Barry Garrison, Resource Assessment Program, California Department of Fish and Game 20040101 vector digital data https://wildlife.ca.gov/Data/BIOS http://bios.dfg.ca.gov/ https://filelib.wildlife.ca.gov/Public/BDB/GIS/BIOS/Public_Datasets/001_099/ds041.zip These data represents the results of vegetation plots in west-slope Sierra Nevada forests. There is accompanying point count surveys for birds (see Central Sierra Hardwood Study - Birds) made at these survey plots. Please be aware that the coordinates of the points displayed in the text data display of this data set are California Teale-Albers NAD27 projection, but that the data point viewer displays these data points and the background layers in California Teale-Albers NAD83 projection. TIME PERIOD COVERED. These data were collected during 2002 and 2003 between June-August by field crews working for California Department of Fish and Game.GEOGRAPHIC EXTENT OF THE RECORDS. Vegetation plots extend from El Dorado to Tuolumne counties in the central Sierra Nevada between 2000-6000 ft elevation.NUMBER OF RECORDS. There are 64 stands with habitat attributes measured from 3-4 0.2-acre sampling plots per stand. BASE DATA STRUCTURE. The file is a flat table which gives vegetation attributes for each stand. Each stand is represented by two key fields called "Quad" and "Grid" which relate these habitat records to bird survey data collected in 2003 from the same sample stands. WHAT EACH RECORD REPRESENTS. Each record in the table represents the stand's site attributes, habitat attributes, and California Wildlife Habitat (CWHR) classification type. Average values for each stand represent the grand mean of average values from the 3-4 plots measured at each sample stand or the average of single measurements of attributes from the 3-4 plots measured at each sample stand. WHAT THE DATABASE WAS DESIGNED TO DO. The database was designed to examine current forest conditions so that it can be determined if habitat changes have occurred since the 1930's when forest habitat data were collected in the same area by the U.S. Forest Service. HOW THE DATABASE WAS DESIGNED TO BE USED. This data can be used by land managers, consultants, and land owners for research and monitoring. HOW THE DATA WERE COLLECTED IN THE FIELD. We randomly selected 64 historical plots which were spatially random and located between 2000-6000 ft elevation in the central Sierra Nevada between El Dorado and Tuolumne counties. These plots occurred on private and public lands. The habitat sampling effort we conducted consisted of 3-4 0.2-acre rectangle plots in relatively homogeneous forest stands. Habitat plots were 132 ft long and 66 ft wide (8712 square feet). Within each stand, the first plot (center) was located at the best estimate of the location of the historical plot, and the other 2-3 habitat plots were located 165-576 ft (50-175 m) away on different compass axes 120 degrees apart. The compass direction and distance to the other 0.2-acre plots were randomly selected for sampling. The habitat data gathered from each plot include the number of live stems, and identification of each tree and shrub species. All live stems > 4 inches diameter at breast height (dbh) were measured to determine the species composition and structure of the plot. Measurements were made using standard forest inventory techniques and equipment including clinometers for tree height, biltmore sticks and dbh tapes for tree and snag diameters, belt transects for shrub and log densities, and sighting tubes for tree cover. WHO DID THE DATA COMPILATION. Data was mostly compiled and analyzed by research biologist Stacy Hall with the California Department of Fish and Game BASIS FOR GEOGRAPHIC COORDINATES. Vegetation information from historical plots located in the central Sierra Nevada serves as our source for baseline forest conditions. In the early 1930's, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) developed a vegetation map for the forests, woodlands, and shrublands of California. The project was known as the vegetation type map (VTM) project, and all VTM data are archived at the University of California, Berkeley. These locations were put into a GIS and GPS to relocate them on the ground for sampling. GENERAL ASSUMPTIONS OF THE DATA. (1) the current sample stands were relocated in the same stands where the historical data were taken. (2) within-stand variances are approximately equal between the historical and current conditions. KNOWN CAVEATS OF THE DATA. (1) it was difficult to accurately and precisely relocate the resampled plots in the same locations as the historical plots because the original maps with the original locations were from the late 1890's and hence of questionable accuracy. (2) there are no estimates of the within-plot variances from the original VTM plots because only one sample was taken at each stand in the 1930's. (3) the historic tree data were collected by diameter classes and not by direct measurements of tree diameters, while direct measurements were used for the current measurements. The data collected from these plots in 2002 and 2003 does, however, represent the current habitat conditions of the sample stands. 200206 200308 ground condition Complete None planned -120.800994 -119.975973 39.006110 37.995926 None habitat type vegetation data hardwoods conifers ISO 19115 Topic Categories biota None Central Sierra Nevada California El Dorado County Amador County Calaveras County Tuolumne County BIOS users 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 Esther Burkett mailing and physical

