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Natural Areas of California

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Introduction

This is a veritable goldmine of natural history information about California! The text describes the salient features of the area. The integrity section includes a brief statement of the known past and present use or development of an area, as well as a note on the overall present condition of the area (as of the month and year noted at the end of each description). Regarding use, where areas are protected the usage permitted by the managing agency is stated. In areas in public ownership suggestions of usage that will not materially damage the area are included and may, in many instances, go beyond the strictly educational or research use. Where areas are in private hands no comment on use is given, as the areas are not open to the public. Users of this Inventory should respect property rights and contact owners before entering their lands.

We've added Map and Satellite View buttons (based on provided Lat/Lon coordinates ) courtesy of Google. Please note that not all original data is accurate. Please notify us of way-off coordinates and we will try to fix them!

About the "Inventory of California Natural Areas"

The information about natural areas was developed by the California Natural Areas Coordinating Council and published in a multi-volume set of green notebooks in 1986 as the "Inventory of California Natural Areas," Leslie Hood editor. It is cited as:

Hood, Leslie Editor. Inventory of California Natural Areas. California Natural Areas Coordinating Council. Copyright 1975-80 and 1982.

The text has been updated for the errata published to accompany the original notebook volumes. Be advised that many of the descriptions are based on observations from the mid-1970's, and that the "integrity" (and management) may have changed considerably.

Original preface and credits

Plant scientific names have been updated to match The Jepson Manual (1993) [see synonym table]. Where varieties or subspecies appear in parentheses after a name, that means the name is no longer recognized in The Jepson Manual. When not enough information is available to determine the current taxonomy (e.g. Stipa lepida) the name remains unchanged. In the case of Quercus dumosa, if it was unclear whether the species is Q. berberidifolia or Q. dumosa, the name was changed to Quercus sp. 

If a species was described by a subspecies or variety that is not recognized in The Jepson Manual, it was kept as long as it was still part of the same species.

Where non-native plants were mentioned but not identified as such, the words "non-native" were added.

Where scientific names were mentioned without attribution of type of organism, the type of organism was inserted for clarification.

In some cases (i.e. Galium johnstonii), where the species was listed for an area but The Jepson Manual indicated that its distribution was questionable, a "?" was inserted. If a scientific plant name was not found in The Jepson Manual and is not a known synonym, the name is followed by a "?".

 

Last modified: December 12, 2005