RRK_FVEG_2023.tif

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Summary

This operational geospatial dataset was obtained for use with the Southern California Regional Resource Kit (RRK). Vegetation maps are an important feature of any natural resource management portfolio. Currently the vegetation map for the entire state that is considered the "best available" data is the CALFIRE  data known as FVEG (Vegetation (fveg) - CALFIRE FRAP [ds1327]). This is an excerpt from the metadata:

“The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protections CALFIRE Fire and Resource Assessment Program (FRAP), in cooperation with California Department of Fish and Wildlife VegCamp program and extensive use of USDA Forest Service Region 5 Remote Sensing Laboratory (RSL) [now known as Mapping and Remote Sensing Team (MARS)], has compiled the "best available" land cover data available for California into a single comprehensive statewide data set. The data span a period from approximately 1990 to 2014. Cross-walks were used to compile the various sources into the common classification scheme, the California Wildlife Habitat Relationships (CWHR) system.”

Given the degree of fire in southern California in the last 30 plus years, especially in areas that experienced high severity fire, our RRK team thought that using the last version of FVEG (from 2015 but source data could be as old as 1987) would have too many glaring errors. Notwithstanding the challenge of creating reliable vegetation maps, we thought it would be possible to make improvements over the most recent map.

Description

Data Vintage: 1990-2023
Data Resolution: Raster, 30 meter pixels
Vegetation maps are important for characterizing many important features of a landscape such as wildlife habitat, fuels conditions, forest composition, and carbon. Such data are most useful if they can depict vegetation type, cover, and tree size class. This version was created to capture current conditions as best as possible through a variety of existing and current sources. Cross-walks were used to compile the various sources into the common classification scheme, the California Wildlife Habitat Relationships (CWHR) system. See CWHR for more details on the CWHR system (California Wildlife Habitat Relationships).
Key field names in this data set (there are others) are defined as follows:
WHRALL - Unique habitat data label. Concatenated from separate habitat attributes WHRtype, WHRsize and WHRdensity.
WHRNUM - Unique number for each Wildlife Habitat Relationship class (WHRtype).
WHRNAME - Unique name for each Wildlife Habitat Relationship class (WHRtype)
WHRTYPE - Unique Wildlife Habitat Relationship (WHR) class code
WHRSIZE - Wildlife Habitat Relationship Size Class (tree types only)
WHRDENSITY - Wildlife Habitat Relationship class (tree types only)
SOURCE_NAME - General description of where the source data layer used for a given geography
SOURCE_YEAR - Year of base imagery that source data layer references for a given geography
 
WHR Codes for Vegetation Types:
CWHR Code
Type Description
ASP
Aspen
BOP
Blue Oak-Foothill Pine
BOW
Blue Oak Woodland
COW
Coastal Oak Woodland
CPC
Closed-Cone Pine-Cypress
DFR
Douglas Fir
DRI
Desert Riparian
EPN
Eastside Pine
EUC
Eucalyptus
JPN
Jeffrey Pine
JST
Joshua Tree
JUN
Juniper
KMC
Klamath Mixed Conifer
LPN
Lodgepole Pine
MHC
Montane Hardwood-Conifer
MHW
Montane Hardwood
MRI
Montane Riparian
PJN
Pinyon-Juniper
POS
Palm Oasis
PPN
Ponderosa Pine
RDW
Redwood
RFR
Red fir
SCN
Subalpine Conifer
SMC
Sierran Mixed Conifer
VOW
Valley Oak Woodland
VRI
Valley Foothill Riparian
WFR
White fir
Shrub Dominated Habitats
CWHR Code
Type Description
ADS
Alpine Dwarf-Shrub
ASC
Alkali Desert Scrub
BBR
Bitterbrush
CRC
Chamise-Redshank Chaparral
CSC
Coastal Scrub
DSC
Desert Scrub
DSS
Desert Succulent Shrub
DSW
Desert Wash
LSG
Low Sage
MCH
Mixed Chaparral
MCP
Montane Chaparral
SGB
Sagebrush
Herbaceous Dominated Habitats
CWHR Code
Type Description
AGS
Annual Grass
FEW
Fresh Emergent Wetland
PAS
Pasture
PGS
Perennial Grass
SEW
Saline Emergent Wetland
WTM
Wet Meadow
Aquatic Habitats
CWHR Code
Type Description
EST
Estuarine
LAC
Lacustrine
MAR
Marine
RIV
Riverine
Developed Habitats
CWHR Code
Type Description
CRP
Cropland
DGR
Dryland Grain Crops
DOR
Deciduous Orchard
EOR
Evergreen Orchard
IGR
Irrigated Grain Crops
IRF
Irrigated Row and Field Crops
IRH
Irrigated Hayfield
OVN
Orchard - Vineyard
RIC
Rice
URB
Urban
VIN
Vineyard
Non-vegetated Habitats
CWHR Code
Type Description
BAR
Barren
The sources for updated data include:
·        Fire severity data (from CALFIRE)
·        LANDFIRE 2021 land cover data (wildland fire management programs of the USDA Forest Service and USDI)
·        Herbaceous cover (Region 5 MARS Team)
·        California Forest Observatory (SALO)
The rules begin with defaulting to FVEG 2015 unless the pixel falls within a high severity fire patch. If so, the following rules would apply. Using these rules, we made new vegetation type assignments to approximately 250,000 acres of the southern California (coastal and mountains) region. It was a relatively modest amount of change and we believe that further improvements are possible and warranted. That will come at some point in the near future.
 
