A trail camera imagery dataset of contrasting shrub and open microsites within the Carrizo Plain National Monument, San Luis Obispo County, California

Carrizo Plain National Monument is one of the largest remaining patches of San Joaquin Desert left within the Central Valley of California. It is home to many threatened and endangered species including the San Joaquin kit fox, blunt-nosed leopard lizard, and giant kangaroo rat. The dominant plant lifeform is shrubs. The species Ephedra californica comprises a major proportion of the community within this region and likely also provides key ecosystem services. We used motion sensor trail cameras to examine interactions between animals and these shrubs. This technology is a less invasive alternative to other animal surveying methods such as line transects, radio tracking, and spotlight surveys. Cameras were placed within the shrub understory and in the open (i.e. non-canopied) microhabitats at ground level to estimate animal activity. We hope that this published datanote will allow for easier reuse of our imagery data.