Coastal sage scrub
It is within the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion, of the Mediterranean forests and scrub biome. Plant community Coastal sage scrub is characterized by low-growing aromatic, flora Characteristic shrubs and subshrubs include, California sagebrush, black sage, white sage, California buckwheat, coast brittle-bush, golden yarrow. Larger shrubs include and lemonade berry, herbaceous plants, and in some locales and succulents, are part of the flora. The coastal sage plant community is divided into two geographical subtypes — northern coastal scrub and southern coastal scrub. Northern coastal scrub occurs along the Pacific Coast from the northern San Francisco Bay Area northwards to southern Oregon and it frequently forms a landscape mosaic with the California coastal prairie plant community. The predominant plants are low evergreen shrubs and herbs, Characteristic shrubs include coyote brush, yerba santa, coast silk-tassel and yellow bush lupine. Herbaceous species include western blue-eyed grass, Douglas iris, and grasses, Southern coastal scrub is mostly found along the maritime Central Coast region, and the terraces and mountains with coastal climate influence in Southern California.
The plants of this community prefer the mild maritime climates found along Southern Californias coastline, world Wildlife Fund estimates that only 15 percent of the coastal sage scrublands remain undeveloped. Bernard Field Station at the Claremont Colleges, in San Diego County, the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base protects larger areas, and the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar has vernal pools and the endemic mint Pogogyne abramsii. One of the largest remaining areas of coastal sage scrub is found in the Temescal Mountains of Riverside County. A number of rare and endangered species occur in coastal scrub habitats. For example, the California gnatcatcher is a bird species endemic to the coastal sage scrublands. Other endemic fauna includes the El Segundo blue butterfly in the LAX dunes, the endangered Torrey pine is the dominant tree at Torrey Pines State Reserve in San Diego, one of only two known stands of this pine species. Terrace California coastal prairie California coastal sage and chaparral ecoregion Native grasses of California Index, California chaparral and woodlands In, Mayer KE, a Guide to Wildlife Habitats of California.
Sacramento, CA, California Department of Fish and Game, Coastal Scrub, de Becker, berkeley, CA, University of California Press. California coastal sage scrub and chaparral, Claremont Colleges, Robert J. Bernard Field Station website — Lists and photographs of organisms found in Coastal sage scrub. Las Pilitas horticulture database, California coastal sage plant community — text. Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants, Native Plant Guides — Southern California species
Santa Rosa Island (California)
Santa Rosa Island is the second largest of the Channel Islands of California at 53,195 acres. Santa Rosa is located about 26 miles off the coast of Santa Barbara, the terrain consists of rolling hills, deep canyons, and a coastal lagoon. Highest peak is Vail Peak, at 1,589 feet, the Chumash, a Native American people lived on the Channel Islands at the time of European contact. They called the driftwood wima that washed up on the beaches from the channel currents. The logs were used to build tomols, recreational activities on Santa Rosa Island include kayaking and hiking. A private boat charter company offers a number of trips to the year round. A year-round charter flight service is available from Camarillo Airport for hikers and campers to Santa Rosa Island, defined by the United States Census Bureau as Block 3009, Block Group 3, Census Tract 29.10 of Santa Barbara County, California. During the last ice age, the four northern Channel Islands, including Santa Rosa Island, were conjoined into Santa Rosae, in 1960, archaeologists discovered the remains of 13, 000-year-old Arlington Springs Man, among the oldest human remains in the Americas, on the island.
The remains of mammoths, which appear to have gone extinct about 13,000 years ago, have been excavated there. The ancestors of the Chumash Indians lived on Santa Rosa for many thousands of years, establishing numerous village sites along the coast, recent research has documented the presence of maritime Paleocoastal peoples on the island at least 12,000 years ago. Governor Manuel Micheltorena made a Mexican land grant of the island of Santa Rosa to brothers José Antonio Carrillo and they gave the island to Carlos daughters, Manuela Carrillo de Jones and Francisca Carrillo de Thompson. Their husbands - John Coffin Jones and Alpheus Basil Thompson - entered into a partnership to manage the island, a claim was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852, but the grant was not patented to Manuela Carrillo de Jones and Francisca Carrillo de Thompson until 1871. The acrimonious Thompson-Jones partnership ended in 1859, and by 1862 T. Wallace More owned the whole island, the island was used as a sheep ranch during the late 19th century by the More family.
