Type: report

Article abstract: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This report combines the results of two tasks funded under a local assistance grant from the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) for Multiple Species Conservation Program (MSCP) wildlife corridor monitoring: (1) the second consecutive year of monitoring for locations in the cities of Poway and San Diego, surveyed by San Diego State University (SDSU) graduate students (contract Task D) and (2) the first year of monitoring for new transect locations established by the Conservation Biology Institute (CBI) and San Diego Tracking Team (SDTT) (contract Task A). CBI directed both studies. Transects at some of the Poway-San Diego monitoring stations established in 2000 (CBI 2002b) were not re-surveyed, while monitoring protocols were altered slightly based on recommendations from CBI (2002b). Specifically, in addition to the data collected at baited track stations, the presence or absence of wildlife, as evidenced by all types of sign, was recorded along the entire length of the transect to compare the methods. These sign surveys along the track station transects are thus similar to surveys conducted by the SDTT. The SDTT monitored wildlife use at new locations at Lusardi Creek, culverts under SR-67, Crestridge Ecological Reserve, Hollenbeck Canyon, Otay Mesa Road culvert, and Spring Canyon, in addition to continued monitoring at stations previously established by the SDTT, including the Scripps-Poway Parkway underpass and Sycamore Park Drive. As part of this grant, SDTT also entered data for all 48 SDTT transects, collected from 1996 to present. CBI and SDTT hope to conduct analyses of these data as part of a future project. Based on results of 2 years of monitoring, this report makes recommendations for: Habitat management needs at monitoring locations; Survey methods (standardized 1-km sign transects, with cameras at chokepoints); Collection and mapping of roadkill data in the vicinity of monitoring locations; Centralized data analysis and data management. In a separate report, CBI (2003) recommended locations for MSCP habitat linkage monitoring, which include the locations presented in this report.