california ecosystems map

No, Is the Subject Area "California" applicable to this article? Map represents of density of springs per HUC12 unit. Each polygon was assigned as a wetland type or vegetation alliance as listed in the Supporting Information. Yes In May 2009 the Butte County Department of Water and Resource Conservation reported that due to lack of rain and groundwater withdrawals, 37 of the 81 wells monitored were at an “alert stage” requiring irrigation coordination in the county. The mapping and monitoring of groundwater resources within the state is inconsistent and not well developed; Groundwater is an unregulated, diminishing resource within the state. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. Most groundwater conservation and management efforts focus on protecting groundwater for drinking water and for other human uses with little understanding or focus on the ecosystems that depend on groundwater. The State contains offshore islands and coastal lowlands, large alluvial valleys, forested mountain ranges, deserts, and various aquatic habitats. Although groundwater monitoring is incomplete in many parts of the world, available data suggest that groundwater supply and quality are widely threatened by over-extraction and contamination [1]. Get directions, maps, and traffic for California. Displaying top 8 worksheets found for - Ecosystems In California. Groundwater dependent wetlands are distributed in 76% (n = 3,526 of HUC12 units in California. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Although the South Lahontan region has a high percentage of area ranking in the 75th to 100th percentile, it also has a high percentage of land area (30%) without groundwater dependent wetlands. To protect groundwater resources, it is critical that we begin to manage water in a way that is more inclusive of all users, including ecosystems and species. See Table 2 for definition of scores. Based on the quartile distributions, the HUCs in each ecoregion were given a score from 1–4 (See Methods) (Table 2). Springs are most densely concentrated in the North Coast and North Lahontan, whereas groundwater dependent wetlands and associated vegetation alliances are concentrated in the North and South Lahontan and Sacramento River hydrologic regions. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources; they are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. We report here on the application of this method across California, but believe the method can be expanded to regions where spatial data exist. Groundwater plays an integral role in sustaining certain types of aquatic, terrestrial and coastal ecosystems, and their associated landscapes, by providing inflow which maintains water levels, water temperature and chemistry required by the plants and animals they support [1]. However, these basins are just a subset of the aquifers underlying the state as not all groundwater is contained within these large, productive basins [10]. As can be seen in Figure 5, the greatest density of groundwater dependent wetlands is found in the North Lahontan region where groundwater dependent wetlands average 80 hectares per 1,000 hectares of HUC12 units. California's ecosystems are likely to experience significant climate-related changes over the next 50–100 years. The chaparral of southern California is echoed in the old world Mediterranean maquis, the Chilean matorral, South African fynbos and the Australian mallee scrub communities. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997, map revised 2006). states or provinces) or entire countries [1]. For more information about PLOS Subject Areas, click Investigate the gallery's eight Zones, each of which explores a different ecological principle. GDE clusters are located at the highest percentage in the North Coast (an area of the highest annual rainfall totals), North Lahontan (an arid, high desert climate with low annual rainfall), and Sacramento River hydrologic regions. California Fish and Game 97(4). Note that a score of 0 means that there were no groundwater dependent wetlands in the HUC12 unit. All of the deserts are located in eastern Southern California, in the Western United States The mean baseflow of reaches by HUC unit ranged from 27 percent (San Francisco Bay) to 60 percent (North Lahontan) of the total annual stream flow. The areal extent of groundwater dependent wetlands ranged widely throughout the state – with groundwater dependent wetlands ranging from <1 hectare of wetlands per 1,000 hectares to 810 ha/1,000 ha. density of springs and seeps at the HUC12 scale; density of groundwater dependent wetlands and associated vegetation alliances (hereafter referred to as wetlands) at the HUC12 scale; and. For example, while only 5 percent of water demand is met by groundwater in the San Francisco Bay region, over 80% of the water needs/demands of Central Coast are met by groundwater [10]. Fire is an integral part of California ecosystems; for without fire, few of the state’s native ecosystems, habitats, or even species, would persist as we know them today. United States. http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20161021. Spring ecosystems are one of several groundwater dependent ecosystems that increasingly are being affected worldwide by local and regional groundwater withdrawals [31], [32]. We did this using BFI data from the U.S. Geological Survey [23]. Data and applications on the GIS Open Data Site do not purport to show the precise location of boundaries. Help. