San Diego Tracking Team 20130603 vector digital data ftp://ftp.dfg.ca.gov/BDB/GIS/BIOS/Public_Datasets/700_799/ds709.zip http://bios.dfg.ca.gov/ The San Diego Tracking Team (SDTT) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the preservation of wildlife habitat in San Diego County through citizen-based wildlife monitoring coupled with environmental education programs. For 15 years, the SDTT has conducted wildlife track and sign surveys to evaluate the health of key species, the connectivity of open space areas, and the efficacy of the city and county's Multiple Species/Habitat Conservation Plans. Scientific advisors from public resource agencies and academic institutions oversee the tracking protocol, and SDTT data is used in planning transportation and urban development projects, as well as in studies on land use in fragmented habitats (Markovchick-Nicholls et al. 2008). Surveys are conducted by trained volunteers from all over San Diego County who together commit over 1500 hours per year to monitoring over 60 locations around the county. Transects are designated throughout specified open space preserves, land trusts, and other undeveloped lands in the San Diego area. Transects that were established after January 1, 2007 (TransID 60 +) are one kilometer in length and ten meters in width (5m on each side of trail center), and are divided into four sections of 250 meters in length. Any side trail, streambed, or other site with favorable tracking conditions easily visible or within ten meters of the trail is investigated as part of the transect. Prior to 2007, transects were laid out to be approximately one mile in length, 30 feet in width, with variable length sections.Transect teams, which consist of an experienced Transect Leader and from 1 to 6 trained volunteers, survey transects on a seasonal basis each year. Any track or sign identified from the following animals was recorded during surveys: coyote, mule deer, bobcat, gray or kit fox, raccoon, opossum, wood rat, badger, black-tailed jack rabbit, cougar, black bear, spotted or striped skunk, long-tailed weasel, ringtail and roadrunner. If a track or sign was observed, the location (transect number and transect section) and type of sign (scat, tracks, deer browse, evidence of predation, den/bed site, sighting) were recorded on data sheets. In addition, age of the sign (Fresh, less than two weeks old or Historic, more than two weeks old) was recorded. Additional data on presence of small mammals (cottontails, skunks, squirrels, or rodents) and habitat use were recorded as well as tracking conditions.This dataset represents a summary of SDTT data collected from 2007 - 2010. For data collected from 1996 - 2006, please see dataset ds442. The goals of the San Diego Tracking Team (SDTT) are to monitor the wildlife of specified open space preserves and land trusts in the San Diego area through the use of periodic track and sign count transects and to enhance environmental awareness, community involvement, and appreciation for local habitats by encouraging volunteer participation in the study. This dataset was created to support the determination of the following: 1) the presence or absence of certain rare species and other target species which can reflect the health of the ecosystem; 2) substantial changes in wildlife populations over time; and 3) the use of different habitats by the target species which could lead to the identification of critical habitat areas and corridors (Markovchick-Nicholls et al. 2008). It is intended that the information gathered by the SDTT will be used to identify potential restoration and/or mitigation opportunities for important habitats and corridors in support of San Diego's Multiple Species Conservation Plan. DATA COMPILATION HISTORY: The San Diego Tracking Team (SDTT) has conducting tracking surveys in San Diego County since 1996. Tracking data were recorded on paper in the field and entered into an MS Access database by the volunteer Database Coordinator. QA/QC of the data is conducted after data has been entered into the SDTT database. SPATIAL DATA CAPTURE METHODS: GPS coordinates of the starting point of each transect segment were collected in 2000 and for all transects initiated after 2000, recorded on the first survey of each transect. Spatial data of transect section start points were compiled by Transect Leaders and are maintained separately from the Access database. Spatial data were collected using hand-held GPS units and projected in either NAD83 or WGS84. Midpoint coordinates of each segment were calculated by Jonah Evans of Nature Tracking by averaging the segment start coordinates (Evans 2008). This data was later uploaded into the SDTT Access database. Spatial data were joined with tracking data from the SDTT database and a spatial layer was developed as part of the Southern California Data Integration Project. Data were imported into ArcGIS 10.0 to create the spatial data layer and associated metadata. REFERENCES: Markovchick-Nicholls, L., H. M. Reagan, D. H. Deutschman, A. Widyanata, B. Martin, L. Noreke, and T. A. Hunt. 2008. Relationships between Human Disturbance and Wildlife Land Use in Urban Habitat Fragments. Conservation Biology 22 (1): 99-109. Evans, J. 2008. San Diego Tracking Team Phase 4 Data Analysis: Final Report. Submitted to San Diego Tracking Team, April 2008. 20070101 20100101 ground condition Complete None planned -117.287778 -116.099159 33.210384 32.807929 None mule deer roadrunner animal tracks opossum gray fox bobcat badger wood rat black-tailed jackrabbit spotted skunk long-tailed weasel cougar raccoon Multiple Species Conservation Plan ringtail coyote ISO 19115 Topic Category biota environment None San Diego County California None Use constraints: site appropriately San Diego Tracking Team Doug Hansen Database Coordinator (858) 952-9853 hansend@cox.net SDTT Microsoft Windows 7 Version 6.1 (Build 7601) Service Pack 1; Esri ArcGIS 10.4.0.5524 A preliminary cross-validation study of tracker bias was conducted by Lisa Markovchick-Nicholls of San Diego State University in 2006 (Markovchick-Nicholls 2006). Random transect sections were surveyed by Barry Martin, the most experienced tracker involved in the SDTT, and then by Transect Leaders, immediately after Martin completed the survey. The following determinations were made in this study: 1. Although agreement (between Martin and other transect leaders) on the exact number of species in each section is lower than desirable, overall agreement on the community composition of species present in sections was reasonable. 2. Trackers appear to over-estimate the number of species in sections with low numbers of species (as compared to Martin) and under-estimate the number of species present in sections with high numbers of species. 3. Since overall community composition of sections appears slightly more reliable than the number of observations per species in each section, evaluation of the data as presence / absence data rather than numerical data may be advisable. Some transect end points were not known, thus the midpoint coordinate could not be calculated. In this case, the beginning coordinate for the segment is provided for the observation. See Comments field. This dataset was converted from GCS_WGS_1984 to California Teale Albers NAD83 by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). The CDFW edited the metadata in some sections. 20120106 California Department of Fish and Wildlife Sophie Klenner BIOS@wildlife.ca.gov Vector Entity point 6074 NAD 1983 California Teale Albers 34.0 40.5 -120.0 0.0 0.0 -4000000.0 coordinate pair 0.000000003754707655900803 0.000000003754707655900803 meter D North American 1983 GRS 1980 6378137.0 298.257222101 ds709 Mammal Track Counts - San Diego County, 2010 [ds709] FID Internal feature number. ESRI Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated. Shape Feature geometry. ESRI Coordinates defining the features. SName Species scientific name. CName Species common name. Year Year of observation. Season Season of observation. Track_Sign Type of track or sign observed. Total_Hist Total number of historical (greater than 2 weeks old) sightings. Total_Frsh Total number of fresh (less than 2 weeks old) sightings. Total_Obs Total number of observations (TotHist + TotFresh). Comments Comments about the transect or observation. Site Site where transect is located. TransectID Numerical identification of transect. Transect Name of transect. Section Numerical identification of section within a transect. Latitude Latitude of section midpoint. Longitude Longitude of section midpoint. San Diego Tracking Team Doug Hansen Database Coordinator See access and use constraints information. 20160902 San Diego Tracking Team Doug Hansen Database Coordinator (858) 952-9853 hansend@cox.net FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata FGDC-STD-001-1998 local time