California Department of Fish and Wildlife 20190523 vector digital data https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Data/BIOS ftp://ftp.wildlife.ca.gov/BDB/GIS/BIOS/Public_Datasets/2800_2899/ds2833.zip Visual Encounter Transect Surveys of reptiles, birds, and other vertebrate wildlife taxa were conducted at study sites in the Great Valley and Mojave Desert in 2016. A total of 1,856 transect surveys (GV: 517, MD: 1339) at 321 study sites (GV: 91, MD: 230) were conducted between March and July 2016. For each survey, observers walked two 200-meter transects and recorded counts of and distances to all wildlife observed. The two transects are laid out as a cross intersecting at a right angle, with this intersection occurring at survey site center. The exact orientation of the cross and the sinuosity of transects was left to the discretion of the surveyor(s) to optimize sampling of the site-designated lifeform and to facilitate ease of travel (e.g., barriers or steep slopes). In the case of a riparian lifeform site, one transect was aligned along or near the stream course, and the second along the gradient extending to either side of the stream course. In the case of a guzzler or wetland, transects were aligned along approximately perpendicular sides. A laser rangefinder was used to accurately measure the perpendicular distance from the transect to the location of each wildlife group at the instance of its initial observation. The crew also noted all wildlife signs (tracks, scat, burrows, nests) observed; in particular, every scat group within a 1-m swath on either side of the transect wasnoted and identified by species whenever possible. All scats and tracks were removed from the swath so that return visits encountered fresh sign.Individual surveys focused on either reptiles and amphibians, or on birds and scat, but observations from all surveys were combined into this dataset. These data were used for distance sampling methods to estimate abundance. In response to a drought State of Emergency declared by the Governor in January 2014 and subsequent executive orders, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) was charged to implement projects that respond to drought conditions through habitat restoration and other measures. To provide scientific information necessary to meet these conservation challenges, leadership at CDFW prioritized establishment of a statewide resource assessment program, one component of which would be to monitor wildlife populations and their vulnerability to drought stressors. The purpose of Terrestrial Species Stressor Monitoring (TSM) was to begin the monitoring process by collecting baseline survey data on a wide variety of common wildlife species throughout the Great Valley and Mojave Desert ecoregions. Data collected at some or all study sites include infrared camera trap images, ultrasonic acoustic recordings, audible acoustic recordings, visual encounter surveys for reptiles and amphibians, avian point counts, and vegetation surveys. The data will be used to estimate occupancy and abundance of wildlife species and to model associations with drought and other habitat conditions. Complete None planned -122.071777 -113.890861 39.637979 33.862025 None TSM, Terrestrial Species Stressor Monitoring, drought, central valley, Great Valley, Mojave Desert, environment, California, biodiversity, bird, bat, reptile, amphibian, vegetation, transects ISO 19115 Topic Categories biota environment None Great Valley, Mojave Desert, California 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. California Department of Fish and Wildlife-WFD-WLB Brett Furnas Wildlife Ecologist (530) 227-3998 Brett.Furnas@wildlife.ca.gov California Department of Fish and Wildlife-WFD-WLB Brett Furnas Wildlife Ecologist (530) 227-3998 Brett.Furnas@wildlife.ca.gov Version 6.2 (Build 9200) ; Esri ArcGIS 10.6.1.9270 Vector GT-polygon composed of chains 7255 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 ds2833 OBJECTID Internal feature number. Esri Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated. Shape Feature geometry. ESRI Coordinates defining the features. Species_Scat_Taxa Species of scat Taxonomic_Group Taxonomic group of oberserved scat Scat_Condition If observation was of scat, description of condition Distance_Herptile_only Distance from observed herp to transect Avian_Observation_Type If species was avian, type of observation (e.g., audio, visual, fly-over) Tally Number of individuals observed Confidence Observer confidence in species ID Date Date survey was conducted YYYYMMDD Survey date Survey_Focus Focus of the survey T1_Start_Time Start time of survey T5_Stop_Time End time of survey Notes Sighting notes Leg Leg of survey observation was collected on Cloud_Cover Cloud cover during survey Wind_Speed_mph Wind speed during survey Precipitation Precipitation during survey Ambient_Temp_T3 Ambient temperature of the air at the start of the second leg of the survey Soil_Temp_T3 Temperature of soil at the start of the second leg of the survey Transect_Notes Survey notes SiteID Unique study site identifier Ecoregion USDA Ecoregion Lifeform Type of generalized habitat at this location 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. 20210604 California Department of Fish and Wildlife-WFD-WLB Brett Furnas Wildlife Ecologist (530) 227-3998 Brett.Furnas@wildlife.ca.gov FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata FGDC-STD-001-1998 local time