The More family sold the island to Walter L. Vail and J. W. Vickers in 1902, the partnership used the island for cattle ranching and a private hunting reserve. The United States Air Force maintained a base on the island during the Cold War. In the late 1970s Mobil Oil Corporation was granted exploration rights on the island, both explosive and vibroseis exploration methods were used. Extensive surveys and geological maps were made at that time, Vail & Vickers sold the island in 1986 for the appraised value of nearly $30 million, which worked out to around $550 per acre. The sale agreement allowed continuation of the ranching and hunting operation for 3 months, the National Park Service issued a series of five-year renewable special use permits
Salt marsh
It is dominated by dense stands of salt-tolerant plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the marsh in trapping and binding sediments. Salt marshes play a role in the aquatic food web. They support terrestrial animals and provide coastal protection, salt marshes occur on low-energy shorelines in temperate and high-latitudes which can be stable or emerging, or submerging if the sedimentation rate exceeds the subsidence rate. Commonly these shorelines consist of mud or sand flats which are nourished with sediment from inflowing rivers and these typically include sheltered environments such as embankments and the leeward side of barrier islands and spits. In the tropics and sub-tropics they are replaced by mangroves, an area that differs from a marsh in that instead of herbaceous plants. Most salt marshes have a low topography with low elevations but a vast wide area, salt marshes are located among different landforms based on their physical and geomorphological settings.
Such marsh landforms include deltaic marshes, back-barrier, open coast, deltaic marshes are associated with large rivers where many occur in Southern Europe such as the Camargue, France in the Rhone delta or the Ebro delta in Spain. They are extensive within the rivers of the Mississippi Delta in the United States, in New Zealand, most salt marshes occur at the head of estuaries in areas where there is little wave action and high sedimentation. Such marshes are located in Awhitu Regional Park in Auckland, the Manawatu Estuary, back-barrier marshes are sensitive to the reshaping of barriers in the landward side of which they have been formed. They are common along much of the eastern coast of the United States, shallow coastal embayments can hold salt marshes with examples including Morecambe Bay and Portsmouth in Britain and the Bay of Fundy in North America. They have a big impact on the biodiversity of the area, salt marsh ecology involves complex food webs which include primary producers, primary consumers, and secondary consumers.
The low physical energy and high grasses provide a refuge for animals, many marine fish use salt marshes as nursery grounds for their young before they move to open waters. Saltmarshes across 99 countries were mapped by Mcowen et al, a total of 5,495,089 hectares of mapped saltmarsh across 43 countries and territories are represented in a Geographic Information Systems polygon shapefile. This estimate is at the low end of previous estimates. Mats of filamentous blue-green algae can fix silt and clay sized sediment particles to their sticky sheaths on contact which can increase the erosion resistance of the sediments. This assists the process of sediment accretion to allow colonising species to grow, as a result, competitive species that prefer higher elevations relative to sea level can inhabit the area and often a succession of plant communities develops. Coastal salt marshes can be distinguished from terrestrial habitats by the tidal flow that occurs
Cactus
A cactus is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word cactus derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek κάκτος, Cacti occur in a wide range of shapes and sizes. Most cacti live in habitats subject to at least some drought, many live in extremely dry environments, even being found in the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on earth. Cacti show many adaptations to conserve water, almost all cacti are succulents, meaning they have thickened, fleshy parts adapted to store water. Unlike many other succulents, the stem is the part of most cacti where this vital process takes place. Most species of cacti have lost true leaves, retaining only spines, as well as defending against herbivores, spines help prevent water loss by reducing air flow close to the cactus and providing some shade. In the absence of leaves, enlarged stems carry out photosynthesis, Cacti are native to the Americas, ranging from Patagonia in the south to parts of western Canada in the north—except for Rhipsalis baccifera, which grows in Africa and Sri Lanka.
