Western Ecological Research Center
Data and Tools
Below, you can find our stand alone data releases. For contemporary articles and their associated data, please visit our publications tab. We include tools that were developed to streamline analysis using different mediums. For further information, please contact authors.
Climate Distance Mapper
Climate Distance Mapper is a spatial decision-support tool designed to help land managers match seed sources with restoration sites. Plant populations are commonly adapted to local climate gradients and frequently exhibit a home-site advantage.
web applicationAnnual California sea otter stranding data
The California Sea Otter Stranding Network is part of the USGS effort to monitor southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) and provide data to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Data
Annual marbled murrelet abundance and productivity surveys off central California (Zone 6), 1999-2018
In 2017 and 2018, USGS Western Ecological Research Center (USGS WERC) partnered with California State Parks to continue long-term, at-sea surveys to estimate at-sea abundance and juvenile (i.e. hatch-year) productivity of Marbled Murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) in US Fish and Wildlife Service Conservation Zone 6 (central California: San Francisco Bay to Monterey Bay). Marbled Murrelets...
LEAN-Corrected San Francisco Bay Digital Elevation Model, 2018
Lidar-derived digital elevation models often contain a vertical bias due to vegetation. In areas with tidal influence the amount of bias can be ecologically significant, for example, by decreasing the expected inundation frequency. We generated a corrected digital elevation mode (DEM) for tidal marsh areas around San Francisco Bay using the Lidar Elevation Adjustment with NDVI (LEAN) technique...
Principal components of climate variation in the Desert Southwest for the time periods 1980-2010, 2040-2070 (RCP8.5) and (RCP4.5) - data release
Five principal components are used to represent the climate variation in an original set of 12 climate variables reflecting precipitation and temperature gradients. The dataset provides coverage for four regions (the Sonoran Desert, Mojave Desert, Colorado Plateau, and Southern Great Basin) and two time periods: current climate (defined as the 1980-2010 normal period) and future climate (...
Climate Distance Mapper - web application
Climate Distance Mapper is a spatial decision-support tool designed to help land managers match seed sources with restoration sites. Plant populations are commonly adapted to local climate gradients and frequently exhibit a home-site advantage. For this reason, climate information may serve as a proxy for local adaptation in restoration designs. Climate Distance Mapper allows users to rank the...
Geospatial Data for Object-Based High-Resolution Classification of Conifers within Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat across Nevada and a Portion of Northeastern California
These products were developed to provide scientific and correspondingly spatially explicit information regarding the distribution and abundance of conifers (namely, singleleaf pinyon (Pinus monophylla), Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma), and western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis)) in Nevada and portions of northeastern California.
Hourly wave-height observations from 2013 to 2017 at 32 sites throughout the Channel Islands National Park and San Nicolas Island
Hourly wave-height observations at 32 sites throughout the Channel Islands National Park and San Nicolas Island, site-specific hind casts from the Coastal Data Information Program (CDIP), and contemporary wave height, period, and direction from regional buoys taken during intervals between 2013 and 2017.
Annual California Sea Otter Census: 2018 Range Extent Shapefile
The GIS shapefile "Range extent of southern sea otters 2018" is a simple polyline representing the geographic distribution of the southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) in mainland California, based on data collected during the spring 2018 range-wide census. The USGS range-wide sea otter census has been undertaken each year since 1982, using consistent methodology involving both ground-...
Spatial predictions of habitat suitability for present-day (1950 – 2000 yr) and mid-Holocene (8.3 ka – 4.2 ka) time intervals
This dataset provides spatial predictions of habitat suitability for current (1950 – 2000 yr) and mid-Holocene (8.3 ka – 4.2 ka) intervals using hindcasting, and three separate paleo-distributions calibrated on the packrat midden archive: those without bias correction (naïve), those created with a standard method (standard), and those created with a novel...
Data for: A conservation planning tool for greater sage-grouse using indices of species distribution, resilience, and resistance
Managers require quantitative yet tractable tools that can identify areas for restoration yielding effective benefits for targeted wildlife species and the ecosystems they inhabit. A spatially explicit conservation planning tool that guides effective sagebrush restoration for sage-grouse can be made more effective by integrating baseline maps describing existing (pre-restoration) habitat...
Sage-grouse habitat management categories within phase 1 Pinyon-Juniper expansion in Nevada and northeastern California, derived from 2016 and 2017 Raster Products
This raster dataset depicts phase 1 pinyon-juniper expansion , where shrubs and herbs are the dominant vegetation and conifers occupy greater than zero percent to ten percent, intersecting documented sage-grouse habitat management categories (Coates et al., 2016a, Coates et al., 2016b). These data support the following publication: K. Benjamin Gustafson, Peter S. Coates, Cali L. Roth,...
Annual California Sea Otter Census: 2018 Census Summary Shapefile
The GIS shapefile "Census summary of southern sea otter 2018" provides a standardized tool for examining spatial patterns in abundance and demographic trends of the southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis), based on data collected during the spring 2018 range-wide census. The USGS spring range-wide sea otter census has been undertaken each year since 1982, using consistent methodology...
Fire caused tree mortality in western US national parks (2018)
This data consists of observations of individual trees that were subjected to prescribed fire in western US national parks. Information on individual trees include measurements of tree size, competition, and fire-caused damage. The data also includes estimates of plot-level vapor pressure deficit anomaly before fire.