Resources

Resources for Botany Professionals

The working professional botanist needs to possess a great deal of knowledge about laws, regulations, standards and guidelines, data resources, and much more. With this need in mind, the following materials have been gathered here in one place as a resource.

If you have suggestions for additional materials for this page, please contact CNPS Rare Plant Botanist Kristi Lazar at klazarcnps.org.

Guidelines / Policies

New DFG Guidelines for Conservation of Sensitive Plants in Timber
Harvest Plans (PDF, 1MB) -- The Guidelines address standards for botanical scoping, ownership-wide conservation and management, surveys, mitigation, and monitoring, and assessment of forestry herbicide impacts on sensitive species.

CNPS Botanical Survey Guidelines (PDF, 74k) -- Used to determine when botanical surveys are needed, who should be qualified to conduct them, how they should be conducted, and what information should be reported.

Statement Opposing Transplantation As Mitigation For Impacts To Rare Plants (PDF, 40k) -- Outlines the opposition of CNPS and the Botanical Society of America to transplantation of rare plants during development-related mitigation.

Mitigation Guidelines Regarding Impacts to Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Plants (PDF, 74k) -- Guides the assessment and mitigation of impacts to rare plants, and supports two important appendices: the CNPS policy on mitigation and the DFG guidelines for assessing the effects of proposed development on rare plants and plant communities.

CNPS policy archive-- Contains a number of policies and guidelines, conservation handbooks, forms, and other important documents.

Data Submission

How to submit data-- Outlines how to submit data on rare plants to the California Natural Diversity Database (CNDDB) and the CNPS Inventory.

CNDDB Field Survey Form (PDF, 60k) -- The CNDDB field survey form is available as a PDF which can be filled out and printed. Each form must be accompanied by a map - either a copy of a paper map, or a digital map from Topozone or the like.

CNDDB background (PDF, 285k) -- An informative article from Fremontia by CNDDB lead botanist Roxanne Bittman provides details the work of their program to inventory rare plant locations around the state.

Data Resources

CNPS Online Inventory -- A web-based version of the CNPS Inventory, with advanced query tools, links to photos and other online data, and much more.

DFG Special Plants List (PDF, 446k) -- The Special Plants, Bryophytes, and Lichens List contains over 2,000 taxa considered to be sensitive by the Department of Fish and Game.

CNDDB Quick Viewer – An online tool that provides lists of all CNDDB elements (species or natural communities) that have been documented by the CNDDB to occur on a single USGS 7.5' topographic quad, set of 9 quads, or county. Unprocessed data for can also be accessed using this tool.

Natural Communities List (PDF, 409k) – List of terrestrial natural communities recognized by the CNDDB and based on the classification system provided within CNPS’s A Manual of California Vegetation.

Jepson Interchange -- An online resource for California floristic information.

Consortium of California Herbaria – Provides online access to herbarium specimen data from multiple herbaria in the state.

CalFlora -- An online resource containing information on plant occurrences throughout the state.

CalPhotos -- An online resource containing over 35,000 images of California plants.

CESA / FESA / NPPA

CESA listed plants (PDF, 123k) -- The plants currently listed under the California Endangered Species Act.

CESA Code (FGC 2059-2116) -- Link to the California Endangered Species Act law.

Native Plant Protection Act (NPPA) -- Link to the Fish and Game Code related to the NPPA.

FESA listed plants -- The plants currently listed under the Federal Endangered Species Act.

CNPS perspective on state and federally listed plants (PDF, 244k) -- An article by CNPS Senior Policy Analyst Emily Roberson, outlining the perspective of CNPS on management of rare plants under state and Federal endangered species law.

CEQA

CEQA process flowchart -- An interactive flowchart of the CEQA process, from start to finish.

How to Comment on a CEQA Document (PDF, 243k) -- An article by Taylor Peterson outlining the CEQA process, from the standpoint of citizen involvement.

Key CEQA Guidelines sections --

HCP / NCCP

HCP / NCCP resource page -- This CNPS web page contains a wide variety of resources on Habitat Conservation Plans and Natural Community Conservation Planning efforts.

Political realities of regional conservation planning (PDF, 173k) -- An article by Allison Rolfe outlining many of the issues facing habitat planning, with the San Diego NCCP/HCP as a case in point.

The future of regional conservation planning (PDF, 208k) -- An article by Carol Witham on the HCP / NCCP process, with a look to the future. Includes sidebars on the evolution of the NCCP Act and guidelines for developing an NCCP.

Chaparral and Fire / Invasive Species Impacts

Alien Plant Invasion Following Fire in California Shrub lands
http://www.werc.usgs.gov/pubbriefs/Keeleypbdec2005.html

Early Successional Changes Following Fire in California Chaparral
http://www.werc.usgs.gov/pubbriefs/keeleypboct2005.html

San Francisco East Bay Fire History, Landscape Changes
http://www.werc.usgs.gov/pubbriefs/keeleypbsep2005b.html

Fire Suppression Impacts on Postfire Recovery of Sierra Nevada Chaparral
Shrublands
http://www.werc.usgs.gov/pubbriefs/keeleypbsep2005a.html

The following site has other briefs that may be of interest. They are
all set up to summarize the publications and relate the management
implications within one page.
http://www.werc.usgs.gov/pubbriefs/index.html

Miscellaneous Resources

Rogers, D.L. and A.M. Montalvo. 2004. Genetically appropriate choices for plant materials to maintain biological diversity (PDF). University of California.
Report to the USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region, Lakewood, CO.

Glossary of terms and acronyms (PDF, 81k) -- A useful glossary containing many of the terms and acronyms related to rare plant laws and conservation.

Fremontia rare plant issue (PDF, 1.4 MB) -- CNPS published special double issue of the journal Fremontia dedicated to rare plant laws, regulation, and conservation. Some of the articles are included above, but we also offer the entire volume as a PDF.

Regulation of logging on private timberlands (PDF) -- A Golden State University Law Review (Vol. 30, No. 4, 2001) by Thomas N. Lippe and Kathy Bailey.