This region is known to include about 600 of California's rarest plants and large areas of relatively undisturbed natural vegetation. The purpose of the project is to accurately portray the distribution of plants for the purposes of floristic analysis and long-term management of rare plants and natural vegetation.
Documentation is based on herbarium specimens and authoritative peer-reviewed literature.
The project uses a relational database, coordinated with a geographical information system. The database also includes references to pertinent literature. The primary instructor is Dr. Jose V. Lopez . The course is open to senior undergraduate and graduate students and aims to convey fundamental theory, laboratory and in situ principles associated with genetic variation, the foundation of all biological diversity. Classroom lectures center on the broad disciplines of evolutionary biology, molecular genetics, population genetics, and the burgeoning fields of bioinformatics and genomics.