Survey of California Biodiversity
Identifying and Understanding California’s Habitats
In order to protect something, you have to know it’s there. The last extensive survey of California’s biodiversity took place almost 100 years ago. Much of our California hasn’t been appropriately or recently surveyed to document what plants live in our state and where they are. We are seeking funding for a survey of California’s biodiversity that will allow us to identify priorities to meet conservation goals, conduct effective conservation planning, monitor and evaluate strategies and projects, and adaptively manage for successful outcomes. Good science is the foundation of good decision making.
An updated survey of California’s biodiversity would:
What We've Found
Artemisia: “Beyond Species: Cryptic Diversity and its Importance” by Brent D. Mishler and Bruce G. Baldwin
“Since well before the Darwinian revolution, species have been commonly understood to be the discrete building blocks that make up the sum total of biodiversity. Despite the availability of extraordinary quantities of genetic and genomic data, and advances in evolutionary theory and methods, biodiversity is still nearly universally viewed through this Aristotelian lens, measured simply as a count of how many species are present. But we know now that biodiversity is far more than a count of species—there is significant variation within traditionally named species, and important, differential phylogenetic relationships among them.” (p.43)
