Vegetation - Sierra Nevada Compilation [ds3271]
Geodatabase feature class containing a map tile of vegetation within the Sierra Nevada and Sierra Nevada Foothills Ecoregions. The vegetation tile combines these datasets: Cow Creek (ds1345), Mill Creek (ds1346), Doyle-Loyalton (ds3089), Sequoia and Kings National Parks (ds984), Slinkard and Little Antelope Wildlife Area (ds2940), Northern Sierra Nevada Foothills (ds566), Auburn State Recreation Area (ds2956), Southern Sierra Nevada Foothills (ds3073), Tehachapi Pass High Speed Rail Corridor (ds1328), Pickel Meadow (ds3197) and Yosemite National Park (ds200). In areas where these datasets overlapped an erase tool was used to ensure the most up to date dataset is displayed.Cow Creek and Mill Creek [ds1345] and [ds1346]In 2010, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service contracted Stillwater Sciences and Aerial Information Systems to create a fine-scale vegetation map of the Cow Creek and Mill Creek riparian corridors. The mapping study area consists of approximately 22,142 acres of riparian corridors of Cow Creek and 20,921 acres of riparian corridor of Mill Creek. The minimum mapping unit (MMU) is 1 acre for uplands and 0.5 acre for special and wetland features. The vegetation map adheres to the 2009 National Vegetation Classification System (NVCS) and the Manual of California Vegetation. Features represent vegetation mapping for the Cow Creek Riparian Corridor, as specified for the Project Area designated in the contract between Stillwater Sciences and USFWS (USFWS Agreement No. 81330AJ365). Original mapping was performed by AIS, using 2010 NAIP imagery (1-m resolution). Stillwater performed an accuracy assessment in the field, and updated the vegetation mapping based on the observed conditions (Summer, 2013). Doyle-Loyalton [ds3089]Under contract to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), the North State Planning and Development Collective created a fine-scale vegetation map from the western edge of Lake Tahoe north to Honey Lake and from the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range east to the Nevada border in northern California. The mapping study area consists of approximately 1.6 million acres, covering portions of Sierra, Plumas, Placer, Nevada, Modoc, and Lassen counties. The minimum mapping unit (MMU) is 1 acre; exceptions are made for wetlands and riparian types, which were mapped to a 1/4 acre. The floristic classification follows protocols compliant with the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) and National Vegetation Classification Standards (NVCS).Sequoia and Kings National Parks [ds984] High resolution vegetation polygons mapped by the National Park Service. The Vegetation Map of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks was produced over an eight year period (2000-2007) to describe and map the vascular plant associations of the two southern Sierra Nevada national parks. Over 80,000 individual vegetation polygons are mapped to 172 vegetation classes. Overall spatial accuracy of the resulting map products is equivalent to 1:24000 National Map Accuracy Standards. Vegetation delineations are based on photo interpretation of 1:15,840 scale color infrared photography acquired by Pacific Western Technologies (PWT) during two missions conducted in July of 2000 and 2001. Photo interpretation and automation, including rectification to the 1:24000 Digital Photo Orthoquads (DOQQs) was performed by Aerial Information Systems (AIS) under subcontract to Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), who provided project management and final cartographic products. Development of the National Vegetation Classification Standard (NVCS) compliant mapping classification and accuracy assessment of the final map products, along with all associated field sampling, was performed by NPS ecologists at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Overall map accuracy is 80% at the association level and 86% at the alliance level (based on 2409 field assessments).Slinkard and Little Antelope Wildlife Area [ds2940]The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Vegetation Classification and Mapping Program (VegCAMP) created a fine-scale vegetation map of Slinkard Valley and Little Antelope Valley Wildlife Areas in Mono County, California. The vegetation classification was derived from data collected in the field during the periods August 28-31, 2017, September 10-14, 2018, and November 5-9, 2018. Vegetation polygons were drawn using heads-up “manual” digitizing using the 2016 National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP) true color and color infrared (CIR) 1-meter resolution data as the base imagery. Supplemental imagery included NAIP true color and CIR 1-meter resolution data from 2009-2012, BING imagery, and current and historical imagery from Google Earth. The minimum mapping unit (MMU) is 1 acre, with the exception of wetland and riparian types, which have an MMU of ½ acre. Mapping is to the National Vegetation Classification System (NVCS) hierarchy association, alliance, or group level based on the ability of the photointerpreters to distinguish types based on all imagery available and on the field data.Northern Sierra Nevada Foothills [ds566]The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) contracted the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) and Aerial Information Systems (AIS) to produce a fine-scale vegetation map of the northern Sierra Nevada Foothills region, here defined by the two northern subsections of the USDA's Sierra Nevada Foothills Section (Miles and Goudey 1997). This includes 2.6 million acres of land, with approximately 15 percent under public ownership and 85 percent under private ownership. Vegetation sampling