WAP - Wildlife Species Matrix Overview

Included in the associated Web publication of this report is the Wildlife Species Matrix, consisting of all wildlife taxa (species and subspecies) on the California Department of Fish and Game's Special Animals List. This special status species list includes 140 birds, 127 mammals, 102 fishes, 43 reptiles, 40 amphibians, and 365 invertebrates. Of these, 13 birds, 69 mammals, 19 reptiles, 22 amphibians, 46 fish, and 312 invertebrates are endemic to the state; these taxa are indicated in the matrix with an asterisk. The matrix can be sorted by taxa names and by region. For each taxon, the matrix gives the following information:

Rarity Ranking Status

The "CNDDB" status column combines NatureServe's "Global Ranking," which indicates a taxon's relative rarity globally (G), with the state rarity ranking (S), which is assigned by Fish and Game:

• G/S5 - Secure; common and widespread
• G/S4 - Apparently secure; uncommon but not rare.
• G/S3 - Vulnerable; at moderate risk of extinction due to a restricted range, relatively few populations (often 80 or fewer), recent and widespread declines, or other factors
• G/S2 - Imperiled: At high risk of extinction due to very restricted range, very few populations (often 20 or fewer), steep declines, or other factors.
• G/S1 - Critically imperiled: At very high risk of extinction due to extreme rarity (often five or fewer populations), very steep declines, or other factors.
• G/SH - Possibly extinct
• G/SX - Presumed extinct

Descriptions of other ranking systems included in the Wildlife Species Matrix are included in the introduction to Fish and Game's Special Animals List.

Habitat Association

A descriptive habitat association is given, which is based on the Wildlife and Habitat Relationship Database's list of 60 habitat types found within the state. When too little habitat information is available, the association is marked as "Insufficient data for habitat determination"; when a large number of habitats are utilized, the phrase "Wide variety of habitats" appears. Habitat associations were determined by using ArcMap to query the California Wildlife Habitat Relationship Database by individual habitat types for taxa occurrences in the California Natural Diversity Database.

Population Trends

By definition, rare species are infrequently encountered. For certain well-studied, regularly surveyed groups such as birds and fishes, population trends are available from various sources and have been noted in the matrix as declining, stable, or increasing. For many taxa in the matrix, particularly invertebrates and small mammals, lack of data precludes meaningful population trend estimates; for these, the trend is listed as unknown.

Range Maps

The current range of a species within California (where available) can be viewed by using the range map access button. These range maps appear at a statewide scale, unless the species' limited distribution merits a different scale. The range maps were developed using one of two different protocols. The more recent maps were created after development of a standardized mapping approach that considers current data and scale and incorporates a peer review process. They are designed to produce an accurate and standardized depiction of a species' range in California. More information on how current maps were created and the process that will be employed to revise the older California Wildlife Habitat Relationship (CWHR) maps is available. Advantages of a standardized approach that incorporates current occurrence data and a peer review process are:

1. Using standardized features supports the underlying assumption that these range polygons can be used as data for spatial analysis;
2. The process of map preparation follows the scientific principles of repeatability and the use of fully described methods;
3. They can be used as a baseline against which future range trends can be measured. Some older maps were created for the CWHR project in the late 1980s and are based solely on professional judgment.

These maps were hand-drawn on letter-sized paper without the benefit of supporting data. They were not intended as a rigorous or precise definition of a species range in California and were created in support of a wildlife-habitat relationship modeling system. Until revised, these maps represent the best available range information for these species.

Current species-level range maps for fish were produced by the University of California, Davis, Information Center for the Environment in conjunction with Dr. Peter Moyle and his graduate student Paul Randall as part of the Hexagon Project conducted by the Nature Conservancy in 1998. Digital data from 10 different fish databases and GIS layers containing California hydrology and California state boundaries were projected on paper maps (roughly 11 inches by 17 inches). Polygons were then hand-drawn on these paper maps and digitized using ARC/INFO GIS software. The resulting polygons are accurate at a scale of roughly 1:1,000,000. For more information about this project or to see additional maps produced, please visit Distribution Maps of Fishes in California.