Look for complete geospatial metadata in this layer's associated xml document available from the download link


* Metric Name: Laguna Mountains Skipper  

* Tier: 2  

* Data Vintage: 2006 (critical habitat)  

* Unit Of Measure: Integer - see definitions below  

* Metric Definition and Relevance: The current range represents the boundaries for Laguna Mountains skipper ( _Pyrgus ruralis lagunae_ ) as understood by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

The critical data identifies, in general, the areas of Final critical habitat
for the species. Critical habitat constitutes areas considered essential for
the conservation of a listed species. These areas provide notice to the public
and land managers of the importance of the areas to the conservation of this
species. Special protections and/or restrictions are possible in areas where
Federal funding, permits, licenses, authorizations, or actions occur or are
required. This species is listed as an endangered species by the USFWS. This
species is only found in the Southern California Region.

  

* Creation Method: The current range contains the current range polygons as contained in the ECOS database; no generalization was performed and no data was intentionally omitted.

The critical habitat was initially digitized based on 1:24,000 USGS quadrangle
maps, digital orthophoto quarter quadrangle images, species information from
various sources, and staff knowledge of the habitat and hydrology in the area,
focusing on elevation ranging between 4000 and 6100 feet, where host plant
_Horkelia clevelandii_ is present, and slope and soils are suitable for
species survival.

This layer integrates the critical habitat and the current range of the Laguna
Mountains skipper. The critical habitat and current range polygons were
transformed to a binary 30m raster layer, where 1 represents the species
critical habitat and current range, respectively. In the final layer,
overlapping areas of these two layers were assigned a value of ‘1’, areas that
are critical habitat but not current range were assigned ‘2’, and areas that
are current range but not critical habitat were assigned ‘3’.

Value Interpretation

1 critical habitat that is also current range

2 critical habitat that is not current range

3 current range that is not critical habitat

  

* Credits: U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office