Yucca (Yucca flaccida), Santa Ynez Mts., Santa Barbara, California, USA Photograph by John Morrison   Western North America: Southwestern United States Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands, and Scrub   7,900 square miles (20,400 square kilometers) -- slightly bigger than Massachusetts Vulnerable

· Woodlands and Wet Meadows
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Woodlands and Wet Meadows

The California Montane Chaparral and Woodlands ecoregion is a mosaic of sage scrub, chaparral, pinon-juniper woodland, oak woodlands, and a diverse forest types: closed-cone pine, yellow pine, sugar-pine white, lodgepole, and alpine. The region supports many drought-adapted scrub species. Within this zone are subalpine wet meadows and krumholz woodlands. Krumholz is a German word that means twisted wood. In this ecoregion it refers to the woodlands of high elevations that have stunted trees caused by the harsh conditions.

Special Features

This is a mountainous ecoregion, with peaks up to 11,550 feet (3500 m). Plants here grow in zones. The high-elevation cold chaparral zone is dominated by manzanitas along with closed-cone pine forests, Coulter pine woodlands, and big cone Douglas fir communities. All kinds of oaks-canyon live, interior live, tan, Engelmann, golden-cup, and scrub-are found throughout the ecoregion. Between 4,500 and 9,500 feet (1,350 and 2,850 m) you'll find a mixture of conifers such as incense cedar, sugar pine, white fir, Jeffrey pine, ponderosa pine, and mountain juniper. Between 2,000 and 5,000 feet (600 and 1500 m) is the range for tan and canyon live oaks, the unusual Santa Lucia or bristlecone fir, as well as several species of pine: ponderosa, sugar, Jeffrey, Coulter, and knobcone. The Monterey Bay area has its own distinctive species, including Monterey cypress and Monterey pine.

With a wingspan of nearly 9 feet (3 m) and a body that measures 50 inches (125 cm) from beak tip to tail tip and weighs nearly 20 pounds (9 kg), the California condor is one of the most impressive birds on Earth. But its large size doesn't protect it from humans. In 1982, only 21 still lived in the wild. Their decline to the brink of extinction was attributed in large part to lead poisoning. These scavengers often ate animals that were shot and left by hunters, and subsequently also swallowed the lead bullets or lead shot. A program to raise condors in captivity has released 85 condors to the wild, with varying success.

Wild Side

The ecoregion supports eight endemic conifer species, the highest number of any region in the United States or Canada. Some plants here have adapted to drought conditions with a waxy coat on their leaves that limits water loss, or they're covered with soft, light-colored hairs to reflect drying light. Vertebrates that live here include white-eared pocket mice, cougars, bobcats, coyotes, ringtails, California condors (reintroduced), and five amphibians, largely plethodontid (lungless) salamanders. The ecoregion also contains important over-wintering locations for monarch butterflies.

Cause for Concern

Only about 30 percent of the ecoregion is still intact. Grazing, mining, cotton growing, installation of windmill "farms," logging, air pollution, and high-impact recreational activities such as off-road vehicle use are current and future threats to this ecoregion. A long history of fire suppression has changed the species found here and, by allowing a buildup of natural fuels, has increased the chance that there will be a devastating fire.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.