Final Critical Habitat for the California Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma californiense) - Central Population

Metadata:

• Identification_Information
• Data_Quality_Information
• Spatial_Data_Organization_Information
• Spatial_Reference_Information
• Entity_and_Attribute_Information
• Distribution_Information
• Metadata_Reference_Information

Identification_Information:

Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Publication_Date: August 23, 2005

Title:

Final Critical Habitat for the California Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma californiense) - Central Population

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data

Publication_Information:

Publication_Place: Sacramento, California

Online_Linkage:

\\POPTART\C\project\Bertram\Great Places\CriticalHabitats\cts_fCH_70FR49380.shp

Description:

Abstract:

These data identify, in general, the areas where final critical habitat for California tiger salamander, Central population, occur.

Purpose:

To provide the user with a general idea of areas where final critical habitat for California tiger salamander, Central population, occur.

Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Single_Date/Time:

Calendar_Date: August 23, 2005

Currentness_Reference: publication date

Status:

Progress: Complete

Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: None planned

Spatial_Domain:

Bounding_Coordinates:

West_Bounding_Coordinate: -122.074944

East_Bounding_Coordinate: -119.111170

North_Bounding_Coordinate: 38.911096

South_Bounding_Coordinate: 35.555914

Keywords:

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus:

REQUIRED: Reference to a formally registered thesaurus or a similar authoritative source of theme keywords.

Theme_Keyword: critical

Theme_Keyword: habitat

Theme_Keyword: California tiger salamander

Theme_Keyword: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Theme_Keyword: Central population

Theme_Keyword: Ambystoma californiense

Access_Constraints: None.

Use_Constraints:

These data are intended to be used as a guide to identify the general areas where final critical habitat for California tiger salamander, Central population, occur. Specific identity of critical habitat should be obtained from the text of the designation of final critical habitat for these California tiger salamander, Central population, published in: Federal Register, August 23, 2005, vol. 70, no. 162, pages 49379-49458.

Point_of_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Contact_Position: GIS Branch Chief

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: 2800 Cottage Way, Room W-2605

City: Sacramento

State_or_Province: California

Postal_Code: 95825-1846

Country: Sacramento

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 916/414-6708

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 916/414-6713

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: cheryl_hickam@fws.gov

Hours_of_Service: 7:30 am to 4:00 pm

Contact_Instructions: email or telephone

Native_Data_Set_Environment:

Microsoft Windows XP Version 5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 2; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.1.0.780

Cross_Reference:

Citation_Information:

Originator: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Publication_Date: August 23, 2005

Title:

Final Critical Habitat for the California Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma californiense) - Central Population

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data

Data_Quality_Information:

Lineage:

Process_Step:

Process_Description:

