With funding from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) Vegetation Program has collected and compiled vegetation data, produced a vegetation classification, and produced a fine-scale vegetation map of select BLM land units in the inner Central Coast of California. During this effort, CNPS completed vegetation sampling across the southern portion of the Ciervo-Panoche Natural Area (CPNA), including 21 relevé plots and 52 rapid assessment surveys, that represent 28 vegetation alliances. Building upon previous vegetation sampling and mapping efforts, we also compiled and quality-controlled greater than1,800 surveys of vegetation data from BLM to develop a robust regional vegetation classification of the inner Central Coast. All new and compiled classification data are stored within a geodatabase and a standardized Access database.

CNPS additionally produced a fine-scale vegetation map and monitoring data for the Hubbard Hill, Anderson Canyon, and Freeborn Mt allotments in San Luis Obispo County in conjunction with the US Bureau of Land Management and The Nature Conservancy. This vegetation map encompasses 7,000 acres and is based upon 2020 NAIP imagery. It includes 15 map unit codes for natural vegetation. All areas of natural vegetation were mapped at the floristic association/alliance level.

The vegetation classification follows Survey of California Vegetation (SCV) standards. The classification is based on about 1,900 regional vegetation surveys along the inner Central Coast from Ciervo-Panoche Natural Area to Carrizo Plain National Monument, using classification techniques such as clustering. The map was produced applying heads-up digitizing techniques, using a base of 2020 NAIP imagery. Map polygons were assessed for Vegetation Type, Percent Cover, Exotics, etc. The minimum mapping unit (MMU) is 1 acre. The average producers’ map accuracy across all types was 77 percent and the average users’ map accuracy was 73 percent , these scores fall below the state standard of overall accuracy at 80 percent. Upon scoring the accuracy assessments, CNPS staff have reviewed all polygons where the field verification name and map unit did not agree, to correct issues in photo interpretation and attribution for the final map. A total of 720 map polygons representing 15 vegetation map classes were developed.

For detailed information, please refer to the following report:

J. Buck-Diaz, K. Sikes, S. Vu, A. LaFever-Jackson and J.M. Evens. 2023. Vegetation Sampling, Classification, and Mapping Report for Ciervo-Panoche Natural Area and the Hubbard Hill Unit. Final Report prepared for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. California Native Plant Society, Vegetation Program, Sacramento, CA.

https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=220225.

Appendix D, Vegetation Descriptions:

https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=220226.