Habitat Assessment
With more than 80% of our Great Parks' total acreage set aside as natural areas, managing for the widest biodiversity is a challenge. To understand the various habitats and help us prioritize our resources, Great Parks embarked on an ambitious series of biological surveys to evaluate aquatic and terrestrial habitat. The surveys are based on using indicator species to tell us the relative health of each habitat. An indicator species is a plant or animal whose presence or absence in an area indicates certain environmental conditions.
Assessment sites are randomly selected in each of Great Parks' habitats, where we identify the species present and their abundance. We assign a measurable value to each site and rank them to identify those areas most needing protection or improvement. This process helps Great Parks provide habitat for various plants and animals.
Great Parks staff and volunteers have conducted vegetative cover mapping of most of the Great Parks to help determine the number of acres or percentages of each habitat type found in our parks. This information is helpful when determining the habitat type needed by various wildlife populations. Color-coded maps showing the different habitat types can be generated for each park.