Technology is enabling conservation scientists to collect and analyze data with an efficiency unimagined just decades ago. Satellite and drone-based remote sensing allow rapid mapping and monitoring of environmental conditions; networked sensors such as camera traps and flow meters provide real-time data about the health and potential threats to important resources.
Data are fundamental to making science-based conservation decisions. By modernizing environmental data capture and analysis and streamlining the delivery of usable information to decision makers, we can unlock new opportunities for transformative change in resource management.
The Conservancy’s team of designers, engineers, and data scientists are continually applying new applications of technology to increase the pace and scale of conservation in California – and beyond.
Science in Action
Terrestrial | Planning | Technology
Wildfire and Communities
How can land protection and restoration help protect communities from wildfire?
Terrestrial | Marine | Science
TNC and FEMA
How do we increase climate resilience in ways that work for people and nature?
Products
2014 | Terrestrial | Publications & Reports
Incorporating critical elements of city distinctiveness into urban biodiversity conservation
Strategies for preserving the Earth’s biodiversity that can be employed within cities are likely to become more common as urban areas continue to increase in size and number. Progress towards…
2014 | Freshwater | Marine | Planning | Publications & Reports
An Inventory and Classification of U.S. West Coast Estuaries
Walter N. Heady, Kevin O'Connor, Jennifer Kassakian , Kate Doiron, Charles Endris, Daniel Hudgens, Ross P. Clark , Jena Carter , Mary G. Gleason
Estuaries are some of the most productive ecosystems on the planet. This inventory classifies more than 600 coastal confluences on the West Coast of the United States. Each estuary was classified…
2014 | Freshwater | Marine | Science | Publications & Reports
Nursery Functions of U.S. West Coast Estuaries: The State of Knowledge for Juveniles of Focal Invertebrate and Fish Species
Brent B. Hughes, Matthew D. Levey, Jennifer A. Brown, Monique C. Fountain, Aaron B. Carlisle, Steven Y. Litvin, Correigh M. Greene, Walter N. Heady, Mary G. Gleason
Estuaries support significant biodiversity and important ecosystem functions such as providing rearing habitat for juvenile fish and invertebrates. This report synthesizes the scientific…
2014 | Terrestrial | Planning | Blogs
New Study: Where Have All The Rangelands Gone?
Matt Miller, Dick Cameron
2014 | Terrestrial | Science | Publications & Reports
Fractured genetic connectivity threatens a southern California puma (Puma concolor) population
H.B. Ernest, T.W. Vickers, S.A. Morrison, M.R. Buchalski, W.M. Boyce
Highly fragmented landscapes can pose myriad threats to wide-ranging species like mountain lions. Coastal southern California has long been the focus of research into demographics, genetics, and…
2014 | Terrestrial | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports
A multi-scale distribution model for non-equilibrium populations suggests resource limitation in an endangered rodent
Tim Bean, Bob Stafford, Scott Butterfield, Justin Brashares
This paper presents a multi-step approach to estimate the realized and potential distribution of the endangered giant kangaroo rat. The authors estimate the potential distribution by modeling…
2014 | Freshwater | Science | Publications & Reports
Low-Cost Restoration Techniques for Rapidly Increasing Wood Cover in Coastal Coho Salmon Streams
Jennifer K. Carah, Christopher C. Blencowe, David W. Wright
Coho salmon in California are critically imperiled so there is strong impetus to achieve as much habitat restoration as possible in priority watersheds quickly and with limited resources. This paper…
2014 | Terrestrial | Science | Publications & Reports
Passive recovery of vegetation after herbivore eradication on Santa Cruz Island, California
Beltran, R.S., N. Kreidler, D.H. Van Vuren, S.A. Morrison, E.S. Zavaleta, K. Newton, B.R. Tershy, D.A. Croll
Introduced predators and herbivores can have dramatic ecological effects on island ecosystems; their eradication can produce similarly profound ecological responses. This paper analyzes data from…
2014 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Technology | Science | Blogs
A Renter’s Market: BirdReturns Offers Innovative Conservation
Eric Hallstein, Matt Miller
2014 | Terrestrial | Maps & Webmaps
California Rangeland Conversion webmap
This webmap shows regions of California converted from rangeland land use to development, intensive agriculture, or other miscellaneous land uses between 1984 and 2008. See related publication…
2014 | Terrestrial | Planning | Publications & Reports
Whither the Rangeland?: Protection and Conversion of California’s Rangeland Ecosystems
Cameron DR, Marty J, Holland RF
This study assesses the amount of rangeland conversion between 1984 and 2008 in California. The researchers analyzed data from the California Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program to see where…
2014 | Terrestrial | Science | Publications & Reports
Ecological change on California's Channel Islands from the Pleistocene to the Anthropocene
Rick, T.C, T.S. Sillett, C.K. Ghalambor, C.A. Hofman, K. Ralls, R.S. Anderson, C.L. Boser, T.J. Braje, D.R. Cayan, R.T. Chesser, P.W. Collins, J.M. Erlandson, K.R. Faulkner, R. Fleischer, W.C. Funk, R. Galipeau, A. Huston, J. King, L. Laughrin, J. Maldonado, K. McEachern, D.R. Muhs, S.D. Newsome, L. Reeder-Myers, C. Still, S.A. Morrison
Understanding the deep history of places and resources, and the interplay between natural and cultural histories, can be critical to science-based conservation management. This paper explores the case…
2014 | Terrestrial | Planning | Publications & Reports
Demography linked to climate change projections in an ecoregional case study
B. C. Mclaughlin, C. N. Morozumi, J. MacKenzie, A. Cole, S. Gennet
Anticipating how species will move as the climate changes is a fundamental concern in 21st century conservation. This study modeled potential responses of blue oak (Quercus douglasii), an…
2014 | Freshwater | Maps & Webmaps
Hope Runs Deep: Conservation Solutions for Salmon in Shasta Valley
Using maps, images, and video, this interactive StoryMap illustrates how The Nature Conservancy works with partners in Shasta Valley, California to find conservation solutions that work for…
2014 | Terrestrial | Technology | Publications & Reports
Remote Sensing and Residual Dry Matter Monitoring
H. Scott Butterfield, Miriam Tsalyuk, Carrie Schloss
The Nature Conservancy in California monitors residual dry matter (RDM) on approximately 300,000 acres of conservation lands. Researchers evaluated whether satellite remote sensing data could be used…
2014 | Terrestrial | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports
Species distribution models of an endangered rodent offer conflicting measures of habitat quality at multiple scales
Tim Bean, Laura Prugh, Bob Stafford, Scott Butterfield, Mike Westphal, Justin Brashares
In this study, the authors developed a suite of species distribution models (SDMs) for the endangered giant kangaroo rat using the machine-learning method Maxent. They compared these models with three…
2014 | Terrestrial | Science | Publications & Reports
Partitioning the sources of demographic variation reveals density‐dependent nest predation in an island bird populationv
H.R. Sofaer, T.S. Sillett, K.M. Langin, S.A. Morrison, C.K. Ghalambor
The density of birds in their breeding areas can affect reproductive success in myriad ways – and it is often difficult to distinguish which factors are more influential. For example, areas that…
2014 | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Maps & Webmaps
Actions Likely to Increase Plant and Animal Resilience to Climate Change
This webmap provides regional climate projections with information about topography, coastal proximity and level of habitat fragmentation to help land managers identify concrete conservation…