1701 Nimbus Road, Suite A

Rancho Cordova California 95670 (916) 445-3764 Esther.Burkett@wildlife.ca.gov Microsoft Windows Vista Version 6.1 (Build 7601) Service Pack 1; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.3.1.4095 Edited metadata by updating point of contact information. 20131106 California Department of Fish and Wildlife Sophie King geodata@wildlife.ca.gov Vector Entity point 64 Custom 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 ds41 Vegetation - Central Sierra Hardwoods [ds41] OBJECTID Internal feature number. Esri Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated. Shape Feature geometry. ESRI Coordinates defining the features. ID Unique GIS number to link a point with its data. QUAD_NUM Represents the quadrangle number of historic maps on which the historical sample stand was mapped and located. QUAD_GRID Represents the grid number (alpha-numeric) on historic maps where the historical stand was mapped and located. OWNERSHIP Land ownership type at the plot site, either private, US Forest Service or a mix of the two. FOREST Name of the National Forest if the plot is within the boundaries of a National Forest. COMMENTS Usually, location of plot relative to another ownership type. ELEVATION General elevation at plot site. WHRHABTYPE Designated CWHR habitat type based on 2002-2003 habitat sampling. WHRCOVRCLS Designated CWHR stage class based on 2002-2003 habitat sampling. NUMPLOTS Number of sample plots in each stand. AVEELEVFT Average elevation of sample plots in the stand. AVASPECTDG Average aspect in degrees from sample plots. AVSLOPEPCT Average % slope from the sample plots. AVE_HT_FT Average height of live trees from sample plots; trees selected from quarter sections at each plot; grand mean from plot means. AVECONHTFT Average height of live conifer trees from sample plots; trees selected from quarter sections at each plot; grand mean from plot means. AVEHWDHTFT Average height of live hardwood trees from sample plots; trees selected from quarter sections at each plot; grand mean from plot means. AVE_DBH_IN Average diameter of all live stems > 4 inches diameter at breast height (dbh); grand mean from plot means. AVCONDBHIN Average diameter of all live conifer stems > 4 inches diameter at breast height; grand mean from plot means. AVEHWDBHIN Average diameter of all live hardwood stems > 4 inches diameter at breast height; grand mean from plot means. AVE_QMD_IN Average quadratic mean diameter (qmd) of all live stems > 4 inches diameter at breast height; grand mean from plot means. AVECON_QMD Average quadratic mean diameter of all live conifer stems > 4 inches diameter at breast height; grand mean from plot means. AVEHWD_QMD Average quadratic mean diameter of all live hardwood stems > 4 inches diameter at breast height; grand mean from plot means. STEMS_ACRE Number of live stems > 4 inches diameter at breast height per acre; mean from plot values. CONSTEMACR Number of live conifer stems > 4 inches diameter at breast height per acre; mean from plot values. HWDSTEMACR Number of all hardwood stems > 4 inches diameter at breast height per acre; mean from plot values. BASALFTACR Average basal area of all live stems > 4 inches in square feet per acre; mean from plot values. CONBASLACR Average basal area of all conifer stems > 4 inches in square feet per acre; mean from plot values. HWDBASLACR Average basal area of all live hardwood stems > 4 inches in square feet per acre; mean from plot values. AVPCTREOVR Average % overstory canopy cover in plot; mean from plot values. AVPCTREMID Average % midstory canopy cover in plot; mean from plot values. AVPCTREUND Average % understory canopy cover in plot; mean from plot values. AVSNAGDBH Average dbh (diameter at breast height) of all snags > 4 inches dbh and > 10 ft tall; grand mean from plot means. AVESNAGQMD Average quadratic mean diameter of all snags > 4 inches dbh (diameter at breast height) and > 10 ft tall; grand mean from plot means. SNGBASLACR Average basal area of all snags > 4 inches diameter at breast height and > 10 ft tall in square feet per acre; mean from plot values. SNAGS_ACR Number of all snags > 4 inches diameter at breast height and > 10 ft tall per acre; mean from plot values. SHRUBS_ACR Average number of live shrubs per acre; mean from plot values. AVELOGSACR Average number of logs per acre; mean from plot values. ELEV_INDEX Code for the elevation of the plot given in 1,000 foot increments 2 2,000 to 2,999 feet elevation 3 3,000 to 3,999 feet elevation 4 4,000 to 4,999 feet elevation 5 5,000 to 5,999 feet elevation 6 6,000 to 6,100 feet elevation PLOT_NUM UNIQUE_ID 20210518 California Department of Fish and Wildlife Esther Burkett (916) 445-3764 Esther.Burkett@wildlife.ca.gov FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata FGDC-STD-001-1998 local time