California Ecosystems

1
California Ecosystems

• By
• (Paula Ford)

2
Our Ecosystems
3
Coastal Sage Chaparral

• Biome
• Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands, and Scrub
• Conservation Status
• Critical/Endangered
• Native Plants
• California sagebrush and bush sunflower
• California buckwheat
• Munz's sage

4
Coastal Sage Chaparral

• Native Wildlife
• Hermes copper butterfly
• Quino checkerspot butterfly
• Rosy Boa
• Pallid Bat
• Threats
• Livestock grazing
• Non-native plants and animals (dogs, raccoons,
  cats)
• Agriculture Urban expansion

5
Sierra Nevada Forest

• Biome
• Temperate Coniferous Forests
• Conservation Status
• Critical/Endangered
• Native Plants
• Giant Sequoias, pine, fir, incense cedar,
  pinyon-juniper woodlands and sagebrush
• Half of all of California's vascular plants occur
  here, with 400 being endemic
• alpine meadows

6
Sierra Nevada Forest

• Native Wildlife
• limestone salamander, alpine chipmunk, western
  heather vole, yellow-eared pocket mouse, and the
  golden trout
• coyotes, cougars, ringtails, fishers, wolverines,
  and several large owls, hawks, and eagles
• Threats
• logging, mining, railroad building, development,
  fire suppression, and grazing by sheep and cattle
• decline and disappearance of amphibians, which
  may be due to introduced fish, acid rain, and
  loss of habitat

7
Central Valley Grasslands

• Biome
• Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands
• Conservation Status
• Critical/Endangered
• Native Plants
• California poppies, lupines, and purple owl
  clover
• Willows, western sycamores, box elders, Fremont
  cottonwoods, and valley oaks

8
Central Valley Grasslands

• Native Wildlife
• vernal pools with fairy shrimp and tadpole shrimp
• pronghorn, elk, mule deer, California ground
  squirrels, and kangaroo rats
• Threats
• introduced species
• clearing for agriculture
• growth of cities, fires, pollution, logging,
  channeling of rivers, building of dams, and
  conversion of habitat to pasture for livestock
  grazing
• 66 percent of the vernal pools have been
  destroyed and less than 6 percent of the original
  marsh area remains

9
Resources

• Marcopolo recycle site
• http//www.sciencenetlinks.com/lessons.cfm?Grade6
  -8BenchmarkID5DocID97
• http//www.nationalgeographic.com/wildworld/terres
  trial.html