Plant Communities of California

The state of California is immense. Parts of its surface originated halfway around the world, and moved here over the eons. It lies atop the boundary of two great crustal plates. The effects of its global location and terrain have created a terrifically diverse land area, from marshes to deserts, from mild climates to harsh. Its elevation stretches from -282 feet below to 14,495 feet above sea level. People who travel in John Muir's footsteps along the Pacific Crest Trail get a true feeling for Mother Nature's inventiveness and Life's pervasiveness, as they travel from low to high deserts, through foothills and watersheds, into the Sierra Nevadas, and even into the temperate rain forests of the Redwoods. Representative plants that have adapted to this diversity are showcased at the Environmental Nature Center. Some of these plants grow differently at the ENC, since they are out of their natural habitat.

The factors that determine where and how a particular plant species grows are:

Weather, including precipitation, temperature and wind;

Climate, including elevation, humidity, sunlight, heating effects and evaporation rates;

Substrate, including rock and shallow, sandy, loamy or muddy soil;

Local Effects, including fire, soil creep, frozen winter soil and disturbances from burrowing animals and human activities.

Plants adapt to combinations of these factors by growing specialized leaves, bark, stem tissues and roots. Most of the plants in Southern California habitats must contend with seasonal aridity because our Mediterranean climate provides about four months of winter rain and warm to hot late spring, summer and fall.

	Chaparral

	Closed Cone Pine Forest

	Coastal Sage

	Creosote Bush Scrub

	Foothill Woodland

	Channel Islands Flora

	Freshwater Marsh

	Mixed Evergreen Forest

	Northern Oak Woodland

	Redwood Forest

	Riparian Woodland

	Southern Oak Woodland

	Valley Grassland

	Yellow Pine Forest