Natural Communities and Land Cover Types of Santa Clara County, California

A land cover type is defined as the dominant character of the land surface discernible from aerial photographs or other remotely sensed imagery, as determined by vegetation, water, or human uses. Land cover types are widely used to describe a variety of landscape characteristics, including natural communities, wetlands and streams, species’ habitat, ecosystem function, and biological diversity. Land cover is often a function of a variety of physical and biological factors such as plant and animal associations, soil type, topography, climate, and land uses.

The land cover dataset is an important tool for developing this East Bay RCIS’s conservation strategy (Chapter 3). Amongst its many uses, the land cover data were used to model focal species’ habitat, identify gaps in conservation of habitat and other natural resources, set measurable conservation goals and objectives, and identify conservation priorities to achieve the goals and objectives.