%0 Journal Article %J Natural Areas Journal %D 2009 %T Spatial patterns of endemic plants in California %A Thorne, J. H. %A Viers, J. H. %A Price, J. %A Stoms, D. M. %K endemism %K flora %K geodatabase %K hotspots %K Plant biogeography %K range size %X California endemic vascular plant range patterns were quantified using a flora-based geodatabase technique that combined species presence in geographic areas and elevation band occupation. Resulting species range maps were summarized by 228 geographic areas. Over 60% of the endemic species range size distributions were found to have range sizes less than 10,000 km2. The largest endemic taxon range was 275,749 km2, or 67% of the state. California endemic plants had different distribution patterns depending on the criteria used to portray them. California's Central Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada foothills, high elevation Sierra Nevada Mountains, Channel Islands, San Jacinto Mountains, Napa and Lake Counties, Inyo Mountains, sections of the Mojave Desert, and San Bernardino Mountains were all identified as areas with unique endemic plant attributes. We compared endemic species richness between map units in zones that have similar topography and climate, and found that area only weakly correlated with species richness, suggesting other factors have stronger influence on endemism in continental California. The findings have implications for developing conservation plans that target endemic species. In particular, we identify areas of the state, previously de-emphasized, that deserve greater recognition based on the characteristics of their restricted endemic plants. Range distribution estimates produced from floral keys made digital proved effective in this study, an inexpensive approach that could be implemented in other regions of the world for which floras have been published. %B Natural Areas Journal %V 29 %P 344-366 %8 2009 %G eng %U http://www.naturalarea.org/journaltoc.aspx?p=154 %0 Generic %D 1998 %T The California Gap Analysis Project-Final Report %A Davis, F. W. %A Stoms, D. M. %A Hollander, A. D. %A Thomas, K. A. %A Stine, P. A. %A Odion, D. %A Borchert, M. I. %A Thorne, J. H. %A Gray, M. V. %A Walker, R. E. %A Warner, K. %A Graae, J. %I University of California, Santa Barbara %8 1998 %G eng %0 Thesis %D 1997 %T Gap Analysis: The vegetation of Northwestern California %A Thorne, J. H. %X This thesis is a report on the mapping and results of the Gap Analysis Project (GAP) for the northwest floristic province of California. GAP is part of a national program to develop conservation profiles for species and natural vegetation communities at a regional level. Conservation profiles were determined by ranking 82 natural vegetation communities and 100 woody species according to their spatial extent on 54,249 km² of land broken into 4 management classes. Forty four communities appear to be at risk because of their low presence on protected lands. Thirty six communities are located mostly on private lands. Twenty three communities fell below the spatial resolution of the study. The 15 oak woodlands and forests were found to be the largest taxonomic classification at risk with a total of 561 km² out of 16368 km², or 3.4% currently located on lands managed for conservation. As was found for the southwest region to the state, the majority of communities at low elevation have poor representation on lands allocated to conservation. The procedures used in creating the GIS database used for the analysis are described. Conservation profiles derived using the GAP technique were compared with the California Dept. of Fish and Game's nonspatial rankings of natural vegetation communities. The comparisons and the structure of database are discussed to present to regional planners and resource managers a better understanding of how to evaluate GAP findings in light of their own process. %G eng %9 phdMasters thesis