California coastal prairie
Encyclopedia
California coastal prairie, also known as northern coastal grassland, is a grassland
plant community of California
and Oregon
in the Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands
Biome
. It is found along the Pacific Coast
, from as far south as Los Angeles
in Southern California
up into southern Oregon.
rich grassland types in North America (Stromberg et al. 2002). Coastal prairie is also the single most urbanized major vegetation type in the U.S.: 24% of the habitat
has been lost to pavement.
Wind, salt spray, fire, and grazing are evolutionary disturbances which affected shrubs and tree growth maintaining more open grasslands. In the absence of grazing and/or fire, many areas of coastal prairie are being lost to shrub and tree encroachment . The accumulated organic matter from centuries produce a rich, dark prairie soil (mollisol). Coastal prairie often forms a landscape mosaic with the Northern coastal scrub
plant community.
Rare and endangered species
found in the coastal prairie include:
grasslands, the mostly perennial bunch grasses stay green all summer, which makes the coastal prairies attractive for grazing cattle and sheep. Other effects to this plant community include agriculture and development. California's coastal prairie, like most other California grasslands, has been greatly affected by the invasion of non-native species, including earthworms, snails, slugs, pill bugs, earwigs, and annual Mediterranean grasses.
Most recently, invasive perennial grasses, (Invasive grasses of North America
), are the greatest threat. These include velvet grass (Holcus lanatus), tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea
), and Harding grass (Phalaris aquatica
); the impact of these species can be somewhat ameliorated by well planned livestock grazing, which can reduce these species' cover, and allow native species to persist.
Grassland
Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
plant community of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
in the Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands
Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands
Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is a terrestrial biome whose predominant vegetation consists of grasses and/or shrubs. The climate is temperate and semi-arid to semi-humid....
Biome
Biome
Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Some parts of the earth have more or less the same kind of abiotic and biotic factors spread over a...
. It is found along the Pacific Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
, from as far south as Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
up into southern Oregon.
Description
California's coastal prairies are the most speciesSpecies
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
rich grassland types in North America (Stromberg et al. 2002). Coastal prairie is also the single most urbanized major vegetation type in the U.S.: 24% of the habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
has been lost to pavement.
Wind, salt spray, fire, and grazing are evolutionary disturbances which affected shrubs and tree growth maintaining more open grasslands. In the absence of grazing and/or fire, many areas of coastal prairie are being lost to shrub and tree encroachment . The accumulated organic matter from centuries produce a rich, dark prairie soil (mollisol). Coastal prairie often forms a landscape mosaic with the Northern coastal scrub
Northern coastal scrub
Northern coastal scrub is a scrubland plant community of California and Oregon. It occurs along the Pacific Coast from Point Sur on the Central California coast in Monterey County, California, to southern Oregon...
plant community.
Characteristic species
Characteristic species of this community include :- Perennial bunch grasses:
- DanthoniaDanthoniaDanthonia is a genus of grass species. Grasses of this genus are sometimes referred to as oatgrass, but that common name is not restricted to this genus.Species include:*Danthonia alpina Vest*Danthonia cachemyriana Jaub. & Spach...
- Danthonia californicaDanthonia californicaDanthonia californica is a species of grass known by the common name California oatgrass. This plant is native to two separate regions of the Americas, western North America from California to Saskatchewan, and Chile.-Description:...
- Danthonia californica
- Festuca
- Festuca californicaFestuca californicaFestuca californica is a species of grass known by the common name California fescue. It is native to the United Mexican States where it is a member of many plant communities, including chaparral. This fescue is a clumping bunch grass perennial without rhizomes.It reaches anywhere from 40 to 120...
- Festuca elmeriFestuca elmeriFestuca elmeri is a species of grass known by the common names Coast fescue and Elmer's fescue. It is a bunchgrass native to the US states of California and Oregon, where it often grows in wet, shady areas in coastal counties.-Description:...
- Festuca idahoensisFestuca idahoensisFestuca idahoensis is a species of grass known by the common names Idaho fescue and blue bunchgrass. It is native to western North America, where it is widespread and common...
- Festuca californica
- CalamagrostisCalamagrostisCalamagrostis, or Small-reed or Reedgrass, is a genus in the Grass family Poaceae with about 260 species that occur mainly in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere and the southern hemisphere. Towards equatorial latitudes, species of Calamagrostis generally occur at higher elevations in...
- Calamagrostis foliosaCalamagrostis foliosaCalamagrostis foliosa is a species of grass known by the common name leafy reedgrass.It is endemic to northern California, where it grows in the forests and scrub on the coastline. This perennial grass produces a tuft of stems 30 to 60 centimeters tall. The leaves are mostly located about the base...
- Calamagrostis foliosa
- DeschampsiaDeschampsiaDeschampsia is a genus of grasses in the family Poaceae, commonly known as hair grass or tussock grass. There are 30 to 40 species....
- Deschampsia cespitosa
- Other plants
- Deschampsia cespitosa
- Bracken fern - Pteridium aquilinumBrackenBracken are several species of large, coarse ferns of the genus Pteridium. Ferns are vascular plants that have alternating generations, large plants that produce spores and small plants that produce sex cells . Brackens are in the family Dennstaedtiaceae, which are noted for their large, highly...
- Douglas iris - Iris douglasiana
- Blue dicks - Dichelostemma capitatumDichelostemma capitatumDichelostemma capitatum , called Blue dicks, Purplehead and Brodiaea occur in Arizona, California, Oregon, Utah, New Mexico, and northern Mexico.-Subspecies:...