by means of the CNPS Relevé and Rapid Assessment Protocols was used to obtain a total of 710 Relevés and 1691 Rapid Assessments, which were used to develop a quantitative classification based on cluster and indicator species analyses. The resulting classification describes vegetation types according to the National Vegetation Classification System; and was used as a basis for creating a map classification generally at the alliance level, where natural vegetation stands were discernable to that level using 1-meter aerial imagery acquired as part of the National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP) in 2005 and 2009. The vegetation map includes 67 map units, of which 54 are natural vegetation map units at the floristic alliance level or higher (group) level and 13 are non-vegetation land use mapping units. The minimum mapping unit (MMU) varies: 2 acres for vegetation alliances, 1 acre for various land types, 1 acre for urban areas and 10 acres for natural vegetation within an urban core. Auburn State Recreation Area [ds2956]Tukman Geospatial LLC made this map under a subcontract from Space Imaging. Gary Walter was the contracting officer for the project at the Department of Parks and Recreation. The vegetation map was created using a combination of automated and manual techniques. Automated techniques included image segmentation, image classification, and GIS modeling. Manual techniques included manual editing and field work. Image segments were derived from 1-meter spatial resolution pansharpened IKONOS imagery, collected in the spring of 2004. The classification is based on the Manual of California 1995, which used series translated to NVC Alliance concepts by Tukman Geospatial.Southern Sierra Nevada Foothills [ds3073]Under contract to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), Aerial Information Systems (AIS) created a fine-scale vegetation map of portions of the Southern Sierra Nevada Foothills in central California. The mapping study area, consists of approximately 1,824,939 acres, of Mariposa, Madera, Tulare, Kern, and Los Angeles counties. The minimum mapping unit (MMU) is 2 acres; exceptions are made for wetlands and riparian types, which were mapped to a 1-acre MMU. The floristic classification follows protocols compliant with the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) and National Vegetation Classification Standards (NVCS).Tehachapi Pass High Speed Rail Corridor [ds1328]The Geographical Information Center (GIC) at California State University, Chico, completed a vegetation map of the Proposed Tehachapi Pass High-Speed Rail Corridor (HSRC), covering 199,493 acres. The project was funded by the Strategic Growth Council to support routing and mitigation planning for the high-speed rail system. The map was produced using heads-up digitizing based on 2012 National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery. The minimum mapping unit (MMU) is one acre for most vegetation types, with a smaller MMU for wetlands. Although the primary purpose of the map is to document vegetation communities, it provides additional structural data such as herbaceous, shrub, and tree cover, and information about the level of disturbance within the vegetation stand. The overall accuracy of the map exceeded the state standard of 80 percent.Pickel Meadow [ds3197] The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) created a fine-scale vegetation map of the Pickel Meadows Wildlife Area, a CDFW land holding in central-eastern California. The mapping study area consists of approximately 2,169 acres of Mono County. The minimum mapping unit (MMU) is 1 acre, with the exception of wetland and riparian types, which have an MMU of ½ acre. The floristic classification follows protocols compliant with the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) and National Vegetation Classification Standards (NVCS).Yosemite National Park [ds200]Under contract to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and National Park Service (NPS), Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) subcontracted Aerial Information Systems, Inc. (AID) to create a fine-scale vegetation map of Yosemite National Park and Devils Postpile National Monument. The mapping study area, consists of approximately 1,387,451 acres of 2 NPS-owned lands. The minimum mapping unit (MMU) is 0.5 hectares, or approximately 1.235 acres. The floristic classification follows protocols compliant with the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) and National Vegetation Classification Standards (NVCS).More information can be found in the projects reports, which are bundled with the vegetation compilation published for BIOS here: https://filelib.wildlife.ca.gov/Public/BDB/GIS/BIOS/Public_Datasets/3200_3299/ds####.zip
Data files
| Data title and description | Access data | File details | Last updated |
|---|---|---|---|
CSV | Download | CSV | 04/16/26 |
Shapefile | Download | ZIP | 04/16/26 |
GeoJSON | Download | GEOJSON | 04/16/26 |
KML | Download | KML | 04/16/26 |
Source download (File Geodatabase) | Download | ZIP | 04/16/26 |
Supporting files
| Data title and description | Access data | File details | Last updated |
|---|---|---|---|
ArcGIS Hub Dataset | HTML | 04/16/26 | |
ArcGIS GeoService | ARCGIS GEOSERVICES REST API | 04/16/26 | |
BIOS Homepage | 04/16/26 |
More details
Tags
- Auth_CDFW
- CAOpenData
- CDFW
- California Department of Fish And Wildlife
- California Department of Fish and Wildlife
- California Department of Water Resources
- California Natural Resources Agency
- DS3271_20260409_wm
- MCV
- Manual of California Vegetation
- NVCS
- National Vegetation Classification Standard
- Sierra Nevada Ecoregion
- Sierra Nevada Foothis Ecoregion
- california department of fish and wildlife