide to Wildlife Habitats of California (USDA et. al. 1988). PER_HARDWO Percent Hardwood. The absolute percentage of the polygon occupied by hardwood trees, does not include conifers. High Speed Rail Corridor Mapping Standards (GIC 2014) PER_CONIFE Percent Conifer. The absolute percentage of the polygon occupied by coniferous trees, does not include hardwoods. High Speed Rail Corridor Mapping Standards (GIC 2014) PER_TREE Percent Tree. The sum of the hardwoods and conifers. Absolute percentage of space in a polygon occupied by trees. In Agricultural (AGR), Urban (URB), and Quarry, Mine, Gravel (QMG) polygons PER_TREE was coded with ‘333’. High Speed Rail Corridor Mapping Standards (GIC 2014) PER_SHRUB Percent Shrub. The absolute percentage of the polygon that is occupied by shrubs. If the overstory layer(s) were greater or equal to 40% then the understory layer(s) would not be visible in the aerial photo and would not be estimated. If tree cover was greater than or equal to 40%, ‘99’ was entered for the shrub value. In Agricultural (AGR) and Urban (URB) polygons PER_SHRUB was coded with ‘333’. High Speed Rail Corridor Mapping Standards (GIC 2014) HERB_CODE Percent Herbs. The absolute percentage of the polygon that is occupied by herbs. Herb cover was estimated in percent cover ranges, when total tree and shrub cover was <40% and herbs were =10%. If tree and shrub cover was greater than or equal to 40%, ‘99’ was entered as the herb cover value. For AGR and URB polygons the herb class was left null. Herbs were classified into one of five classes: <2%, 2-9%, 10-39%, 40-59%, >60%. High Speed Rail Corridor Mapping Standards (GIC 2014) ISOLATED_T Isolated Tree. “Yes” indicates presence of natural or semi-natural isolated trees in agricultural, shrub, and herbaceous polygons when the presence of trees is <5%. High Speed Rail Corridor Mapping Standards (GIC 2014) RESTORATIO Restoration. Restoration is "Yes" if any portion of the polygon was a part of a restoration project. High Speed Rail Corridor Mapping Standards (GIC 2014) Minimal disturbance 5-25% CLEARING_D Clearing Disturbance. The absolute percentage of clearing disturbances, such as roads, trails, disking, or scraping, were estimated for each polygon and classified into one of four categories: High Disturbance (>50%), Moderate Disturbance (25-50%), Minimal Disturbance (5-25%) and No Disturbance (<5%). High Speed Rail Corridor Mapping Standards (GIC 2014) INVASIVE_P Invasive Plant. Visually observable invasive plant species were recorded and classified into one of four categories: High Invasive Plant Content (>50%), Moderate Invasive Plant Content (25-50%), Minimal Invasive Plant Content (5-25%) and No Invasive Plant Content (<5%). High Speed Rail Corridor Mapping Standards (GIC 2014) PER_TOTAL Percent Total Cover. The percent of total cover was calculated by adding the total tree, shrub, and the mean of the herbaceous layers. High Speed Rail Corridor Mapping Standards (GIC 2014) Acres GIS-calculated area measurements of each mapped polygon. JOSHUA_T Joshua Tree. Indicates the presence of Joshua trees in the polygon. The presence of Joshua tress was recorded using the following categories: N/A Not applicable -outside of the range of Joshua tree, None or none Observable, 0-1%, 1-5%, >5%. High Speed Rail Corridor Mapping Standards (GIC 2014) Shape Feature geometry. ESRI Coordinates defining the features. Shape_Length Length of feature in internal units. Esri Positive real numbers that are automatically generated. Shape_Area Area of feature in internal units squared. Esri Positive real numbers that are automatically generated. ASSOCIATION The standardized name for the association within the National Vegetation Classification System. See http://usnvc.org/. Associations were assigned when field data was collected in a polygon. A Manual of California Vegetation (Sawyer et al. 2009) UID Unique identifier for each polygon. MAPCLASS The finest level of vegetation type mapped (alliance, group or macrogroup); or land use for polygons that are not natural vegetation, per the mapping classification. Key to the Vegetation Map of the Proposed Tehachapi Pass High Speed Rail Corridor (Klein NVCSLEVEL The standardized level of the vegetation description used in the National Vegetation Classification System (see http://usnvc.org/). A Manual of California Vegetation (Sawyer et al. 2009) NVCSNAME The standardized name of the vegetation description used in