We are designating critical habitat on lands that we have determined are occupied at the time of listing and contain the PCEs and those additional features found to be essential to the conservation of the Central population of the CTS. In our determination of critical habitat for the Central population of the CTS, we selected areas that possess the physical and biological features that are essential to the conservation of the species and that may require special management considerations or protection. After identifying the principal PCEs that are essential to the conservation of the CTS, we used the PCEs in combination with occurrence data; geographic distribution; GIS data layers for habitat mapping; vegetation, topography, watersheds, and current land uses; scientific information on the biology and ecology of the CTS; and accepted conservation principles for threatened or endangered species. To identify areas that contain those features which are essential to the conservation of the CTS within the occupied range of the Central population of the CTS, we first looked at the range of the Central population, as was reported and mapped by biologists who had conducted CTS surveys throughout the range of the species. The range boundaries were developed based on the principles of conservation science, genetics of the species, topography, geology, soils, vernal pool type distribution, and survey information (CNDDB 2004; CDFG 1998). To the best of our ability, we did not include non-habitat areas such as subdivisions, intensive agricultural areas, or areas containing slopes too steep to support aquatic habitats or upland refugia necessary for the conservation of CTS. We then focused on areas within the range where we had credible records (e.g., museum voucher specimens, reports filed by biologists holding section 10(a)(1)(A) recovery permits) indicating CTS presence (CNDDB 2004). The known locations of Central population of the CTS fall into four geographic regions of Central California. These geographic regions correspond to the four regions identified by Shaffer et al. (2004) outside Sonoma and Santa Barbara Counties and are separated by either geological or topographical features, or ecological zones, or both. Our conservation strategy for the Central population focuses on those extant locations that provide sufficient aquatic and upland habitats to ensure high enough adult survival to maintain and sustain extant occurrences of CTS in each of these four geographic regions within the range of the Central population of the species. Wherever possible within these four geographical regions, we included denser groups of aggregated extant occurrences that possessed the minimum size resolution for long term preserve design and are representative of the geographic extents of each separate genetic region. Each of the critical habitat units possesses a unique combination of occupied aquatic and upland habitat types, landscape features, surrounding land uses, vernal pool types, ponds, geographical range, genetic composition, and topography. We determined that conserving the Central Population of the CTS over the long term requires a five pronged approach: (1) Maintaining the current genetic structure across the species range; (2) maintaining the current geographic, elevational, and ecological distribution; (3) protecting the hydrology and water quality of breeding pools and ponds; 4) retaining or providing for connectivity between breeding locations for genetic exchange and recolonization; and (5) protecting sufficient barrier-free upland habitat around each breeding location to allow for sufficient survival and recruitment to maintain a breeding population over the long term. An explanation of how we determined the amount of upland habitat which contained features that are essential for the conservation of the CTS in each critical habitat unit is described below in more detail. Protecting the upland refugia as watersheds of occupied extant occurrences of the Central population of the CTS is essential for four reasons: (1) To provide terrestrial foraging, cover, and shelter for CTS upland existence; (2) to ensure that the amount of water entering an extant occupied aquatic habitat is not altered to such an extent to allow predators (such as bullfrogs and fish) to colonize the site; (3) to maintain the hydrologic functioning of the wetland to ensure inundation periods (e.g. 12 week minimum in all but the driest years) are maintained; and, (4) to preserve water quality by minimizing the entry of sediments and other contaminants to the known occupied habitat. Therefore, our critical habitat boundaries include the upland refugia of watersheds containing known occupied occurrences within the range of the Central population of the CTS. We then identified the amount of upland habitat surrounding these extant occurrences where adult CTS live during the majority of their life cycle. To determine a general guideline for the amount of upland habitat necessary to support an occurrence of adult CTS, we reviewed the primary literature regarding CTS upland habitat use, including Trenham (2000), Trenham et al. (2000 and 2001), and Trenham and Shaffer (in review). The best scientific peer-reviewed data indicate that CTS do not remain primarily in burrows close to aquatic habitats and breeding ponds, but instead move some distance out into the surrounding upland landscapes. As described in the Background section, CTS have been found up to 1.2 mi (2 km) from occupied occurrences. Two studies conducted in Monterey