Lockheed Test Site
Map SatelliteRedwood forests, mixed evergreen woodlands, chaparral, grasslands, marshes and riparian are among the plant communities found here. Approximately sixty percent of the area is occupied by forests, with the redwood, Sequoia sempervirens, found in the canyon bottoms and the mixed evergreen on the upper slopes. The grasslands are small and primarily exotics.
There are marshes, with the dominant vegetation cattails, Typha sp., on the perimeters of the two reservoirs. Ferns are found in abundance and variety along mill Creek.
Chaparral covers approximately forty percent of the area, primarily on the ridge tops and upper southwest-facing slopes. Of particular note are the Arctostaphylos present. This Arctostaphylos community may be the most complex and dynamic "mixing ground" on the continent, with six full species present plus numerous hybrids and recombinants. About seventy-five percent of the known Arctostaphylos glutinosa population, a rare species, occurs here. Arctostaphylos silvicola, another rare species, is also found here. Other Arctostaphylos species include Arctostaphylos andersonii, Arctostaphylos nummularia, Arctostaphylos tomentosa, and an as yet unnamed species not closely related to any of the other species present.
Animal life is typical of the Santa Cruz Mountains.
There are several perennial streams. Lower or middle Miocene marine sedimentaries, the latter of the Monterey formation, are the main rock formations.
Integrity: There are buildings and roads, but efforts are being made to protect the Arctostaphylos populations.
Use: Private
May 1981
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2009 Steven Louis Hartman