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Track: Natural Resources and Conservation
Lora Konde
State of California
1220 S Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
Telephone: 916-445-5758
Fax: 916-324-0475
E-mail: LKONDE@dfg.ca.gov
Using GIS for Automated Selection of Significant Natural Areas of California
Defining Issue: California Assembly Bill 1039 requires the Department of Fish and Game to meet five goals relating to natural diversity: (1) Develop and maintain a data management system for natural resources, (2) identify the most significant natural areas in California, (3) ensure the recognition of these areas, (4) seek the long-term perpetuation of these areas, and (5) provide coordinating services for other public agencies and private organizations interested in protecting natural areas. Determination of Significant Natural Areas (SPA) within California needed to be automated so that current information would be available to agencies for use in planning and protection. GIS Solution: Using the California Natural Diversity Database (CNDDB) and ArcInfo, an AML was developed to determine which element occurrences from the CNDDB meet the criteria for a Significant Natural Area. An SPA region coverage is created, identifying the element occurrences that comprise each SPA. This coverage can then be
updated as new information is added to the CNDDB. Methodology: Oracle SQL scripts were written to extract any potential element occurrence records from the CNDDB that meet the criteria for a SPA. SNAs are identified using biological and spatial criteria. The following are the criteria used to select SNAs: -Areas supporting extremely rare species or natural communities -Areas supporting associations or concentrations of rare species or communities -Areas exhibiting representative examples of common or rare communities -Areas of high species richness or habitat richness ArcInfo is then used to reselect element occurrences that meet proximity and area criteria by using buffers, reselects, unions, frequencies, and statistics. Additional coverages are unioned with the SPA region coverage to identify SNAs that are in developed or disturbed areas. Cursors are used for automating a unique site number for each SPA. Software: SQL scripts written for Oracle, and AML, using the ARC and ARCPLOT modules. The
purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how GIS solved the problem and met the need for automating and updating the selection of Significant Natural Areas.
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