California montane chaparral and woodlands

The California montane chaparral and woodlands ecoregion covers 7900 mi2, including the mountains of the Transverse

Transverse Ranges

The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region that runs along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Mexico in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie between...

, Peninsular

Peninsular Ranges

The Peninsular Ranges are a group of mountain ranges, in the Pacific Coast Ranges, which stretch from southern California in the United States to the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula; they are part of the North American Coast Ranges that run along the Pacific coast from Alaska...

, and Santa Lucia Ranges 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...

. It is part of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub

Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub

Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, defined by the World Wildlife Fund, characterized by dry summers and rainy winters. Summers are typically hot in low-lying inland locations but can be cool near some seas, as near San Francisco, which have a sea of cool waters...

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...

, with cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers. Elevations in the ecoregion reach 11503 feet (3,506.1 m) on San Gorgonio Mountain

San Gorgonio Mountain

San Gorgonio Mountain, also known locally as Mount San Gorgonio, or Old Greyback, is the highest peak in Southern California at . It is in the San Bernardino Mountains, east of the city of San Bernardino and north-northeast of San Gorgonio Pass. It lies within the San Gorgonio Wilderness, part of...

, resulting in a wide variety of natural communities, from chaparral

Chaparral

Chaparral is a shrubland or heathland plant community found primarily in the U.S. state of California and in the northern portion of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico...

to mixed evergreen forest

California mixed evergreen forest

California mixed evergreen forest is an ecoregion, of the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome, that occurs in the Pacific Coast Ranges of southwestern Oregon and California, and in the Coast, Transverse, and Peninsular Ranges in California...

to alpine tundra

Alpine tundra

Alpine tundra is a natural region that does not contain trees because it is at high altitude. Alpine tundra is distinguished from arctic tundra, because alpine soils are generally better drained than arctic soils...

Flora

Shrublands of chamise and scrub oak

Scrub Oak

Scrub Oak is a general name for several species of small, shrubby oaks, including the following species:*California Scrub Oak *Leather Oak *Coastal Scrub Oak...

tend to dominate the lower elevations of this ecoregion. A mosaic of manzanita

Manzanita

Manzanita is a common name for many species of the genus Arctostaphylos. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees present in the chaparral biome of western North America, where they occur from southern British Columbia, Washington to California, Arizona and New Mexico in the United States, and...

and closed-cone pine forest

Closed-cone pine forest

Closed-cone pine forest is a plant community of coastal California and several offshore islands. It consists of stands of Bishop Pines, Monterey Pines, and others which rely on fire or strong heat to open their cones and release the seeds.-Closed-cone Pines:...

appears at higher elevations. Bigcone Douglas-fir, Pseudotsuga macrocarpa, is a notable resident of some of these communities. This ecoregion overlaps the ranges of several oak species, including canyon live oak (golden-cup oak), interior live oak

Interior Live Oak

Quercus wislizeni, known by the common names Interior Live Oak, and Sierra Live Oak, is an evergeen oak, highly variable and often shrubby, found in areas of California in the United States. It also occurs south into northern Baja California in Mexico...

, tan oak, and Engelmann oak

Engelmann Oak

Quercus engelmannii, the Engelmann Oak or Pasadena Oak, is a species of oak in the white oak section Quercus sect. Quercus, native to Southern California and northwestern Baja California, Mexico.-Description:...

. Mixed evergreen forest occurs from 4500 to 9500 ft (1,371.6 to 2,895.6 m) and includes incense-cedar

Calocedrus decurrens

Calocedrus decurrens is a species of conifer native to western North America, with the bulk of the range in the United States, from central western Oregon through most of California and the extreme west of Nevada, and also a short distance into northwest Mexico in northern Baja California...

, sugar pine

Sugar Pine

Pinus lambertiana, commonly known as the sugar pine or sugar cone pine, is the tallest and most massive pine, with the longest cones of any conifer...

, white fir

White Fir

White Fir is a fir native to the mountains of western North America, occurring at altitudes of 900-3,400 m. It is a medium to large evergreen coniferous tree growing to 25–60 m tall and with a trunk diameter of up to 2 m . It is popular as an ornamental landscaping tree and as a Christmas Tree...

, Jeffrey pine

Jeffrey Pine

The Jeffrey Pine, Pinus jeffreyi, named in honor of its botanist documenter John Jeffrey, is a North American pine related to Ponderosa Pine.-Distribution and habitat:...

, ponderosa pine

Ponderosa Pine

Pinus ponderosa, commonly known as the Ponderosa Pine, Bull Pine, Blackjack Pine, or Western Yellow Pine, is a widespread and variable pine native to western North America. It was first described by David Douglas in 1826, from eastern Washington near present-day Spokane...

, and western juniper. Higher still are subalpine forests of limber pine

Limber Pine

The Limber Pine, Pinus flexilis, is a species of pine tree-the family Pinaceae that occurs in the mountains of the Western United States, Mexico, and Canada. It is also called Southwestern White Pine and Rocky Mountain White Pine...

, lodgepole pine

Lodgepole Pine

Lodgepole Pine, Pinus contorta, also known as Shore Pine, is a common tree in western North America. Like all pines, it is evergreen.-Subspecies:...

, and Jeffrey pine.

Conservation status

Approximately 30 percent of California montane chaparral remains intact, due to degradation activities of humans. This is an ongoing threat, particularly in the central part of its range (Sonoma, Marin, Solano, Sacramento, Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara, Monterey, Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz County

Santa Cruz County is the name of two counties in the United States:* Santa Cruz County, Arizona* Santa Cruz County, California...

and San Mateo counties), in which overpopulation

Overpopulation

Overpopulation is a condition where an organism's numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitat. The term often refers to the relationship between the human population and its environment, the Earth...

and agricultural pressure is most intense; montane chaparral is threatened chiefly by grazing and deforestation.

Flora

Conservation status

See also