Given the extent and severity of the 2003 and 2007 wildfires in San Diego County there is an increase cause for concern in understanding the amount of available habitat and the percent of that habitat that is occupied by the coastal cactus wren. The USFWS has developed and refined a protocol for conducting coastal cactus wren monitoring. USFWS tested the protocol by completing surveys in 2009 and 2010. All southwest and southeast facing slopes below 1,500 feet, within San Diego MSCP preserve lands, were mapped for the occurrence of cactus patches. Once cactus patches were mapped in GIS, these patches were segmented into plots and surveyed for cactus wrens.
County: San Diego
General: Central-central, Central-west, South-central, South-west
MU: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Project type: Monitoring
Target species: Coastal cactus wren
Target vegetation: coastal sage scrub
Main implementing entity: U.S. Fish and Widlife Service, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office
SDMMP lead: Kris Preston
Study lead: Clark Winchell
Budget year: pre FY15-1; Work plan objectives number: