CWHR Links

• CWHR Information
• Wildlife Habitats
• Life History & Range Maps
• Field Forms & Guidelines
• CWHR Software Download
• CWHR GIS Data Download
• Spatial Model Prototypes

 

 

Biogeographic Data Branch
1807 13th Street, Suite 202
Sacramento, CA 95811
(916) 322-2493

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California Wildlife Habitat Relationships (CWHR) System

CWHR System Components

CWHR is a comprehensive information system for terrestrial vertebrates and their habitats in California. There are several components to the CWHR System. These include:

• A complete species list (pdf) of California’s 1000+ terrestrial vertebrates.

• Life history information and geographic range data by season on 694 regularly-occurring species.

  • Sample life history account   (PDF - 27 Kb)
  • California’s Wildlife online
  • Sample of geographic range data.   (PDF - 38 Kb)
  • Download geographic range data.
• A standardized habitat classification scheme for California containing 59 habitats, structural stages for most habitats, and 124 special habitat elements.
• A community-level matrix model associating 694 wildlife species to these standard habitats and stages - rating suitability for reproduction, cover, and feeding. This information is available as part of the CWHR Version 8.2 software.

• A software application containing all system components.  CWHR Version 8.2 prints species life history descriptions, habitat descriptions and custom reports of database queries.  Each custom report includes a list of wildlife species projected to occur in a given location and set of habitat conditions.  Habitat suitability indices can also be calculated for each species in a given habitat condition and these values can be compared between two different habitat conditions for land use planning assessments.  Version 8.2 also includes BIOVIEW, an application that translates habitat suitability values for wildlife species into data that can be used in a Geographic Information System (GIS), with an option to apply fuzzy logic to the calculation of these values.

  • Demonstration of CWHR System Software
  • List of reports.
  • CWHR Version 8.2, including BIOVIEW (110 mb for minimal install; 700 mb for full install)

  Note: please register before downloading.  A form is provided on the download site.  Thank you.

  • Demonstration on the use of BIOVIEW   (PDF - 133 Kb)
  • BIOVIEW section of CWHR User's Manual   (PDF - 164 Kb)
  • User-friendly guide on preparing data for BIOVIEW   (PDF - 860 Kb)

Conservation Applications

CWHR has been used for several large wildlife resource conservation efforts including California's GAP effort, the Legislatively-authorized Timberland Task Force effort, and the Sierra Nevada Framework effort.  It is one of the primary biological data sets used in an assessment of California's biodiversity for the "Atlas of the Biodiversity of California". CWHR is used in sustained yield planning efforts by several large private timber companies and is part of regulations adopted by the California Board of Forestry.

 

Research and Development

The information in CWHR is based on current published and unpublished biological information and professional judgment by recognized experts on California's wildlife.  Research to improve the CWHR System is ongoing.  Some examples are presented below.

Model and Validation Standards

Barrett, R.H. and M. White (authors) and M. Parisi (editor).  1999.  Guide for Designing Field Validation Studies of the California Wildlife Habitat Relationships System. Technical Report No. 30. California Wildlife Habitat Relationships System, California Department of Fish and Game. Sacramento, CA.

California Department of Fish and Game and California Interagency Wildlife Task Group.  2000. Standards and Guidelines for CWHR Species Models.  Technical Report No. 31.  California Wildlife Habitat Relationships System, California Department of Fish and Game. Sacramento, CA.  Link

Field Validation Studies of CWHR Predictions

Avery, M.L. and C. Van Riper. 1990.  Evaluation of wildlife-habitat relationships data base for predicting bird community composition in central California chaparral and blue oak woodlands. California Fish and Game 76(2):103-117.

Baad, M.F.  1992.  Plant and Wildlife Resources Inventory of Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest, Lake County, California. Unpublished Report.  California State University, Sacramento. Sacramento, CA.  69 pp.

Block, W.M., M.L. Morrison, J. Verner, and P.N. Manley.  1994.  Assessing wildlife-habitat-relationships models: a case study with California oak woodlands.  Wildlife Society Bulletin 22:549-561.

Dedon, M.F., S. A. Laymon, and R.H. Barrett. 1986.  Evaluating models of wildlife-habitat relationships of birds in black oak and mixed-conifer habitats.  In J. Verner, M.L. Morrison, and C.J. Ralph (editors).  Wildlife 2000:  Modeling Habitat Relationships of Terrestrial Vertebrates. University of Wisconsin Press.  Madison, WI.  470 pp.

England, A.S. and D.W. Anderson.  1985.  Avian Community Ecology in Northern California Chaparral:  Evaluation of Wildlife-Habitat Relationship Matrix Models for Chamise-Redshank and Mixed Chaparral.  Report prepared for USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station under Agreement No. PSW-83-0022CA.  Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Biology, University of California. Davis, CA.

Hejl, S.J. and J. Verner.  1988.  Evaluating avian-habitat relationships in red fir forests of the Sierra Nevada.  Transactions of the Western Section of The Wildlife Society 24:121-134.

Howell, J.A.  1993.  Wildlife Habitat Inventory and Monitoring, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California: a Pilot Study.  Ph. D. Dissertation. University of California.  Berkeley, CA.  195 pp.

Laymon. S.A.  1989.  A test of the California Wildlife-Habitat Relationship System for breeding birds in valley-foothill riparian habitat.  Pages 307-313 in Abell, D.A. (technical coordinator) USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station Technical Report PSW-110. 544 pp.  Berkeley, CA

Purcell, K.L, S.J. Hejl, and T.A. Larson.  1992. Evaluating avian-habitat relationships models in mixed-conifer forests of the Sierra Nevada.  Transactions of the Western Section of The Wildlife Society 28:120-136.

Raphael, M.G. and B.G. Marcot.  1986.  Validation of a wildlife-habitat-relationships model: vertebrates in a Douglas-fir sere.  Pages 129-138 in J. Verner, M.L. Morrison, and C.J. Ralph (editors).  Wildlife 2000: Modeling Habitat Relationships of Terrestrial Vertebrates. University of Wisconsin Press.  Madison, WI.  470 pp.

Verner, J.  1980.  Bird communities of mixed-conifer forests of the Sierra Nevada. Pages 198-223 in DeGraff, R.M. (technical coordinator) USDA Forest Service Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station General Technical Report INT-86. Ogden, UT.  535 pp.

Welsh, H.H., Jr., and A.J. Lind.  1988.  Old growth forests and the distribution of the terrestrial herpetofauna.  Pages 439-455 in Szaro, R.C., K.E. Severson, and D.R. Patton (technical coordinators). USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station General Technical Report RM-166.  Fort Collins, CO.  458 pp.

Welsh, H.H., Jr., and A.J. Lind.  1991.  The structure of the herpetofaunal assemblage in the Douglas-fir/hardwood forests of northwestern California and southwestern Oregon. Pages 394-413 in Ruggiero, L.F., K.B. Aubry, A.B. Carey, and M.H. Huff (technical coordinators). USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station General Technical Report PNW-GTR-285. Portland, OR.  533 pp.

Interpretation of Model Output

Garrison, B.A.  1994.  Determining the biological significance of changes in predicted habitat values from the California Wildlife Habitat Relationships System.  California Fish and Game 80:150-160.

Garrison, B.A., R.A. Erickson, M.A. Patten and I.C. Timossi.  1999.  California Wildlife Habitat Relationships System:  effects of county attributes on prediction accuracy for bird species.  California Fish and Game 85(3)87-101.

Garrison, B.A. and T. Lupo.  2002. Accuracy of bird range maps based on wildlife habitat relationships models.  Pages 367-375 in Scott, J.M., P.J. Heglund, M.L. Morrison, J.B. Haufler, M.G. Raphael, W.A. Wall, and F.B. Samson (editors).  Predicting Species Occurrences:  Issues of Accuracy and Scale. Island Press.  Washington, D.C.

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CWHR is operated and maintained by the California Department of Fish and Game in cooperation with the California Interagency Wildlife Task Group (CIWTG).