Dozier Grasslands and Vernal Pools
Map SatelliteThis is the finest remaining example of the once vast Central Valley prairie and includes both the grasslands and vernal pool communities. There are many native species and a high diversity of species.
The vernal pools are large; indeed, some pools in the area that retain water year round form freshwater marshes, as do portions of the sloughs in the area. During the spring of normal rainfall years the vernal pools are covered with an outstanding display of wildflowers. Some of the more common include Viola pedunculata, Downingia pulchella, and Lasthenia californica.
The dominant vegetation in the alkaline intermittent pool basins includes Cressa truxillensis, Malvella leprosa, Frankenia salina, and Eryngium aristulatum, with patches of Eleocharis macrostachya, Distichlis spicata, Phyla nodiflora var. nodiflora, and the southernmost as well as the only known occurrence of the North Coast Range species in the valley, Navarretia leucocephala ssp. bakeri. Two rare plants are found here, Neostapfia colusana and Tuctoria mucronata. This is the only known locality for the latter.
On the higher, well-drained areas are the grasslands with Nassella pulchra the dominant, covering up to 55 per cent of the area in places. Other species include Festuca spp., Triphysaria eriantha, Sidalcea malvaeflora, Sisyrinchium bellum, Ranunculus californicus, Fritillaria agrestis, and the non-natives Erodium brachycarpum and Hypochoeris glabra.
In the freshwater marshes Typha sp. and Scirpus sp. dominate.
Various migratory birds utilize the area including a number of ducks, Canada geese, Branta canadensis, whistling swan, Olor columbianus, and the sandhill crane, Grus canadensis. The spadefoot toad, Scaphiopus hammondi, has been reported in the area.
Soil types include both the Antioch and Olcutt fine sandy loams.
Integrity: Sheep graze portions of the area; motorcyclists have destroyed some of the Neostapfia; there are groves of eucalyptus in the area. The latter are not doing well but they are allelopathic. Roads, fences and several buildings lie within the area and there are nearby developments.
Use: Private
Ref: Adams, Michael S. 1964. Ecology of Stipa Pulchra with Special Reference to Certain Soil Characteristics. Unpub. M.S. Thesis, University of California, Davis.
Crampton, Beecher, 1959. The Grass Genera Orcuttia and Neostapfia; A Study in Habitat and Morphological Specialization. Madrono Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 9-110.
September 1975
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2009 Steven Louis Hartman
