California Department of Fish & Wildlife, Resource Assessment Program, Barry Garrison, Staff Environmental Scientist 20030205 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/ds083.zip TIME PERIOD COVERED These data were collected between May-July 2004 by field crews working for California Department of Fish and Game. GEOGRAPHIC EXTENT OF THE RECORDS Vegetation plots occur in two study areas on public lands in Yuba and Tehama Counties in the Sierra Nevada foothills. NUMBER OF RECORDS There are 183 records with habitat attributes measured from 0.05 - 0.10 hectare sampling plots. BASE DATA STRUCTURE The file is a flat Excel table which gives vegetation attributes for each habitat plot. Each habitat plot is represented by two key fields called "SAMPLE_ID" and "PLOT_NUM" which relate these habitat records to bird and herpetile survey data collected in the same year from the same sample points. WHAT EACH RECORD REPRESENTS Each record in the table represents the average values for habitat attributes from plots that can be linked with bird count data from the same points. Average values for each sample represent the mean of average values from 3 habitat plots measured at each point. WHAT THE DATABASE WAS DESIGNED TO DO The database was designed to examine current Sierra Nevada foothill habitat characteristics to track the occurrence of different landbird communities. HOW THE DATABASE WAS DESIGNED TO BE USED AND BY WHOM This data can be used by land managers, consultants, and land owners for designing and implementing conservation plans in the Sierra Nevada foothills. HOW DATA WERE COLLECTED IN THE FIELD At each plot, three circular plots (0.05-0.10 ha) were randomly placed around these points and were measured for habitat attributes (habitat plots). The 0.10-ha plot (17.8-m radius) was used when < 20 trees > 10 cm diameter at breast height (1.4 m) (dbh) were tallied in the smaller and interior 0.05-ha plot (12.6-m radius). The 100-m radius bird count station in each point was subdivided into three 120° sections (1°-120°, 121°-240°, and 241°-360°), and one habitat plot was placed within each section using a random compass bearing (from bearings within the section) and random distance between 20-80 m. The 20-80 m distance was used so that the habitat plots would be completely within the bird counting area and there would be no overlap in habitat plots from adjacent sections. Within each habitat plot, all live trees > 10 cm dbh were identified to species and measured for stem diameters at dbh. Height (m) was measured from a maximum of four live trees > 10 cm closest to the habitat plot center with one tree each in four quadrants defined by the four cardinal compass directions (NE, SE, SW, and NW). No trees were measured in quadrant if trees were absent within the quadrant within the habitat plot radius. Percent cover of live woody or green vegetation in the tree layer (> 2 m above the ground), shrub layer (0.5-2.0 m), and herbaceous layer (< 0.5 m) was measured at 25 points using a sighting tube (densitometer) held at eye level. Densitometer readings were taken at 4-5 m intervals (4 m for 0.05 ha plots; 5 m for 0.10 ha plots) along eight transects spaced 45° apart within the plot. Three readings each were taken on the eight transects for a total of 24 points with the 25th point taken at the plot's center. WHO COMPILED THE INITIAL DATA Bird data was compiled and analyzed by Barry Garrison with the California Department of Fish and Game. BASIS FOR GEOGRAPHIC COORDINATES Sample points (SAMPLE_ID) were selected from a random sample of 5% of land polygons for the Sierra foothills. The polygons were generated from a geographic information system (GIS) coverage that was created by intersecting data from four biophysical attributes: precipitation, temperature, slope and aspect, and geologic substrate. From the 5% sample, center points of each polygon (centroid) were drawn by a GIS, and the centroids were chosen for the sample points. The centroids were random ground locations for conducting bird counts and habitat sampling. Then the centroids were visually viewed on digital orthophoto quadrangle images to manually pick those completely within the boundaries of the individual units, and were distributed more or less throughout the entire study area. Equivalent numbers of sample locations were chosen for each study area (31 in Tehama County, 30 in Yuba County) to achieve approximately equal sample sizes and survey effort. At each sample location, three points (PLOT_NUM) were plotted in the GIS that were spaced 250 m apart in an equilateral triangle and centered over the centroid. Complete None planned -122.090269 -121.249841 40.315161 39.076847 None Sierra Nevada foothills habitat type vegetation surveys hardwoods Blue Oak Woodland ISO 19115 Topic Categories biota environment None Yuba County Tehama County Nevada County 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 Armand Gonzales (916) 445-3379 Armand.Gonzales@wildlife.ca.gov California Department of Fish and Wildlife Armand Gonzales (916) 445-3379 Armand.Gonzales@wildlife.ca.gov Microsoft Windows Vista Version 6.1 (Build 7601) Service Pack 1; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.3.1.4095 Vector Entity point 183 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 ds83 SHAPE Feature geometry. ESRI Coordinates defining the features. SAMPLE_ID Number given to each sample point Esri Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated. PLOT_NUM The plot number within each SAMPLE_ID (sample point) where birds were surveyed ESRI Coordinates defining the features. Shape Feature geometry. ESRI Coordinates defining the features. NUM_PLTS The number of habitat plots at each PLOT_NUM that had measureable trees. AVE_DBH Average diameter (in inches) of all live stems > 4 inches diameter at breast height (dbh) from three habitat plots. AVE_QMD Average quadratic mean diameter (qmd, in inches) of all live stems > 4 inches dbh from three habitat plots. NUMSTEMPLT The number of habitat plots surveyed at each PLOT_NUM. AVESTEM_AC Average number of live stems per acre from three habitat plots. AVBASQFTAC Average basal area of all live stems > 4 inches in square feet per acre from three habitat plots. AVEHWD_DBH Average diameter of live hardwood stems > 4 inches diameter at breast height (dbh) from three habitat plots. AVEHWD_QMD Average qmd of all live hardwood stems > 4 inches dbh from three habitat plots. AVECON_DBH Average diameter of live conifer stems > 4 inches diameter at breast height (dbh) from three habitat plots. AVECON_QMD Average qmd of all live conifer stems > 4 inches dbh from three habitat plots. AVEHWD_HT Average height of live hardwood trees from three habitat plots; trees selected from quarter sections at each plot. AVECON_HT Average height of live conifer trees from three habitat plots; trees selected from quarter sections at each plot. HWD_STEMAC Average number of live hardwood stems per acre from three habitat plots. CON_STEMAC Average number of live conifer stems per acre from three habitat plots. HWD_BA_AC Average basal area of all live hardwood stems > 4 inches in square feet per acre from three habitat plots. CON_BA_AC Average basal area of all conifer stems > 4 inches in square feet per acre from three habitat plots. AVENUMOVSP Average number species detected in the overstory canopy cover from three habitat plots. AVTREECOV Average % overstory canopy cover in plot from three habitat plots. AVHWD_COV Average proportion of overstory canopy cover from hardwoods in the plot from three habitat plots. AVCON_COV Average proportion of overstory canopy cover from conifers in the plot from three habitat plots. AVSHRUBCOV Average % shrub cover in the shrub layer (0.5-2.0 m above the ground) in plot from three habitat plots. AVHERBCOV Average % herbaceous cover in the herb layer (< 0.5 m from the ground) plot from three habitat plots. UNIQUE_ID Concatenation of Sample_ID and Plot_Num 20210518 California Department of Fish and Wildlife Armand Gonzales (916) 445-3379 Armand.Gonzales@wildlife.ca.gov FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata FGDC-STD-001-1998 local time