RJER_2011_BUOW_T2 (Color Coded to Tier 2, Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve Burrowing Owl Habitat Assessment Polygons, Tier 2, 2011)

Dataset includes 2011 habitat assessment polygons in Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve, San Diego County, CA that meet biotic and abiotic requirements to support burrowing owl and thus, constitute existing or potential burrowing owl habitat.

Detailed habitat assessments were conducted by CBI, TNC, and SDSU within the four designated South County grassland management planning units (Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve, Sweetwater Reservoir, Sycamore Canyon, and Proctor Valley) to document existing habitat conditions and determine habitat suitability for target species and habitats.  Habitat assessment data were also used to (1) identify suitable resource-specific restoration activities within each of the four planning areas and (2) develop site- and resource-specific Phase II experimental restoration plans.

Habitat assessments are qualitative in nature and are used to assess large acreages in a standard and relatively efficient manner.  The habitat assessment process functions as an initial filter for determining habitat suitability for target resources; areas or polygons that are selected for the habitat assessment process are assessed at increasingly finer scales through the habitat query and experimental restoration processes.

All habitat assessment data will be available to land managers through CBI’s Databasin website for future restoration planning and implementation purposes, regardless of whether those data were used in Phase II of this project.