California Forests and Rangelands: 2015 Assessment

In some areas, one would expect to find a wide range of woody species, in other areas, less diversity might be expected. The number of observed species relative to expected is a common measure of ecosystem condition.

Tree crowns are both sites of primary production and habitat for arboreal species. Crowns may be damaged by human activity and pollution (e.g., ozone), as well as disease, insects, storms and fire.

This is a measure of the compensation of the average job. It is total earnings divided by total employment. Full-time and part-time jobs are counted at equal weight. Employees, sole proprietors, and active partners are included.

Births of infants with a low birth weight (less than 2,500 grams, about 5.5 pounds) is an indicator of economic well-being of families, as well as a public health indicator.

Migration patterns are the movement of people into or out of an area (e.g., a county). Metrics for this indicator include: a. In-Migration by County- The number of people moving into a county or region from some other area. b. Out-Migration by County- The number of people moving from a county or region into other areas. c. Net migration - in-migration minus out-migration

Parks and open space may have multiple uses. For example, a county open space area might be grazed to reduce the extent of exotic weed cover. It may be useful to provide multiple non-conflicting uses within the same park or open space.

Wildfires can have negative consequences that contribute to costs and health impacts. These include revegetation of burned areas and impacts of smoke on people with pulmonary conditions.

Invasive, non-native plants ("weeds") can spread rapidly and extensively in many ecosystems, including California forest and rangelands. This indicator reports on the number of weed species and area of cover. Reporting units may include by ownership, forest type, type of weed, and area affected.

Native and non-native insects and diseases can both cause high rates of mortality during an outbreak. Although native insects and diseases have their place in forest ecology, non-native insects and diseases are unlikely to benefit native forest ecosystems. Reporting units for this indicator could include by ownership, forest type, type of insect/disease, or volume and area affected.

In the worst cases, wildfires can result in firefighters or other people dying directly or indirectly as a result of the fire. This indicator is a direct measure of this important impact of fires.

People within residential areas adjacent to or within areas prone to wildfires may be at risk from harm when fires occur. This indicator is a measure of the degree of exposure, based on number of structures, or number of people exposed to risk of harm from wildfires.

Listing water-bodies under the Clean Water Act, section 303(d) is conducted when these water-bodies are found to be demonstrably impaired by pollutants (e.g., temperature, nutrients, sediment, mercury). The Regional Boards are responsible for listing water-bodies within each region, so comparisons are best made within regions, not among regions across the state.

In any given region (e.g., county), there may be an optimum or minimum area of conserved open space to meet habitat, aesthetic, water quality/supply, recreational, and/or other needs. This indicator is the ratio of land conserved to land available.

Not all parks are accessible to people who may want to use them. Distance, availability of transportation, and knowledge of park availability may constrain use. In addition, some park areas may not be appropriate for human use if the point of the park is to conserve wildlife or other ecological processes. Accessibility of parks and use of parks are both useful metrics to inform park planning.

Communities that are adjacent to or within fire-prone areas may be more prepared and/or resilient in the face of wildfires. In addition, communities with Community Wildfire Protection Plans in place will be given priority for funding of hazardous fuels reduction projects carried out under the auspices of the federal Healthy Forest Restoration Act.

The wildland-urban interface (WUI) is an important landscape feature and is defined as the area where urban and natural areas intersect. It is the region where people and structures may be most at risk of harm from wildfires. In some cases, not all of a community will be at the WUI, so it is important to know the proportion of a community that is exposed.

The interface between a developed area and a naturally-vegetated (e.g., forested) area is called the wildland-urban interface (WUI). Communities may be large and varied enough so that the hazard rating for fires varies within the WUI. High hazard areas are those that are highly susceptible to fire ignition or spread, which is a function of vegetation type & distribution, moisture, and other factors (e.g., topography).

Standardized testing administered by the state can be used to determine whether an individual student is performing above or below expectations for her/his grade. The percent of students performing below grade level is indicative of both school performance and the socio-economic conditions that can contribute to students' ability to learn.

Native plants are distributed across the landscape because of legacies of past distributions, climate, topography, insolation, and other factors. Comparing current distributions with past distributions is one way to track effects of climate change and land use.

Wildfires (and prescribed fires) can have positive consequences for ecosystems and communities. One positive consequence is that natural processes adapted to fires will benefit. Another is that vegetation mass will be reduced, reducing the fuels available for future fires.