BIOS is a system designed to enable the management, visualization, and analysis of biogeographic data collected by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and its Partner Organizations. In addition, BIOS facilitates the sharing of those data within the BIOS community. BIOS integrates GIS, relational database management, and ESRI's ArcGIS Server technology to create a statewide, integrated information management tool that can be used on any computer with access to the Internet.
CWHR Predicted Habitat Suitability. This dataset represents areas of suitable habitat within the species ranges based on California Wildlife Habitat Relationships (CWHR 2016) and a statewide best-available vegetation map (FVEG2015, FRAP 2015). Habitat suitability ranks of Low (less than 0.34), Medium (0.34-0.66), and High (greater than 0.66) suitability are based on the mean expert opinion suitability value for each habitat type for breeding, foraging, and cover. Please note that the data is represented in raster format with a pixel size of 30 meters. In the case of species that rely on habitat types that are difficult to map at this scale, such as riparian or wetland habitat types, the amount of representative habitat may be underestimated or inaccurately mapped due to aggregation into pixels with a majority type not used by the species.
From the BIOS website: When citing BIOS data layers, the following minimal information should be included:
- The Title (name) of the data layer
- The Originator (or contact) of the layer
- The Publication Date of the layer
- Where the layer was accessed from (BIOS)
- When the layer was accessed
Suggested citation for CWHR is:
California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Biogegraphic Data Branch, 2021. California Wildlife Habitat Relationship System, Version 10.x.x. Sacramento, CA. access date: today's date.