Cactus spines are produced from specialized structures called areoles, a kind of highly reduced branch, areoles are an identifying feature of cacti. As well as spines, areoles give rise to flowers, which are usually tubular, Cactus stems are often ribbed or fluted, which allows them to expand and contract easily for quick water absorption after rain, followed by long drought periods. Like other succulent plants, most cacti employ a mechanism called crassulacean acid metabolism as part of photosynthesis. Transpiration, during which carbon enters the plant and water escapes, does not take place during the day at the same time as photosynthesis. The plant stores the carbon dioxide it takes in as malic acid, retaining it until daylight returns, because transpiration takes place during the cooler, more humid night hours, water loss is significantly reduced. Many smaller cacti have globe-shaped stems, combining the highest possible volume for water storage, the tallest free-standing cactus is Pachycereus pringlei, with a maximum recorded height of 19.2 m, and the smallest is Blossfeldia liliputiana, only about 1 cm in diameter at maturity. A fully grown saguaro is said to be able to absorb as much as 200 U. S. gallons of water during a rainstorm, a few species differ significantly in appearance from most of the family.
At least superficially, plants of the genus Pereskia resemble other trees and they have persistent leaves, and when older, bark-covered stems. Their areoles identify them as cacti, and in spite of their appearance, Pereskia is considered close to the ancestral species from which all cacti evolved. In tropical regions, other cacti grow as forest climbers and epiphytes and their stems are typically flattened, almost leaf-like in appearance, with fewer or even no spines, such as the well-known Christmas cactus or Thanksgiving cactus. Cacti have a variety of uses, many species are used as ornamental plants, others are grown for fodder or forage, cochineal is the product of an insect that lives on some cacti
Raccoon
The raccoon, sometimes spelled racoon, known as the common raccoon, North American raccoon, northern raccoon and colloquially as coon, is a medium-sized mammal native to North America. The raccoon is the largest of the family, having a body length of 40 to 70 cm. Its grayish coat mostly consists of dense underfur which insulates it against cold weather, two of the raccoons most distinctive features are its extremely dexterous front paws and its facial mask, which are themes in the mythology of several Native American ethnic groups. Raccoons are noted for their intelligence, with studies showing that they are able to remember the solution to tasks for up to three years, the diet of the omnivorous raccoon, which is usually nocturnal, consists of about 40% invertebrates, 33% plant foods, and 27% vertebrates. As a result of escapes and deliberate introductions in the century, raccoons are now distributed across mainland Europe, Caucasia. Though previously thought to be solitary, there is now evidence that raccoons engage in social behavior.
Home range sizes vary anywhere from 3 hectares for females in cities to 5,000 hectares for males in prairies, after a gestation period of about 65 days, two to five young, known as kits, are born in spring. The kits are subsequently raised by their mother until dispersal in late fall, although captive raccoons have been known to live over 20 years, their life expectancy in the wild is only 1.8 to 3.1 years. In many areas and vehicular injury are the two most common causes of death, the word raccoon was adopted into English from the native Powhatan term, as used in the Virginia Colony. It was recorded on Captain John Smiths list of Powhatan words as aroughcun and it has been identified as a Proto-Algonquian root *ahrah-koon-em, meaning one who rubs and scratches with its hands. Similarly, Spanish colonists adopted the Spanish word mapache from the Nahuatl mapachitli of the Aztecs, in French and European Portuguese, the washing behavior is combined with these languages term for rat, respectively, raton laveur and ratão-lavadeiro.
