Ecological Surveys Of Forest Service Research Natural Areas In California

This report summarizes each of 68 ecological surveys conducted from 1975 through 1988 on candidate and established Research Natural Areas in the Pacific Southwest Region of the USDA Forest Service. These surveys represent an important but largely unknown contribution to the ecological literature of California. For each summary, information on location, target elements, distinctive features, physical characteristics, association types, plant diversity, and conflicting impacts is provided. Comparisons are made between similar vegetation types at different sites. Tables and appendices summarize the plant communities, target elements, rare plants, and trees occurring on all areas. Maps of all areas and photographs of most areas are included.

"The purpose of the Research Natural Area system is to provide a representative range of undisturbed sites for research, monitoring, biodiversity protection, and as reference areas for management activities on public lands administered by the USDA Forest Service. This publication describes the location, significant features, climate, flora, fauna, and published research for the 16 Research Natural Areas established through 1993 on Public Lands administered by the USDA Forest Service in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota."--Title page verso

This book is about geology, soils, and plant communities in serpentine landscapes of western North America. Aspects of the interaction of geology and soils reveal a fascinating symbiosis relating the structure, composition, and distribution of plant communities. The plants that survive are a unique group. There are some entire genera or even families of plants that are common throughout California that are poorly represented on serpentine, while other genera are more diverse on serpentine than on other soils. Serpentine rocks have dramatic effects on the vegetation that grows on them. Many common plants cannot grow on serpentine soils, leaving distinctive suites of plants to occupy serpentine habitats. The floristic diversity associated with serpentine soils formed above ultramafic rocks is surprising considering that these soils are toxic to many plants. Serpentine barrens of California often look like moonscapes but here we find numerous species of plants of low biomass that produce a richness of species rarely found in the world.