Rangewide Occupancy and Post-Fire Recovery of California Gnatcatchers in Southern California, 2024

Data presented are results of surveys for California Gnatcatchers and vegetation sampling conducted in 2024 to address two inter-related questions: (1) How have gnatcatchers and their habitat recovered in areas burned by wildfires in 2003, 2007, and 2014, and (2) What is the current regional occupancy of gnatcatchers throughout their southern California range? In 2024 additional fire categories (2020-2023) were added as study plots burned between survey years, which resulted in new fire category sample sizes in 2024: 2003-2006 (102 points), 2007-2010 (106 points), 2011-2014 (86 points), 2015-2019 (19 points), 2020-2023 (18 points), unburned (93 points). All post-fire study points were in San Diego County. The regional occupancy surveys included 327 points in 2024 throughout southern California. The post-fire and regional datasets are not mutually exclusive, with some points serving in both analyses. Vegetation data were collected at each point in 2024 to facilitate analyses identifying habitat correlates of California Gnatcatcher occurrence.

[
  "010:12"
]

[
  "geospatial"
]