The colloquial abbreviation coon is used in words like coonskin for fur clothing and in phrases like old coon as a self-designation of trappers. In the 1830s, the U. S. Whig Party used the raccoon as an emblem, causing them to be known as coons by their political opponents. Soon after that it became an ethnic slur, especially in use between 1880 and 1920, and the term is considered offensive. In 1780, Gottlieb Conrad Christian Storr placed the raccoon in its own genus Procyon and it is possible that Storr had its nocturnal lifestyle in mind and chose the star Procyon as eponym for the species. Based on fossil evidence from France and Germany, the first known members of the family Procyonidae lived in Europe in the late Oligocene about 25 million years ago. Similar tooth and skull structures suggest procyonids and weasels share a common ancestor, after the then-existing species crossed the Bering Strait at least six million years in the early Miocene, the center of its distribution was probably in Central America.
Coatis and raccoons have been considered to share common descent from a species in the genus Paranasua present between 5.2 and 6.0 million years ago
Salt pruning
Salt pruning is the process by which saline mists generated by seawater are driven ashore by winds and thus over time alter the shape of trees or shrubs. The process degrades foliage and branches on the side of the plant that faces the body of saline water. The resultant growth form is asymmetrical, appearing swept back away from the ocean, there are numerous examples worldwide of this phenomenon. In the eastern United States on Long Island occurrences of salt-pruned Quercus stellata are observable in Flax Marsh, in San Diego County, California, a colony of Pinus torreyana has been salt-pruned by spray from the Pacific Ocean. The logo of the Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, ice pruning Lone Cypress Brooks, Robbyn. Salt, storms stimulate trees and vegetation
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world. There are eight different genera in the classified as rabbits, including the European rabbit, cottontail rabbits. There are many species of rabbit, and these, along with pikas and hares. The male is called a buck and the female is a doe, Rabbit habitats include meadows, forests, grasslands and wetlands. Rabbits live in groups, and the best known species, the European rabbit, lives in underground burrows, a group of burrows is called a warren. More than half the worlds rabbit population resides in North America and they are native to southwestern Europe, Southeast Asia, some islands of Japan, and in parts of Africa and South America. They are not naturally found in most of Eurasia, where a number of species of hares are present, rabbits first entered South America relatively recently, as part of the Great American Interchange. Much of the continent has just one species of rabbit, the tapeti, the European rabbit has been introduced to many places around the world.
Male rabbits are called bucks, females are called does, an older term for an adult rabbit is coney, while rabbit once referred only to the young animals. Another term for a rabbit is bunny, though this term is often applied informally to rabbits generally, especially domestic ones. More recently, the kit or kitten has been used to refer to a young rabbit. A young hare is called a leveret, this term is sometimes applied to a young rabbit as well. A group of rabbits is known as a colony, or nest, a group of young rabbits with the same parentage is referred to as a litter, and a group of domestic rabbits is sometimes called a herd. Because the rabbits epiglottis is engaged over the soft palate except when swallowing, rabbits have two sets of incisor teeth, one behind the other. This way they can be distinguished from rodents, with which they are often confused, the rabbits long ears, which can be more than 10 cm long, are probably an adaptation for detecting predators. They have large, powerful hind legs, the two front paws have 5 toes, the extra called the dewclaw.
The hind feet have 4 toes and they are plantigrade animals while at rest, they move around on their toes while running, assuming a more digitigrade form. Unlike some other paw structures of quadruped mammals, especially those of domesticated pets and their nails are strong and are used for digging, along with their teeth, they are used for defense
San Diego
San Diego is a major city in California, United States. It is in San Diego County, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, approximately 120 miles south of Los Angeles and immediately adjacent to the border with Mexico. With an estimated population of 1,394,928 as of July 1,2015, San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest in California. It is part of the San Diego–Tijuana conurbation, the second-largest transborder agglomeration between the US and a country after Detroit–Windsor, with a population of 4,922,723 people. San Diego has been called the birthplace of California, historically home to the Kumeyaay people, San Diego was the first site visited by Europeans on what is now the West Coast of the United States. Upon landing in San Diego Bay in 1542, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo claimed the area for Spain, the Presidio and Mission San Diego de Alcalá, founded in 1769, formed the first European settlement in what is now California. In 1821, San Diego became part of the newly independent Mexico, in 1850, California became part of the United States following the Mexican–American War and the admission of California to the union.