and Solano counties provide the best available scientific data on upland movement distances. First, the mark-recapture study of Trenham et al. (2001) showed that CTS commonly moved between ponds separated by 2,200 ft (670 m), suggesting that movements of this magnitude are not rare. Second, the ongoing study at Olcott Lake (Solano County) has directly documented the presence of high densities of juvenile and adult CTS at upland locations at least 1,300 ft (400 m) from this high quality breeding pond. In a recent trapping effort, 16 percent of total captures of juvenile salamanders occurred at 2,300 ft (700 m) (Trenham et al. 2001). Trenham and Shaffer (in review) determined that conserving upland habitats within 2,200 ft (670 m) of breeding ponds would protect 95 percent of CTS at their study location in Solano County. Protecting the needed upland habitat area with a radius of 2,200 ft (670 m) around a single pond that has a 13 ft (10 m) radius may yield a minimum area of 350 ac (140 ha). However, the size of any occurrence or breeding pond may increase the total amount of necessary aquatic and upland habitat space for survival of any known occurrence. We used 0.70 mi (1.1 km) dispersal distance (radius) as a guide for the amount of upland habitat around known occupied extant occurrences to be mapped as critical habitat for the purposes of preserving the Central population of the CTS within small mammal burrows (PCE 2). However, although the studies discussed above provide an approximation of the distances that CTS can move from their aquatic habitats, breeding ponds, and known occupied aquatic habitats in search of suitable upland refugia, we recognize that upland habitat features will influence CTS movements in a particular landscape. As a result, in some designated units, we made adjustments to the upland areas to include additional areas up to the watershed boundaries or to include habitat containing the PCEs. In other cases, the critical habitat units were reduced so as not to include non-habitat areas (those not exhibiting the PCEs) from the designation. Some agricultural lands were included if they were directly adjacent to known extant occurrences and considered essential for upland refugia or connectivity between occurrences and were not considered a barrier to movement. To determine the areas to be mapped within each unit for the purposes of dispersal (i.e. PCE 3), we used a distance of 0.70 mi (1.1 km) as a general guide. The only known study we are aware of that specifically investigated movement of California tiger salamanders between breeding ponds projected that 0.70 mi (1.1 km) would encompass 99 percent of interpond dispersal (Trenham et al. 2001). However, we recognize that (as with movements in search of suitable underground refugia) upland habitat features influence CTS movements within a particular landscape. Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act authorizes us to issue permits for the take of listed species incidental to otherwise lawful activities. An incidental take permit application must be supported by a habitat conservation plan (HCP) that identifies conservation measures that the permittee agrees to implement for the species to minimize and mitigate the impacts of the requested incidental take. We often exclude from designated critical habitat non-Federal public lands and private lands that are covered by an existing operative HCP and executed implementation agreement (IA) under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act because the benefits of exclusion outweigh the benefits of inclusion as discussed in section 4(b)(2) of the Act. We are aware of five HCPs under various stages of development; however, these draft HCPs are not proposed for exclusion because we have not made a determination that they meet our issuance criteria nor that they provide adequate conservation for CTS. In addition, they are not ready for public notice and comment. When defining critical habitat boundaries, we made an effort to exclude all developed areas, such as towns, housing developments, and other lands unlikely to contain primary constituent elements essential for CTS conservation. However, our minimum mapping units do not allow us to exclude all developed lands, such as outbuildings, roads, paved areas, lawns, and other similar areas that are unlikely to contain any of the PCEs in this rule. Federal actions limited to these non habitat areas would not trigger a section 7 consultation, unless those proposed actions would affect other threatened or endangered species and/or the PCEs in adjacent critical habitat. In summary, we designate as critical habitat four critical geographical regions where the Central population of the CTS are known to be extant because we believe protection of the units within these four regions is essential to the conservation of the species. These extant occurrences represent approximately 68 percent of all extant occurrences across the range of the Central population of CTS. Using a dispersal distance of 0.70 mi (1.1 km) from each of these occurrences, the four geographical areas also include some other occurrences of the CTS. Areas of final crritical habitat occuring inside the twelve Census 2000 tracts identified in the economic analysis as having the greatest economic impact in terms of Surplus Lost, were eliminated. Final critical habitat legal descriptions were derived directly from the ArcGIS shapefile sketchproperties table, listing the x and y coordinates of each polygon representing final critical habitat.

