Crystal Cove State Park Inventory

Leatherman BioConsulting, Inc., was awarded a contract to conduct an inventory of wildlife species in Crystal Cove State Park, providing data for preparing a Natural Resource Management Plan. We designed and implemented study methods to establish the relative abundance of birds and herpetofauna (amphibians and reptiles) in all habitat types throughout the Park.

Methods to document the diversity and abundance of herpetofauna included establishing 29 survey transects with cover boards and three rounds of visual encounter surveys. The diversity and relative abundance of birds was documented during three rounds of transects in each general habitat type (grassland, sage scrub, chaparral, and riparian) supported in the Park.

Incidental observations of all mammals and special-status wildlife were recorded, and all raptors and raptor nests were recorded separately. Avian surveys included focused searches for the federally threatened California Gnatcatcher, for which an estimated 97 territories were documented.