High Severity Pixels With
Update Made
**************************************************************************************
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·        Herb-to-herb conversion where annual grass (AG) cover <50%
No update
·        Shrub-to-shrub conversion
·        Landfire’s “recently burned – herb cover” where AG cover <50%
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·        Herb-to-herb where MARS AG cover >50%
Change to “Annual Grassland”
·        Shrub-to-herb where CH <1m & AG cover >50%
·        Tree-to-herb where CH <2m & AG cover >50%
·        Landfire's "recently burned - herb cover" where AG cover >50%
·        Landfire's "recently burned - shrub cover" where AG cover >50%
·        Landfire's "recently burned - tree cover" where AG cover >50%
**************************************************************************************
**************************************************************************************
·        Landfire's "recently burned - shrub cover" where AG cover <50%
WHRSIZE -> 1
WHRDENSITY -> S
**************************************************************************************
**************************************************************************************
·        Herb-to-shrub
Landfire-FVEG Crosswalk
·        Shrub-to-herb where AG cover <50%
·        Tree-to-herb where AG cover <50%
·        Tree-to-shrub
**************************************************************************************
**************************************************************************************
·        Tree-to-tree
CFO WHRSIZE, WHRDENSITY
·        Landfire's "recently burned - tree cover" where AG cover <50%
**************************************************************************************
**************************************************************************************
·        Herb-to-tree
Landfire-FVEG Crosswalk
·        Shrub-to-tree
CFO WHRSIZE, WHRDENSITY
RRK project:
Reducing the risk of large, high intensity fire (and other disturbances) through forest treatments has become a management imperative in California. Significant progress has been made toward preparing for substantive actions that will realize these ambitious goals. The Forest Service has developed a Strategy for Shared Stewardship, a top-priority initiative that is guiding land management investments across landscapes throughout the country. This initiative, as referenced in the strategy, is "poised to capitalize on a unique set of synergies among new authorities, innovative community relationships, and breakthroughs in science and technology." Concurrently, the State of California has issued a new Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan (2022) that is designed to strategically accelerate efforts to restore the health and resilience of California forests through a joint State-Forest Service framework to enhance stewardship in California. Finally, the USFS Wildfire Crisis Implementation Plan (2022) reinforces specific goals for pace and scale of strategic forest treatments over the next decade. All together, we have both the social incentives and the scientific knowledge to pursue meaningful restoration of forested landscapes in California.
High quality geospatial data are an essential ingredient to address restoration/conservation of the broad suite of core socio-ecological values across the southern California landscape, and to drive analytic tools for planning management investments. The Southern California RRK represents a comprehensive set of mapped data layers needed to accomplish large-scale landscape planning and restoration. Landscape level assessment using high quality data developed from ecological modeling techniques, informative analytical approaches and the resulting credible scientific outputs will be fundamental to inform and support large landscape restoration planning and execution.
The metrics included in the RRK cover the full suite of ten “pillars of resilience”, as described in the Framework for Resilience.  This Framework, developed to promote socio-ecological resilience across forested and shrubland landscapes in California, provides a structure for assessing landscape conditions, setting objectives, designing projects, and measuring progress towards social-ecological resilience. 

Credits

CALFIRE, CDFW, LANDFIRE, California Forest Observatory (SALO), USDA Forest Service

Use limitations

Appropriate use includes regional to statewide assessments of vegetation cover, land cover, or land use change trends, total extent of vegetation cover, land cover, or land use change, and aggregated summaries of vegetation cover, land cover, or land use change. Further use includes applying these data to assess management opportunities for treatments to restore landscape resiliency. The authors make no warranty, expressed or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, nor assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or utility of these geospatial data, or for the improper or incorrect use of these geospatial data. These geospatial data and related maps or graphics are not legal documents and are not intended to be used as such. The data and maps may not be used to determine title, ownership, legal descriptions or boundaries, legal jurisdiction, or restrictions that may be in place on either public or private land. Natural hazards may or may not be depicted on the data and maps, and land users should exercise due caution. The data are dynamic and may change over time. The user is responsible to verify the limitations of the geospatial data and to use the data accordingly. For all data layers you are free to share, copy, and redistribute the material in any medium or format AND adapt, remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially under the following terms:
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. 
ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original. 
No commercial use – the user is responsible for acknowledging those data layers within this RRK (as determined by the source of the data) that are not permitted for commercial use. 
No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything this license permits.

Extent

Scale Range