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0011249.g003. Reviews "Ecosystems of California provides students, resource managers, and policy practitioners a much-needed reference for learning and guidance and will be especially useful for regional library collections. Springs are most densely concentrated (high percentage of land area ranking 4) at the HUC12 scale in the North Coast and North Lahontan, whereas groundwater dependent wetlands and associated vegetation alliances are concentrated in the North and South Lahontan and Sacramento River hydrologic regions. Although groundwater is only one factor in ecosystem sustainability, efforts are needed to make groundwater use and existing conservation practices more compatible. Percent of HUC12 units per hydrologic region ranking very low, low, medium and high based on calculate index of groundwater dependency. At level III, the continental United States contains 105 ecoregions and the conterminous United States has 85 ecoregions (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2013). However, over 80% of conservation projects fail due to lack of site-specific recommendations. In terms of land area, HUCs with a rank of 4 (75th–100 percentile) total 26% of the land area in the North Coast, 23% of the land are in the Sacramento River and 20% of the Tulare regions. We analyzed readily available geospatial data at the statewide scale to identify and map the groundwater dependent ecosystems that occur in California. Because of groundwater's accessibility and quantity, groundwater is a vital source of freshwater for human communities throughout the world [1], [2], [3]. Yes The coast of California from Monterey Bay south to the Mexican border, and inland from San Francisco Bay Area to the Sierra Nevada foothills contain California's Mediterranean ecoregions. The North Coast hydrologic region has the greatest occurrence of springs (n = 3,604) occurring in 61% (n = 459) of the 752 HUC12 units in that region. Just planting a California native is not really enough, Barstow is a lot different than San Francisco. To avoid scoring larger HUC12 units with higher scores (likely that larger units would contain more springs) density of springs was therefore calculated as the number of springs and seeps per hectare. Dibble, C. and Water Branch. Here, we report on the application of this method to the U.S. state of California to help illuminate the connection between groundwater and surface ecosystems. State Lands Map & Aerial Photo Collections now available digitally at CSU Fresno; Map Categories. Ecosystems Ecosystem-Based Management on the West Coast. Is the Subject Area "Wetlands" applicable to this article? The project is associated with interagency efforts to develop a common framework of ecological regions (McMahon and others, 2001). Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. The North Coast, North Lahontan and Tulare Lake regions had the greatest percentage of HUCs with scores of 4 for density of springs – over 30% in each region; the Colorado River, South Coast and South Lahontan had the lowest percentage with less than 15% of HUCs scoring 4s (Figure 3 and Figure 4). Percent of HUC12 units ranking 1–4 for groundwater dependent wetlands and vegetation alliances per hydrologic region. As each of these frameworks is further refined, their differences are becoming less discernible. For example, in the Great Basin and Mojave deserts, planned groundwater withdrawal is expected to greatly reduce spring discharge [9]. It is hoped that this analysis will help identify areas where future conservation efforts can be pursued, and shape additional scientific studies to better understand groundwater processes and the links between groundwater and aquatic ecosystems. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0011249, Editor: Adina Maya Merenlender, University of California, United States of America, Received: November 30, 2009; Accepted: May 17, 2010; Published: June 23, 2010. To develop an index of groundwater dependent streams we used the NHD 24,000- scale data set for all of California and assigned baseflow to stream segments based on U.S. Geological Survey data [23]. Although different types of GDEs are clustered more densely in certain areas of the state, watersheds with multiple types of GDEs are found in both humid (e.g. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels of ecological regions. HUC12 units with the lowest rankings (1–3) were concentrated in the South Lahontan and Colorado River regions where >20% and >30% of the HUCs, respectively, ranked very low. There are many other aquifers in the state that provide locally important water sources that are not within the mapped groundwater basin boundaries, and are not well understood. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across Federal agencies, State agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources in the same geographical areas (Omernik and others, 2000). No, Is the Subject Area "Surface water" applicable to this article? A total of 1,073 HUC12 units (23%) ranked as very low (1–3) (Table 3, Figures 9 and 10). In terms of land area the North Coast at 25%, North Lahontan at 39% and Sacramento at 36% had the greatest percentage of land with high groundwater dependence index (Score = 8–12). There are 4,621 of these units in the study area with a mean size of 9,570 hectares (Figure 2). We analyzed readily available geospatial data at the statewide scale to identify and map the groundwater dependent ecosystems that occur in California. Areas of the state with high groundwater dependency could be the focus of future analyses to investigate the potential threats to those ecosystems by groundwater withdrawal. There groundwater overdraft resulted in groundwater levels declining below sea level which caused seawater to intrude into fresh water aquifers [14]. The Arizona ecoregion map was compiled at a scale of 1:250,000. In 1995, the state's Department of Water Resources (DWR) estimated that 13 million Californians (40% of the state's population) used groundwater for at least a portion of their drinking water supply. Potential conservation strategies could involve identifying spring ecosystems that provide critical habitat for endemic and threatened species and developing a conservation plans that provide functional protection of the diverse and rare spring ecosystems. Ecosystems provide goods including food, fiber, and fuel, as well as services such as pollination and flood control, all necessary for human survival. Discover a faster, simpler path to publishing in a high-quality journal. Map of index of groundwater dependence at the HUC12 scale in California. To locate where groundwater flow sustains ecosystems we identified and mapped groundwater dependent ecosystems using a GIS. To understand ecosystems, we must first catalog the location and makeup of each unique ecosystem on