Details - CALS Networking Lab - University of Arizona

Report Format and Data Organization
Unlike others in the series, each taxonspecific
chapter in this report has separate
authorship. As such there are some differences
in the organization and content of each chapter.
Appendices related to each chapter are attributed
to the respective author(s). We organized a single
literature cited chapter at the end of the report.
In the text, we report both common and
scientific names for plants, and for vertebrates
we report only common names (listed in
phylogenetic sequence in tables) unless we
reference a species that is not listed later in an
appendix; in this case, we present both common
and scientific names. For each taxonomic
group we include an appendix of all species
that we recorded in the district (Appendices
A–D). In the amphibian and reptile and mammal
chapters we review species that were likely
or confirmed to have been present historically
or that we suspect are currently present and
may be recorded with additional survey effort.
Scientific and common names used throughout
this document are current according to accepted
authorities for each taxonomic group: Integrated
Taxonomic Information System (ITIS 2005) and
the PLANTS database (USDA 2005) for plants;
Stebbins (2003) for amphibians and reptiles;
American Ornithologists’ Union (AOU 1998,
2003) for birds; and Baker et al. (2003a) for
mammals. We recognize that the designation of
a plant as “non-native” using the aforementioned
lists may lead to the misclassification of some
species, because these lists indicate only species
status in North America as a whole, not regions
within the continent. Therefore, our flora
underestimates the number of non-native species,
but because no authoritative list of non-native
species exists for the region, we believe that use
of these lists is justified.
Spatial Data
Most spatial data are geographically referenced
to facilitate mapping of study plots and locations
of plants or animals. Coordinates were stored
in the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)
projection (Zone 12), using the North American
Datum of 1983 (NAD 83). We recorded UTM
2
coordinates using hand-held Garmin E-Map ®
Global Positioning System (GPS) units (Garmin
International Incorporated, Olathe, KS; horizontal
accuracy approximately 10–30 m). We obtained
some plot or station locations by using more
accurate Trimble Pathfinder ® GPS units (Trimble
Navigation Limited, Sunnyvale, CA; horizontal
accuracy about 1 m). Although we map the
locations of study plots, stations, or transects
on Digital Orthophoto Quarter Quads (DOQQ;
produced by the USGS), the locations of study
areas will remain with the park and NPS Sonoran
Desert Network I&M office in Tucson. We also
produced distribution maps for all vertebrate
species from this and other recent survey efforts
(including wildlife observation cards at the
park). Those maps will be archived in the same
locations as the GPS coordinates.
Species Conservation Designations
We indicate species conservation designations by
the following agencies: U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (responsible for administering the
Endangered Species Act), USDA Forest Service,
Arizona Game and Fish Department, and Partners
in Flight (a partnership of dozens of federal,
state and local governments, non-governmental
organizations, and private industry).
Databases and Data Archiving
We entered field data into taxon-specific
databases (Microsoft Access version 97) and
checked all data for transcription errors. From
these databases, we reproduced copies of the
original field datasheets using the “Report”
function in Access. The output looks similar
to the original datasheets but data are easier to
read. The databases, printouts of field data, and
other data such as digital photographs have been
distributed to park staff and will be distributed to
Special Collections at the University of Arizona.
Original copies of all datasheets currently
reside at the I&M office in Tucson and may be
permanently archived at another location. Along
with the archived data, we will include copies
of the original datasheets and a guide to filling