Terrestrial Biodiversity Summary [ds2739], 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).

For more information, see the Terrestrial Biodiversity Summary Factsheet at https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=150831 .

The user can view a list of species potentially present in each hexagon in the ACE online map viewer https://map.dfg.ca.gov/ace/ . Note that the names of some rare or endemic species, such as those at risk of over-collection, have been suppressed from the list of species names per hexagon, but are still included in the species counts.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (CDFW) Areas of Conservation Emphasis (ACE) is a compilation and analysis of the best-available statewide spatial information in California on biodiversity, rarity and endemism, harvested species, significant habitats, connectivity and wildlife movement, climate vulnerability, climate refugia, and other relevant data (e.g., other conservation priorities such as those identified in the State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP), stressors, land ownership).

ACE addresses both terrestrial and aquatic data. The ACE model combines and analyzes terrestrial information in a 2.5 square mile hexagon grid and aquatic information at the HUC12 watershed level across the state to produce a series of maps for use in non-regulatory evaluation of conservation priorities in California. The model addresses as many of CDFWs statewide conservation and recreational mandates as feasible using high quality data sources. High value areas statewide and in each USDA Ecoregion were identified. The ACE maps and data can be viewed in the ACE online map viewer, or downloaded for use in ArcGIS. For more detailed information see https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Data/Analysis/ACE and https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=24326 .