Earth. Examples of HUC12 analyses units in the Southern California hydrologic region. Protection and management of groundwater-dependent ecosystems are hindered by lack of information on their diversity, abundance and location. here. For the full list of data sources and wetland types and vegetation included as being groundwater dependent see Supporting Information (Text S1). Based on quartile distribution of the sum, HUCs were ranked as follows: 0 = no groundwater dependent ecosystems; 1–3 = Very Low; 4–5 = Low; 6–7 = Medium; 8–12 = High. Because groundwater dependent wetlands are defined by hydric or partially hydric soils [20], [21] we intersected the composite geospatial polygons with soils that contained “hydric” or “partially hydric” components from NRCS STATSGO2 [22]. For all HUC12 units with a USGS stream gage present somewhere in the watershed, BFI values were assigned from gage data, For all HUC12 units with streams and no stream gages present, we assigned BFI using interpolated values from a 1-km raster dataset for the conterminous U.S. estimated from stream gages. In the Tulare Lake region, 62% of the land area contains no springs, and 21% of the land area contains no groundwater wetlands. Official websites use .gov 0 = none. Because none of these mapping efforts are complete for the entire state, we developed a composite dataset using the best available data. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0011249.g005. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. The San Francisco Bay Area hydrologic region has the lowest number of springs (n = 347) occurring in 50% (n = 70) of the 129 HUC12 units (Figure 4). 2016-1021. Performed the experiments: MM. These are among the most productive ecosystems in the world ocean. As a result, California is the only state in the country without a comprehensive statewide groundwater management system. HUCs were ranked as follows based on quartile distribution: 1 = (.001–0.247 springs/1,000ha); 2 = (0.21–0.44 springs/1,000ha); 3 = (0.441–0.94 springs/1,000ha); 4 = 0.942–11.8 springs/1,000 ha). This wide range of groundwater contribution to water use is a reflection of a combination of factors including the development of external water supplies (such as water supplied to the San Francisco Bay area from the Sierra via pipelines and canals), availability of groundwater, the relative availability of water from other sources, and historical development of infrastructure and water supply practices. By developing a methodology that uses existing datasets to locate GDEs, this assessment addresses that knowledge gap. This decreased discharge is predicted to result in a reduction of areal cover of wetland vegetation and the amount of upland phreatophytic (deep rooted) vegetation by causing water table levels to drop below plant rooting depths [9]. Regions with the greatest land area ranking as none (0) or very low (1–3) are the Colorado (67%), South Coast (48%) and Tulare (47%) (Figures 9 and 10). It is important to note that the seeps and springs database does not contain information on the amount of flow emanating from the seeps/springs. Map of study area including the California Department of Water Resources hydrologic boundaries and groundwater basins in California. The raw density values were categorically scored (from 0–4) for each HUC12 using distribution quartiles (Table 2). The intent of the analysis is to provide a visualization of the biodiversity nexus of groundwater across the landscape– to better understand what biological targets are most dependent on groundwater and how they are distributed across the state. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0011249.s001. California Department of Fish and Game; 11/23/2010. Alternatively, the highest ranking a HUC12 unit could be assigned is a 12 if unit contained the highest classes of springs, groundwater dependent wetlands and baseflow index. Legal. Groundwater here is also important to both urban and agricultural uses, accounting for 41 percent of the region's total annual supply of 10 million acre-feet of water, and 35 percent of all groundwater use in the state [10]. No, Is the Subject Area "Coastal ecosystems" applicable to this article? Seeps and springs occur in 50% of HUC12 watersheds (n = 2,370) distributed throughout California (Figure 3). As stated earlier, to make biogeographic comparisons, the HUC12 unit variables were binned and summarized at the DWR hydrologic basin scale. In addition, GO-Biz administers the California Innovation Hub (iHub) Network staff, a collection of 14 designated partners, consisting of incubators, accelerator and economic development agencies, that are available to assist entrepreneurs who are seeking to plug into the innovation ecosystem of California. No, Is the Subject Area "Water resources" applicable to this article? In reviewing the data, we note that vernal pools a type of surface water wetlands were removed from the spatial data using by incorporate this step. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0011249.g001. We assigned a baseflow index (BFI) (defined as the ratio of baseflow to total flow in a stream) to each HUC12 in the study area. Explore recent publications by USGS authors, Browse all of Pubs Warehouse by publication type and year, Descriptions of US Geological Survey Report Series. Geological Survey345 Middlefield Road, MS 531Menlo Park, CA 94025http://geography.wr.usgs.gov/. Concentrations of GDE clusters (all three types) are located at the highest percentage (in terms of land area) in the North Coast, North Lahontan, and Sacramento River hydrologic regions, three distinct hydrologic and climatic regions. For more information about PLOS Subject areas, click here is met groundwater. Interagency efforts to develop a common framework of ecological regions only california ecosystems map official secure! Here for California, is a give leave to enter in the 1950s ( Ventura County ) polygons groundwater... Base flow is the Subject Area `` Spring '' applicable to this article Fresno, Davis and Lodi rely on... Have negative impacts on certain aquatic flora and fauna in California 9 million acre feet in 1947 to. 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