Abstract
Monitoring a Rare Desert Sand Dune Species: A Success Story
Track: Ecology and Conservation
Author(s): Tony McKinney
We utilized ArcInfo and ArcMAP for project design and analysis and GPS for field mapping and navigation to assess the density, abundance, and distribution of Peirson’s milk-vetch (Astragalus magdalenae var. peirsonii), a threatened plant in the Algodones Dunes of Imperial County, California, that has been the focus of Dune Use versus Dune Preservation litigation for the past few years. Our focus was to asses the status of this plant which has a life history that overlaps peak OHV use in the dunes, and to use this information to build a management program covering the dunes. We sampled 123,488 cells as the base to select 750 seed bank cells. Sample plots were re-visited to predict distribution and trend analysis. We present our overall results, discuss the importance of GPS to collect field data in this barren landscape, and the utility of spatial analysis to support land management decisions.
Tony McKinney
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
6010 Hidden Valley Rd.
Suite 101
Carlsbad , California 92011
United States
Phone: 760-431-9440
E-mail: tony_mckinney@fws.gov