Process_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Contact_Position: GIS Branch Chief

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: 2800 Cottage Way, Room W-2605

City: Sacramento

State_or_Province: California

Postal_Code: 95825-1846

Country: Sacramento

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 916/414-6708

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 916/414-6713

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: cheryl_hickam@fws.gov

Hours_of_Service: 7:30 am to 4:00 pm

Contact_Instructions: email or telephone

Spatial_Data_Organization_Information:

Direct_Spatial_Reference_Method: Vector

Point_and_Vector_Object_Information:

SDTS_Terms_Description:

SDTS_Point_and_Vector_Object_Type: G-polygon

Point_and_Vector_Object_Count: 36

Spatial_Reference_Information:

Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:

Planar:

Grid_Coordinate_System:

Grid_Coordinate_System_Name: Universal Transverse Mercator

Universal_Transverse_Mercator:

UTM_Zone_Number: 10

Transverse_Mercator:

Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: 0.999600

Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -123.000000

Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0.000000

False_Easting: 500000.000000

False_Northing: 0.000000

Planar_Coordinate_Information:

Planar_Coordinate_Encoding_Method: coordinate pair

Coordinate_Representation:

Abscissa_Resolution: 0.000512

Ordinate_Resolution: 0.000512

Planar_Distance_Units: meters

Geodetic_Model:

Horizontal_Datum_Name: North American Datum of 1983

Ellipsoid_Name: Geodetic Reference System 80

Semi-major_Axis: 6378137.000000

Denominator_of_Flattening_Ratio: 298.257222

Vertical_Coordinate_System_Definition:

Altitude_System_Definition:

Altitude_Resolution: 0.000001

Altitude_Encoding_Method:

Explicit elevation coordinate included with horizontal coordinates

Entity_and_Attribute_Information:

Detailed_Description:

Entity_Type:

Entity_Type_Label: cts_fCH_70FR49380

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: FID

Attribute_Definition: Internal feature number.

Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Unrepresentable_Domain:

Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Shape

Attribute_Definition: Feature geometry.

Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Unrepresentable_Domain: Coordinates defining the features.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: CNAME

Attribute_Definition: Common name of species

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: SNAME

Attribute_Definition: Scientific name of species

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: SSP_CODE

Attribute_Definition: Species code as identified in FWS ECOS

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: ORG_CODE

Attribute_Definition:

U.S. Dept. of Interior organization code for Office that produced the critical habitat polygons

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: UNIT_NUM

Attribute_Definition: Critical habitat unit number

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: UNIT_NAME

Attribute_Definition: Local or geographic unit name

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: SUBUNIT

Attribute_Definition: Critical habitat subunit letter

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: STATUS

Attribute_Definition: Critical habitat status

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Enumerated_Domain:

Enumerated_Domain_Value: FINAL CRITICAL HABITAT

Enumerated_Domain:

Enumerated_Domain_Value: PROPOSED CRITICAL HABITAT

Enumerated_Domain:

Enumerated_Domain_Value: EXCLUDED ESSENTIAL HABITAT

Enumerated_Domain:

Enumerated_Domain_Value: VACATED ESSENTIAL HABITAT

Enumerated_Domain:

Enumerated_Domain_Value: OUT/NOT HABITAT

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: AREA

Attribute_Definition: Area of feature in internal units squared

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: PERIMETER

Attribute_Definition: Perimeter of feature in internal units

Distribution_Information:

Distributor:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Contact_Position: GIS Branch Chief

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: 2800 Cotttage Way, Room W-2605

City: Sacramento

State_or_Province: California

Postal_Code: 95825

Country: Sacramento

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 916/414-6708

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 916/414-6713

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: cheryl_hickam@fws.gov

Hours_of_Service: 7:30 am to 4:00 pm

Contact_Instructions: email or telephone

Resource_Description: Downloadable Data

Distribution_Liability:

Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service using the best available information, no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the accuracy or utility of the data on any other system or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. This disclaimer applies both to individual use of the data and aggregate use with other data. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and/or contained herein.

Standard_Order_Process:

Digital_Form:

Digital_Transfer_Information:

Format_Name: ArcGIS shapefile

Format_Version_Number: ArcGIS 9.0

Transfer_Size: 0.072

Fees: none

Ordering_Instructions:

Fax or email request. Include your name, company name, address, phone number, email address, and the name of the file requested. A shapefile will be emailed to you.

Available_Time_Period:

Time_Period_Information:

Range_of_Dates/Times:

Beginning_Date: August 23, 2005

Ending_Date: August 23, 2015

Metadata_Reference_Information:

Metadata_Date: 20080228

Metadata_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Contact_Position: GIS Branch Chief

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: 2800 Cottage Way, Room W-2605

City: Sacramento

State_or_Province: California

Postal_Code: 95825-1846

Country: Sacramento

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 916/414-6708

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 916/414-6713

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: cheryl_hickam@fws.gov

Hours_of_Service: 7:30 am to 4:00 pm

Contact_Instructions: email or telephone

Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata

Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998

Metadata_Time_Convention: local time

Metadata_Access_Constraints: none

Metadata_Extensions:

Online_Linkage: <http://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.html>

Profile_Name: ESRI Metadata Profile