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State Plans California
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Central and Southern California Coast and Valleys
(Area - 14,693,722 ha)
Description
- This physiographic area covers the central and southern coast of California, including
the San Francisco Bay and extending to the Mexican border. In the interior it includes the
Central Valley and foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Chaparral is the climax vegetation of
areas characterized by a Mediterranean climate. Various oaks and other evergreen trees
dominate many of the foothills. The Central Valley was a wetland-grassland complex
dissected by riparian strips. This is a diverse area with a high degree of endemism.
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Conservation recommendations and needs - A huge and growing human population and intensive land use in this physiographic area have had enormous impacts on all of the habitats important for birds. Chaparral and coastal scrub have been subjected to intense urbanization and resultant fragmentation. Oak woodlands have been converted to urban and agricultural use and have been significantly overgrazed. Furthermore, fire suppression has inhibited oak regeneration. Riparian systems have been particularly devastated by dewatering, channelization, overgrazing, invasion of non-native plants, brood parasitism, and conversion to residential or agricultural use. Restoration of natural hydrology, habitat restoration, and reduction in various pressures are necessary to build up badly declining bird populations throughout the area. Grasslands in the Central Valley have been almost completely converted to agriculture or invasive non-native vegetation and wetlands have been drained or otherwise disfunctional. Bird conservation in this physiographic area should consist of expensive protection and restoration of the habitat that remains. Fortunately, many aggressive efforts are underway to achieve necessary levels of conservation.
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