- Blue-eyed grass - Sisyrinchium bellumWestern Blue-eyed GrassSisyrinchium bellum is the common blue-eyed grass of California and Oregon in and west of the Sierra Nevada, its range extending south into Baja California. In parts of its range, Western Blue-eyed Grass has previously been classified as Sisyrinchium eastwoodiae, S. greenei and S...
Endangered species
Many of the rarest plant species in the coastal prairie exist mainly on land currently being grazed by livestock; these species have been disappearing when land is set aside for conservation and the livestock are removed .Rare and endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
found in the coastal prairie include:
- Flora
- Santa Cruz TarweedSanta Cruz TarweedThe Santa Cruz Tarweed is an endangered plant endemic to certain coastal terraces in Northern California. Its principal range is in Santa Cruz County and Monterey County, but smaller colonies have been found slightly to the north...
- Holocarpha macradenia — found in limited locations - San Francisco popcornflower - PlagiobothrysPlagiobothrysPlagiobothrys is a genus of flowering plants known commonly as popcornflowers. These are small herbaceous plants which bear tiny white or yellow flowers. Their fruits are nutlets. Although these plants are found predominantly in western North and South America, five species are known from Australia...
diffusus - Robust spineflower - Chorizanthe robustaChorizanthe robustaChorizanthe robusta is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family. It is endemic to California, where it is a rare, federally listed endangered species.-Description:...
robusta - Artist's popcornflower - Plagiobothrys chorisianusPlagiobothrys chorisianusPlagiobothrys chorisianus is a species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common name artist's popcornflower. It is endemic to California, where it can be found in and around the San Francisco Bay Area and parts of the coastline to the south.It is a resident of chaparral, coastal...
- Pt. Reyes meadowfoam - LimnanthesLimnanthesLimnanthes is a genus of annual herbaceous plants commonly known as the meadowfoams. The nine species are all native to the coastal regions of western North America, where they typically grow in marshy habitats, such as the margins of vernal pools...
sp. - Santa Cruz clover - Trifolium buckwestiorum
- Indian clover - Trifolium amoenumTrifolium amoenumTrifolium amoenum, known by the common name Showy Indian clover is endemic to California, and is an endangered annual herb that subsists in grassland areas of the San Francisco Bay Area and the northern California Coast Ranges.-Description:...
- Gray's clover - Trifolium grayii
- San Francisco owl's clover - TriphysariaTriphysariaTriphysaria is a genus of five plants in the broomrape family which are known generally as owl's clovers. This genus is closely related to the genera Castilleja and Orthocarpus...
floribunda.- Fauna
- Ohlone tiger beetle - Cicindela ohloneOhlone tiger beetleThe Ohlone tiger beetle, Cicindela ohlone, is endemic to California. It was first discovered by Isaac Field in March 1987 and was named and described in 1993 by Richard Freitag and David H. Kavanaugh. C. ohlone is part of the Cicindela genus and is most closely related to C. purpurea.C...
— endemic to Santa Cruz CountySanta Cruz County, CaliforniaSanta Cruz County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, on the California Central Coast. The county forms the northern coast of the Monterey Bay. . As of the 2010 U.S. Census, its population was 262,382. The county seat is Santa Cruz... - San Francisco garter snake - Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataeniaSan Francisco garter snakeThe San Francisco Garter Snake is a slender multi-colored colubrid snake. Designated as an endangered species since the year 1967, it is endemic to California and resides only in San Mateo County, California, and the extreme northern part of coastal Santa Cruz County, California...
Endangered habitat
Unlike many other Mediterranean climateMediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
grasslands, the mostly perennial bunch grasses stay green all summer, which makes the coastal prairies attractive for grazing cattle and sheep. Other effects to this plant community include agriculture and development. California's coastal prairie, like most other California grasslands, has been greatly affected by the invasion of non-native species, including earthworms, snails, slugs, pill bugs, earwigs, and annual Mediterranean grasses.
Most recently, invasive perennial grasses, (Invasive grasses of North America
Invasive grasses of North America
Grasses are one of the most abundant floras on all continents except Antarctica. Their divergence is estimated to have taken place 200 million years ago. Humans have intentionally and unintentionally introduced these species to North America through travel and trade. On the North American plains,...
), are the greatest threat. These include velvet grass (Holcus lanatus), tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea
Festuca arundinacea
Festuca arundinacea is a species of fescue commonly known as Tall fescue. It is a cool-season perennial C3 species of bunchgrass native to Europe. It is an important forage grass throughout Europe, and many cultivars have been used in agriculture...
), and Harding grass (Phalaris aquatica
Phalaris aquatica
Phalaris aquatica, syn. P. tuberosa, known by the common names Bulbous canarygrass and Harding grass, is a species of grass in the genus Phalaris of the Poaceae Family.-Description:...
); the impact of these species can be somewhat ameliorated by well planned livestock grazing, which can reduce these species' cover, and allow native species to persist.
See also
- Native grasses of California
- Grasslands of California
- Bunch grass
- Invasive grasses of North AmericaInvasive grasses of North AmericaGrasses are one of the most abundant floras on all continents except Antarctica. Their divergence is estimated to have taken place 200 million years ago. Humans have intentionally and unintentionally introduced these species to North America through travel and trade. On the North American plains,...
- Invasive plant species in California
- Invasive speciesInvasive species"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....