the National Vegetation Classification System (see http://usnvc.org/). Since the NVCS does not have categories for human land use or otherwise unvegetated land, those descriptions were drawn from the California Wildlife Habitat Relationship. A Manual of California Vegetation (Sawyer et al. 2009) CALVEGNAME A crosswalk to the CalVeg vegetation system. Note that there may be a one-to-many relationship between CalVeg and NVCS. See http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r5/landmanagement/resourcemanagement/?cid=stelprdb5347192. CALVEGCODE A crosswalk to the CalVeg vegetation system. Note that there may be a one-to-many relationship between CalVeg and NVCS. See http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r5/landmanagement/resourcemanagement/?cid=stelprdb5347192. CWHRTYPE A crosswalk to the California Wildlife Habitat Relationships system. Note that there is usually a one-to-many relationship between CWHR and NVCS. See http://www.dfg.ca.gov/biogeodata/cwhr/. CWHRCODE A crosswalk to the California Wildlife Habitat Relationships system. Note that there is usually a one-to-many relationship between CWHR and NVCS. See http://www.dfg.ca.gov/biogeodata/cwhr/. GLOBALRANK The global rarity rank of the plant community (only for polygons mapped to the alliance level). G1: Fewer than 6 viable occurrences and/or 2000 acres worldwide; G2: 6-20 viable occurrences and/or 2000-10,000 acres worldwide; G3: 21-100 viable occurrences and/or 10,000-50,000 acres worldwide; G4: Greater than 100 viable occurrences and/or greater than 50,000 acres worldwide; G5: Community demonstrably secure due to secure worldwide abundance. See: http://www.natureserve.org/sites/default/files/publications/files/natureserveconservationstatusmethodology_jun12_0.pdf A Manual of California Vegetation (Sawyer et al. 2009) STATERANK The state rarity rank of the plant community (only for polygons mapped to the alliance level). S1: Fewer than 6 viable occurrences and/or 2000 acres statewide; S2: 6-20 viable occurrences and/or 2000-10,000 acres statewide; S3: 21-100 viable occurrences and/or 10,000-50,000 acres statewide; S4: Greater than 100 viable occurrences and/or greater than 50,000 acres statewide; S5: Community demonstrably secure due to secure statewide abundance. See: http://www.natureserve.org/sites/default/files/publications/files/natureserveconservationstatusmethodology_jun12_0.pdf A Manual of California Vegetation (Sawyer et al. 2009) RARE Rarity of the vegetation type. Alliances and associations with state ranks of S1-S3 are considered rare. A Manual of California Vegetation (Sawyer et al. 2009) Y Rare N Not Rare CACODE California Natural Community Codes - unique code assigned to alliances and associations. A Manual of California Vegetation (Sawyer et al. 2009) HECTARES GIS-calculated area measurements of each mapped polygon. NVCSALLIANCE The standardized name for the alliance within the National Vegetation Classification System. See http://usnvc.org/. A Manual of California Vegetation (Sawyer et al. 2009) NVCSGROUP The standardized name for the group within the National Vegetation Classification System. See http://usnvc.org/. A Manual of California Vegetation (Sawyer et al. 2009) NVCSMG The standardized name for the macrogroup within the National Vegetation Classification System. See http://usnvc.org/. A Manual of California Vegetation (Sawyer et al. 2009) Note: certain fields have been added by the Department of Fish and Game's Vegetation Classification and Mapping Program. These include crosswalks to the Wildlife Habitat Relationships and CalVeg classification systems, Global and State Ranks, CaCode and the fields relating the mapping units to the National Vegetation Classification System as it is described for California in the 2nd edition of the Manual of California Vegetation California Department of Fish and Wildlife Diana Hickson Senior Biologist, Vegetation Classification and Mapping Program. physical

1700 9th Street, 4th Floor

Sacramento CA 95811 US (916) 327-5956 Diana.Hickson@wildlife.ca.gov Diana.Hickson@wildlife.ca.gov M-F 9-5 See access and use constraints information. File Geodatabase Feature Class 20220324 Geographic Information Center @ Chico Research Foundation Jason Schwenkler Director mailing and physical

35 Main Street

Chico CA 95929-0327 US 530-898-4372 schwenkl@gic.csuchico.edu M-F 9-5 FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata FGDC-STD-001-1998 local time