Point Reyes National Seashore is a 71,028-acre (287.44 km2) park preserve located on the Point Reyes Peninsula in Marin County, California. As a national seashore, it is maintained by the US National Park Service as an important nature preserve. Some existing agricultural uses are allowed to continue within the park. Clem Miller, a US Congressman from Marin County, wrote and introduced the bill for the establishment of Point Reyes National Seashore in 1962 to protect the peninsula from development which was proposed at the time for the slopes above Drake's Bay.
Vernal pools, also called vernal ponds or ephemeral pools, are seasonal pools of water that provide habitat for distinctive plants and animals. They are considered to be a distinctive type of wetland usually devoid of fish, and thus allow the safe development of natal amphibian and insect species unable to withstand competition or predation by fish. Certain tropical fish lineages have however adapted to this habitat specifically.
The salt-marsh harvest mouse, also known as the red-bellied harvest mouse, is an endangered rodent endemic to the San Francisco Bay Area salt marshes in California.
California coastal prairie, also known as northern coastal grassland, is a grassland plant community of California and Oregon in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome. It is found along the Pacific Coast, from as far south as Los Angeles in Southern California to southern Oregon.
Holocarpha macradenia, commonly known as the Santa Cruz tarplant, is an endangered plant endemic to Northern California. Alternative common names for this plant are Santa Cruz tarweed or Santa Cruz sunflower.
The Fairfield Osborn Preserve is a 450-acre nature reserve situated on the northwest flank of Sonoma Mountain in Sonoma County, California. There are eight plant communities within the property, oak woodland being the dominant type. Other communities include chaparral, Douglas fir woodland, native Bunch grass, freshwater marsh, vernal pool, pond and riparian woodland. The flora is extremely diverse including many native trees, shrubs, wildflowers, grasses, lichens and mosses. A diverse fauna inhabits this area including black-tailed deer, coyote, bobcat and an occasional mountain lion; moreover, there are abundant avifauna, amphibians, reptiles and insects.
The Laguna de Santa Rosa is a 22-mile-long (35 km) wetland complex that drains a 254-square-mile (660 km2) watershed encompassing most of the Santa Rosa Plain in Sonoma County, California, United States.
Yulupa Creek is a 2.8-mile-long (4.5 km) southeast-flowing perennial stream that rises on the southeastern flanks of the northern Sonoma Mountains in Sonoma County, California, United States. This creek, which drains the eastern slopes of Bennett Mountain, is tributary to Sonoma Creek, which in turn discharges to San Pablo Bay. Yulupa Avenue in Santa Rosa is presumably named after this creek.
Tolay Lake is a shallow freshwater lake in southern Sonoma County, California, United States. The lake, nestled within the southern vestiges of the Sonoma Mountains, is the site of significant Native American prehistoric seasonal settlement. In 2005, Sonoma County acquired the entirety of the lake and virtually its whole drainage basin from the Cardoza family for the sum of $18 million; the county's intention is to utilize the property as Tolay Lake Regional Park for ecological and archaeological preservation, as well as public use and enjoyment. Tolay Lake and its immediate drainage area is home to several nesting pairs of golden eagles, Aquila chrysaetos, and a number of rare, threatened or endangered species including the California red-legged frog, Rana draytonii; Western pond turtle, Actinemys marmorata; and Western burrowing owl, Athene cunicularia.
Lilium pardalinum subsp. pitkinense, the Pitkin Marsh lily, is an endangered perennial herb of the family Liliaceae that is endemic to certain wetland areas in the northern California Coast Ranges of Sonoma County, California, United States. It is a subspecies of Lilium pardalinum.
Alopecurus aequalis is a common species of grass known as shortawn foxtail or orange foxtail. It is native to much of the temperate Northern Hemisphere from Eurasia to North America. It is most commonly found in areas near fresh water, such as the margins of ponds and ditches.
Alopecurus geniculatus is a species of grass known by the common name water foxtail or marsh foxtail. It is native to much of Eurasia and introduced into North America, South America, and Australia. It grows in moist areas.
The Phillip Burton Wilderness is part of the 111 sq. mile (288 km2) Point Reyes National Seashore located about 20 miles (32 km) northeast of San Francisco, California. Total wilderness land is 33,373 acres which includes a roadless "potential wilderness" area of over 8,000 acres (32 km2) and is one of only three designated wilderness along the California coast, the others being the King Range Wilderness and the Rocks and Islands Wilderness. The National Park Service manages the wilderness.
Chorizanthe valida is a rare species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name Sonoma spineflower. It is endemic to West Marin, Marin County, California, where it is known from only one remaining natural population at Point Reyes National Seashore. It was thought to be extinct until 1980 when the Point Reyes population was discovered.
Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge is a protected area on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi. It is one of two units, along with the Kona Forest National Wildlife Refuge that is managed as part of the Big Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Access to the Kona Forest is restricted since it contains several endangered species.
Hoosier Prairie is a unit of Indiana Dunes National Park in Lake County, Indiana. It began in the 1970s as wasteland that conservation organization found of a unique interest. From a core of 304 acres (123 ha), it has grown to 1,547 acres (626 ha) of important prairie habitat. The area was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1974 and a State Nature Preserve in 1977 The sandy soil creates a variety of habitats, from oak barrens, wet prairie, including sedge meadows and prairie marshes. More than 350 native species of vascular plants have been identified. A minimum of 43 species are uncommon in the State of Indiana.
The California interior chaparral and woodlands ecoregion covers 24,900 square miles (64,000 km2) in an elliptical ring around the California Central Valley. It occurs on hills and mountains ranging from 300 feet (91 m) to 3,000 feet (910 m). It is part of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, with cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers. Temperatures within the coast can range from 53° to 65 °F and 32° to 60 °F within the mountains. Many plant and animal species in this ecoregion are adapted to periodic fire.
The Mulga Lands are an interim Australian bioregion of eastern Australia consisting of dry sandy plains with low mulga woodlands and shrublands that are dominated by Acacia aneura (mulga). The Eastern Australia mulga shrublands ecoregion is coterminous with the Mulga Lands bioregion.
Spiranthes delitescens is a rare species of orchid known by the common names reclusive lady's tresses, Canelo Hills lady's tresses, and Madrean lady's tresses. It is native to Arizona in the United States, where there are only four occurrences. It is threatened by the loss and degradation of its habitat. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
Panicum hemitomon is a species of grass known by the common name maidencane. It is native to North America, where it occurs along the southeastern coastline from New Jersey to Texas. It is also present in South America.
