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* Metric Name: Wildlife Species Richness *  

* Tier: 2  

* Data Vintage: 04/2023  

* Unit Of Measure: Number of species  

* Represent element and pillar: Yes  

* Type and distribution of data: Normal distribution representing count data. Raw data values ranged from 1 to 80 species across the Southern California.  

* Translation: Where is species richness the greatest?  

* Translation method and outcome: Raw data values translated to range from +1 to -1 representing more favorable to less favorable conditions, respectively. **** The proposition of more favorable is based on the objective of supporting higher species richness (positive linear slope). More favorable (translated to +1) and less favorable (translated to -1) set based on climate regions (Table 7). Alternative approaches could be to use the maximum potential species richness as opposed to the maximum observed; however, this assumes that all species could possibly cohabitate, which is unlikely. It is possible that in the future (or past) a greater number of species could occupy the climate class and find suitable habitat within the same 30m cell; however, the current representation is simply intended to provide a relative measure of diversity to inform where on the landscape biodiversity is currently being supported. 

Figure . Histogram and scoring of wildlife species richness in Southern
California

Figure . Histogram of translated wildlife species richness in Southern
California

Figure . Maps displaying raw metric and translated metric wildlife species
richness in Southern California

  

* Metric Definition and Relevance: Native species richness is estimated based on high suitability reproductive habitat for a given species. Reproductive habitat is used to represent suitability because it is critical for species persistence and for most native species it has the most limited requirements. If a habitat is identified as high for a given species, it is considered suitable (1), and habitat identified as moderate, low or not suitable, it is considered unsuitable (0). Species richness values are used as a relative measure of biodiversity value; as such, areas with lower species richness based on these criteria may still have high biodiversity value, but not as high as areas with higher richness values. The number of native species per spatial unit (30m pixel) presented as simply the total number; this can be useful for assessing change in number/composition over space. These values are specific to the southern California species and footprint for this kit.  

* Credits: FVEG 2023; California Department of Fish and Wildlife CWHR version 9.0 (CDFW); 2014