- Metric Name:  Wildlife Species Richness

- Data Vintage:  2021

- Unit Of Measure: Number of species

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.- Creation Method:  Generated using the California Wildlife Habitat Relationships model developed and managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. CWHR habitat values are based on a combination of the F3 model for canopy cover, F3 size class and vegetation data. The vegetation data integrated the F3 forest type class with the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) and CALVEG type to include a variety of tree, shrub, grassland, and water dominated habitats. Species are considered present, and habitats considered suitable for each 30m cell for which the canopy cover-size-vegetation combination have been deemed highly suitable for the reproduction of that species in the California Wildlife Habitat Relationship database.

2019 to 2021 Update:  Adjustments for 2021 canopy cover and size class were made and then integrated to represent CWHR habitat attributes – see CWHR section below for adjustment details.

- Credits:  --	Forest type designation (FORTYPE) from Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) F3; 2021

--	National Land Cover Database (NLCD); 2019

--	Existing Vegetation (CALVEG), Region 5, MARS Team; 2016

--	California Department of Fish and Wildlife CWHR version 9.0 (CDFW); 2014