The Natural Resources DataBase is a compilation of observations of flora and fauna made at open space and nature preserves and parks in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. The database can be searched for available data on flora, mammals, birds and reptiles-amphibians-fishes seen at one or more preserves.
The database was designed and implemented by Dennis H. Smith, who also entered and maintains the data. Bill Korbholz adapted the database for Internet use and designed and implemented the web interface.
As of 12/15/2021, the database contains information on 454 plant and animal species found on 238 preserves within the greater San Francisco Bay Area. There have been 95,165 sightings recorded to date. Work is ongoing to make the database more comprehensive and accurate.
While the authors have tried to make the NRDB as accurate and comprehensive as possible, it will always be a "work in progress." Species classifications are constantly changing, and additional sightings are continually being reported. The authors offer the NRDB as a resource for those interested in the species occurring on these preserves, but make no warrants as to the accuracy or comprehensiveness of these data.
Although many of the preserves represented in the NRDB are a part of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, MROSD is not affiliated with the NRDB nor is the District responsible for the maintenance, quality, or accuracy of data represented by the NRDB.
Collection of specimens on preserves represented in the NRDB may require special permission. Contact the managing agency for more information.
Bruce Homer-Smith (PlantID.net) and Dennis Smith have transferred flora observations from the NRDB to Calflora (Bruce) and Calflora to the NRDB (Dennis) We have worked closely with the staff of Calflora and thank them for their generous support. We have transferred tens of thousands of NRDB observations to Calflora. We have been able to add thousands of new Calflora observations and hundreds of new flora species to preserves covered by the NRDB.
The focus of the NRDB is what species are observed at named preserves. The focus of Calflora is where named species have been observed. Calflora does provide a mechanism for getting a plant list for a given preserve, but there are currently some caveats as described below.
If you wish to see the latest plant list for a given preserve to determine what observations came from Calflora, do an Observations Search (Searches => Observations) and check the Observation Source field for any from Calflora. If you want to pursue the observation further, the link in the Comment field will take you directly to the Calflora plant list for the preserve. Locate the species for which you are seeking more information and select the Observation link.
Every species in Calflora is accompanied by observation records. Because NRDB data were entered into Calflora as checklists, you must check the 'include surveys/checklists' box on the Observation or Observation Hotline page. NRDB observations will appear with Observer = Staff, and Source = Natural Resources Database - www.nrdb.org.
You will note that many preserves in the NRDB were not updated with new data by our exchange. We were unable to locate a preserve-specific list at Calflora for these preserves, so the NRDB remains the database of record for these preserves.
The method Calflora uses for obtaining preserve-specific lists uses the term Background to refer to the (GIS Shapefile) boundary for that preserve. They provide a mechanism for obtaining these lists through a process called 'What Grows Here' (WGH). If you follow the path:
Calflora.org => What Grows Here => Tools=> What Grows Here Wizard => What grows in my Named location => Go => [Named Location and text search] => [results]
you can obtain a list for the preserve by checking the 'In Selected Background' check box.
There are currently two problems with this approach. Here is how you can circumvent these problems. (Calflora knows of these and has put them on their list for future updates.)
These preserves with their backgrounds can be found by using Calflora’s map navigation tools to navigate to the area in which the preserve is found. We identify 31 preserves in this category. In every case, NRDB data have been loaded into the identified background, and Calflora data from this background have been added to the NRDB.
There are several preserves that can be found with WGH searches, but the red cross 'target' is placed outside the preserve background. For correct preserve-specific results, you must manually move the target within the background, at which point the 'in selected background' button will appear for you.
We have identified 27 preserves in this category. In every case, the target was manually moved into the relevant background and Calflora data from this background were added to the NRDB. The NRDB references to Calflora data use these adjusted coordinates so users can examine the details of the Calflora observations through the NRDB.