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Track: Natural Resources and Conservation
Karen Beardsley
University of California, Davis
University of California
Davis, CA 95616
Telephone: 916-752-4389
Fax: 916-752-3350
E-mail: kbeards@ucdavis.edu
Eric Lehmer, Jim Quinn, Mike McCoy, UC Davis
California Riparian Evaluation System: An ArcView Decision Support Tool for Environmental Management
The California Riparian Evaluation System (CARES) is an evaluation tool designed to be used by decision makers who are not experienced with GIS. The Wildlife Conservation Board of the California Department of Fish and Game identified a need to better determine how and where riparian habitat restoration funds should be allocated. CARES, developed by the California Rivers Assessment staff at the University of California, Davis, allows for the identification of riparian areas of high quality and diversity that are at risk or have a high potential for conservation. The system is comprised of a state-of-the-art ArcView 3.0 Version graphical user interface through which users may alter evaluation criteria priorities to match conservation goals. Currently five data layers are available for inclusion in the user-defined criteria selection: Land Use/Land Cover, Land Management Status, Flow Regime (Natural or Altered), Potential Plant Species Richness, and Potential Vertebrate Species Richness. More layers will
be added to CARES when requested by the decision makers. Results are displayed as ArcView shape files that highlight potential sites for conservation based on the criteria chosen.
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