Department of Fish and Game

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Department of Fish & Game
Biogeographic Data Branch
1807 13th Street, Suite 202
Sacramento, CA 95811
(916) 322-2493 • Email BDB

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The Vegetation Classification and Mapping Program

The Vegetation Classification and Mapping Program (VegCAMP) develops and maintains California's expression of the National Vegetation Classification System. We implement its use through assessment and mapping projects in high-priority conservation and management areas, through training programs, and through working continuously on best management practices for field assessment, classification of vegetation data, and fine-scale vegetation mapping.

Vegetation Datasets In BIOS

 

Vegetation and Conservation

Joshua Tree

Vegetation is often considered to be the best single surrogate for habitat and ecosystems. Vegetation science has thus played an increasing role in wildlife and natural lands conservation and management over the years and is now among the principal tools involved in wildlands management and planning.

The Vegetation Classification and Mapping Program (VegCAMP) is a synthesis of the Natural Communities program within the California Natural Diversity Database and the Significant Natural Areas Program. This enables a more focused effort on developing and maintaining maps and the classification of all vegetation and habitats in the state to support conservation and management decisions at the local, regional and state levels.

In August 2007, VegCAMP received a Proposition 84 grant from the Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) to further the development of a statewide vegetation classification and mapping program for the State of California. The first map product VegCAMP will produce with these funds will be for the northern Sierra Nevada Foothills. The WCB and the Department have identified additional priority areas for future projects.

Also in 2007, the State Legislature required the Department of Fish and Game to develop a vegetation mapping standard for the state. The following report has been provided to the Legislature.

The principal roles of the program include:

  • Developing and maintaining a standardized vegetation classification system for California
  • Implementing and updating best methods of vegetation assessment including sampling, analyzing, reporting, and mapping vegetation at multiple scales
  • Training resource professionals on these techniques and coordinating with other agencies and organizations to ensure a statewide, standardized approach toward collecting, reporting, and interpreting vegetation data
  • Developing best practices for using these data for long-range conservation and management of natural lands in the state
  • Conducting integrated vegetation assessments throughout the state in areas with high conservation and management interest to the Department of Fish and Game and other agencies
  • Archiving and distributing quality vegetation data
  • Coordinating with other state, federal, and local agencies and organizations involved in vegetation assessment
  • Integrating standard vegetation classification systems with species distributions to encourage unified habitat assessments and conservation efforts

Long-range goals of the program include:

  • Completing and maintaining a state-wide vegetation map and classification in collaboration with other agencies and organizations
  • Developing and updating the most appropriate vegetation products for conservation planning and natural resources management within the state
  • Integrating the program with similar ones from other states and countries to facilitate national and international conservation and management of natural resources

Applications of VegCAMP efforts to analyses of statewide spatial data include:

  • Regional conservation planning
  • Wildlands fire/fuels modeling for improved preparedness
  • Identifying individual plant and animal species distributions
  • Predicting the spread of invasive species
  • Early scoping for transportation projects to minimize impacts
  • Prioritizing land acquisitions for parks and ecological reserves
  • Identifying important wildlife corridors
  • Setting a baseline for monitoring impacts of global climate change