Vegetation - Canada de San Vicente - San Diego County [ds770]

The Vegetation Map of Cañada de San Vicente (CSV), San Diego County, was created by the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) Vegetation and Mapping Program (VegCAMP). CSV, formerly known as Monte Vista Ranch, was acquired in April 2009 by DFG and is currently not open to the public as the management plan is not complete. The map study area boundary is based on the DFG Lands layer that was published in April, 2011 and includes 4888 acres of land. This includes 115 acres of private land located in the northeast corner of the map that was considered an area of interest (AOI) before purchase by DFG. The map is based on field data from 38 vegetation Rapid Assessment surveys (RAs), 111 reconnaissance points, and 118 verification points that were conducted between April 2009 and January 2012. The rapid assessment surveys were collected as part of a comprehensive effort to create the Vegetation Classification Manual for Western San Diego County (Sproul et al., 2011). A total of 1265 RAs and 18 relevés were conducted for this larger project, all of which were analyzed together using cluster analysis to develop the final vegetation classification. The CSV area was delineated by vegetation type and each polygon contains attributes for hardwood tree, shrub and herb cover, roadedness, development, clearing, and heterogeneity. Of 545 woodland and shrubland polygons that were delineated, 516 were mapped to the association level and 29 to the alliance level (due to uncertainty in the association). Of 46 herbaceous polygons that were delineated, 36 were mapped to the group or macrogroup level and 8 were mapped to association. Four polygons were mapped as urban or agriculture. The classification and map follow the National Vegetation Classification Standard (NVCS) and Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) standard and State of California Vegetation and Mapping Standards. The minimum mapping area unit (MMU) is one acre, though occasionally, vegetation is mapped below MMU for special types including wetland, riparian, and native herbaceous and when it was possible to delineate smaller stands with a high degree of certainty (e.g., with available field data). In total, about 45 percent of the polygons were supported by field data points and 55 percent were based on photointerpretation.