The city is the seat of San Diego County and is the center of the region as well as the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. San Diegos main economic engines are military and defense-related activities, international trade, the presence of the University of California, San Diego, with the affiliated UCSD Medical Center, has helped make the area a center of research in biotechnology. The original inhabitants of the region are now known as the San Dieguito, the area of San Diego has been inhabited by the Kumeyaay people. The first European to visit the region was Portuguese-born explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sailing under the flag of Castile, sailing his flagship San Salvador from Navidad, New Spain, Cabrillo claimed the bay for the Spanish Empire in 1542, and named the site San Miguel. In November 1602, Sebastián Vizcaíno was sent to map the California coast, in May 1769, Gaspar de Portolà established the Fort Presidio of San Diego on a hill near the San Diego River. It was the first settlement by Europeans in what is now the state of California, in July of the same year, Mission San Diego de Alcalá was founded by Franciscan friars under Junípero Serra.
By 1797, the mission boasted the largest native population in Alta California, with over 1,400 neophytes living in, Mission San Diego was the southern anchor in California of the historic mission trail El Camino Real. Both the Presidio and the Mission are National Historic Landmarks, in 1821, Mexico won its independence from Spain, and San Diego became part of the Mexican territory of Alta California. In 1822, Mexico began attempting to extend its authority over the territory of Alta California. The fort on Presidio Hill was gradually abandoned, while the town of San Diego grew up on the land below Presidio Hill. The Mission was secularized by the Mexican government in 1833, the 432 residents of the town petitioned the governor to form a pueblo, and Juan María Osuna was elected the first alcalde, defeating Pío Pico in the vote
Fox
Foxes are small-to-medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. Foxes are slightly smaller than a domestic dog, with a flattened skull, upright triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout. Twelve species belong to the group of Vulpes genus of true foxes. Foxes live on every continent except Antarctica, by far the most common and widespread species of fox is the red fox with about 47 recognized subspecies. The global distribution of foxes, together with their reputation for cunning, has contributed to their prominence in popular culture and folklore in many societies around the world. The hunting of foxes with packs of hounds, long an established pursuit in Europe, the word fox comes from Old English, which derived from Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz. This in turn derives from Proto-Indo-European *puḱ-, meaning ’thick-haired, tail’. Male foxes are known as dogs, tods or reynards, females as vixens, a group of foxes is referred to as a skulk, leash, or earth.
Foxes are generally smaller than members of the family Canidae such as wolves, jackals. For example, in the largest species, the red fox, males weigh on average between 4.1 and 8.7 kg, while the smallest species, the fennec fox, weighs just 0.7 to 1.6 kg. Fox-like features typically include a face, pointed ears, an elongated rostrum. Foxes are digitigrade, and thus, walk on their toes, unlike their dog relatives, foxes have partially retractable claws. Fox vibrissae, or whiskers, are black, the whiskers on the muzzle, mystaciae vibrissae, average 100-110mm long, while the whiskers everywhere else on the head average to be shorter in length. Whiskers are on the forelimbs and average 40mm long, pointing downward and backward, other physical characteristics vary according to habitat and adaptive significance. Fox species differ in fur color and density, coat colors range from pearly white to black and white to black flecked with white or grey on the underside. Fennec foxes, for example, have ears and short fur to aid in keeping the body cool.
Arctic foxes, on the hand, have tiny ears and short limbs as well as thick, insulating fur. Red foxes, by contrast, have a typical auburn pelt, a foxs coat color and texture may vary due to the change in seasons, fox pelts are richer and denser in the colder months and lighter in the warmer months
