Terrestrial Biodiversity Summary - ACE [ds2739]

Terrestrial Biodiversity Summary, Areas of Conservation Emphasis (ACE), version 3.0.

The Terrestrial Biodiversity Summary is a compilation of the best available information on terrestrial species biodiversity in California, including amphibians, birds, mammals, plants, and reptiles, for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (CDFW) Areas of Conservation Emphasis Project (ACE). It is one component, together with Aquatic Biodiversity, of overall species biodiversity in California. The terrestrial biodiversity summary combines the three measures of biodiversity developed for ACE into a single metric: 1) terrestrial native species richness, which represents overall native diversity of all species in the state, both common and rare; 2) terrestrial rare species richness, which represents diversity of rare species; and, 3) terrestrial irreplaceability, which is a weighted measure of endemism. The data can be used to view patterns of overall species diversity, and identify areas of highest biodiversity across the state and in each ecoregion, taking into account common, rare, and rare endemic species. Users can view a list of species that contribute to the biodiversity measures for each hexagon.

The terrestrial biodiversity summary displays relative biodiversity values for each ecoregion of the state, so that the areas of highest diversity within each ecoregion are highlighted. The data is normalized so that areas of highest diversity for each taxonomic group contribute equally to the final map (see Data Sources and Models Used section).