Vegetation - California State Parks of the Central Coast [ds3193]

The Geographical Information Center (GIC) was contracted by the California Department of Parks and Recreation (CDPR) to collect vegetation surveys to contribute to regional and statewide classification and to create a fine-scale vegetation map following the Survey of California Vegetation (SCV) standards. This project involved the collection of 403 Rapid Assessment and Relevé vegetation surveys. The completed map covers a surface area of 88,003.92 acres. The vegetation map adheres to the guidelines outlined by the National Vegetation Classification System (USNVC 2019) and the Manual of California Vegetation (Sawyer, Keeler-Wolf, and Evens 2009). This methodology is in alignment with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (CDFW) VegCAMP program in developing a classification system and mapping methodology for the entire state of California. This project was funded by the California Department of Parks and Recreation under grant agreement C20K0027. The Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Vegetation Classification and Mapping Program (VegCAMP), as well as the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) teams assisted in surveying and classification. The California Department of Parks and Recreation also assisted in surveying as well as permitted the Geographical Information Center to access their landholdings. These parks are further split into Department of Recreation (DPR) districts. This project covers 6 districts, including the Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Diablo Range, Central Valley, Santa Cruz, and Oceano Dunes districts. The scope of this project includes a comprehensive field sampling effort to characterize the vegetation communities within the study area, the creation of a digital vegetation map using ESRI software following the SCV standards, and a final summary report. There were 124 sample allocations that were created by CDPR for the field crews to sample. Many of these were not visited due to time constraints and/or accessibility issues. The allocation points are not only used to select specific plant communities, but also to spread the sampling effort across the mapping area. Sampling does not always take place at the exact allocation point due to these reasons. In 2021, 39 of the 264 surveys done by the GIC were adjacent to sample allocations, the other 225 were opportunistic samples. In 2022, 40 of the 86 surveys done by the GIC were near sample allocations, and the other 46 were opportunistic surveys. Sampling data from other organizations were also utilized to produce the vegetation maps. CDFW joined the sampling efforts in Mount Diablo SP in 2021 and contributed 33 surveys, of which 29 were opportunistic surveys. Additionally, photo-interpreters referenced CNPS and Tukman Geospatial sampling data from 2020 (23 surveys, 20 of which were opportunistic surveys) and 2021(146 surveys, all of which were opportunistic surveys). Both 2020 NAIP natural color and infrared imagery from the entire state were utilized for photo interpretation. No accuracy assessments have been completed. The minimum mapping unit (MMU) varies for this project. The MMU for woody and herbaceous upland stands is 1 acre, 0.25 acres for wetland and riparian, 1 acre for agriculture and urban and 0.25 acre for water. There is no MMU for polygons on the border of the mapping boundary as the vegetation stands often continue out of the park boundaries. Minimum width of linear polygons was 10 meters but photo-interpreters used discernment to preserve riparian stands. No accuracy assessment was performed. For more details the mapping standards, see Survey of California Vegetation Classification and Mapping Standards at: [https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=102342&inline]