Question 1:

In order to calculate the number of hexagons in each dataset, the easiest way I could think of at the time was to go to each file in Excel, and use the sort by largest to smallest according to the OBJECT_ID column. After searching online, I’ve found the max() argument which displays the largest number within a column. We’re using the OBJECT_ID column becauses that relates to the total number of hexagons.

max(bird$OBJECTID)
## [1] 63890
max(mam$OBJECTID)
## [1] 63890
max(rep$OBJECTID)
## [1] 63890

In order to merge the three datasets, and still keep the information I needed, only a simple merge was needed.

dar = merge(bird, mam)
dar = merge(dar, rep)
par(mfrow = c(1, 3))
hist(bird$NtvBird, xlab = "# of observations", ylab = "Freq. of the same # of observations", main = paste("CA Native Bird Distribution"), col = 4)
hist(mam$NtvMamm, xlab = "# of observations", ylab = "Freq. of the same # of observations", main = paste("CA Native Mammal Distribution"), col = 3)
hist(rep$NtvRept, xlab = "# of observations", ylab = "Freq. of the same # of observations", main = paste("CA Native Bird Distribution"), col = 7)

A three-panel graph showing the distribution of CA Native Birds, Mammals and Reptiles, shown above.

par(mfrow = c(1, 3))
plot(dar$NtvBird, dar$NtvMamm, xlab = "Number of Birds", ylab = "Number of Mammals", main = "Native CA Mammals & Birds", col = 1)
plot(dar$NtvBird, dar$NtvRept, xlab = "Number of Birds", ylab = "Number of Reptiles", main = "Native CA Reptiles & Birds", col = 4)
plot(dar$NtvMamm, dar$NtvRept, xlab = "Number of Mammals", ylab = "Number of Reptiles", main = "Native CA Reptiles and Mammals", col = 2)

A three panel graph showing the relationship of each of the two classes of Animals, shown above.

Question 2

A map showing the density of CA Native Birds, with dark purple regions representing larger populations and white regions representing areas with low species numbers.
A map showing the density of CA Native Birds, with dark purple regions representing larger populations and white regions representing areas with low species numbers.

Looking at the map, we can see the darkest shade of purple primarily are within the Central Valley, as the historic wetland is a great place for birds during their annual migrations. The areas that are white, are within desert and high altitude regions, possibly suggesting the low thermal heat tolerance of birds. This also could suggest the lack of food and water availabilty in arid regions, which makes it very difficult for birds to survive with those limiting factors.