Oak Canyon Nature Center | |
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Type | Nature center |
Location | Anaheim, California, USA |
Coordinates | 33°50′15″N117°45′12″W / 33.83742°N 117.75342°W |
Area | 58 acres (23 ha) |
Status | Open |
Oak Canyon Nature Center is a nature preserve located in Anaheim, Southern California. Owned by the city, the park spans an area of 58-acres (23 hectares), comprising three adjoining canyons of the Santa Ana foothills. It has an elevation range from 525 to 825 feet (160 to 251 m)., [1] and contains three major vegetation zones: coastal sage scrub, oak woodland and riparian. Open on weekends, the John J. Collier Interpretive Center features a museum with live animal and regional natural history exhibits.
The center offers nature education programs and summer camp programs.
The annual precipitation average 15 inches (38 cm) per rainfall year (July 1 to June 30) within a 20-year period between 1982 and 2002. [2] Most of the precipitation occurs during the November–April rainy season.
The Oak Canyon ridge is covered in oak woodland on its northern side and coastal sage scrub habitat on its southern side. Due to the slope effect, the southern slope of the ridge is exposed to direct solar radiation. [3] The consequent higher rate of evapotranspiration creates a dry, warm environment that favors drought-tolerant deciduous shrubs and herb. The exposed slope also favors low-growing plants with small leaves to avoid wind shear damage. Characteristic shrubs on the south slope include: California sagebrush (Artemisia californica), black sage (Salvia mellifera), and California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum). [4]
The north-facing slope of the canyon is shaded from the Sun's direct impact. The cooler environment has enough moisture to support dense oak woodland. The most commonly encountered trees are California live oak (Quercus agrifolia), California black walnut (Juglans californica) and western poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum).
At the park's lower elevation, a year-round stream runs along the canyon foothill. The western sycamore (Platanus racemosa), cottonwood (Populus fremontii) and Wood duck (Aix sponsa) are restricted in range to this riparian habitat.
The soil on the southern slope consists of coarse sand and gravel. The poor water-retaining ability of this soil contributes to the dominance of drought-tolerant scrubs and pyrophyte plants. [5] These xerophytes have shallow but extensive root network to rapidly absorb water from the soil. [6]
The soil from the north-facing slope is covered by a thick layer of leaf litter. This organic layer allows water retention by the soil and supports the growth of larger trees species. As the result, oak and other broadleaf outcompete scrubs on the north-facing slope.
Over 4 miles (6 km) of trails are available to hikers [7] The trails range from flat to moderate incline. A typical trail is 0.3 mile (0.5 km) in length with partial shade at lower elevation and full sun along the ridge's top. [8]
Chaparral is a shrubland plant community found primarily in California, in southern Oregon and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate and infrequent, high-intensity crown fires.
The California chaparral and woodlands is a terrestrial ecoregion of southwestern Oregon, northern, central, and southern California and northwestern Baja California (Mexico), located on the west coast of North America. It is an ecoregion of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, and part of the Nearctic realm.
The ecology of California can be understood by dividing the state into a number of ecoregions, which contain distinct ecological communities of plants and animals in a contiguous region. The ecoregions of California can be grouped into four major groups: desert ecoregions, Mediterranean ecoregions, forested mountains, and coastal forests.
Mount Tamalpais, known locally as Mount Tam, is a peak in Marin County, California, United States, often considered symbolic of Marin County. Much of Mount Tamalpais is protected within public lands such as Mount Tamalpais State Park, the Marin Municipal Water District watershed, and National Park Service land, such as Muir Woods.
The Northern California coastal forests are a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of coastal Northern California and southwestern Oregon.
Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is within the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion, of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome.
California mixed evergreen forest is a plant community found in the mountain ranges of California and southwestern Oregon.
Artemisia californica, also known as California sagebrush, is a species of western North American shrub in the sunflower family.
Rhus integrifolia, also known as lemonade sumac, lemonade berry, or lemonadeberry, is a shrub to small tree. It is native to the Transverse and Peninsular Ranges and the South Coast regions of Southern California. This extends from Santa Barbara County and the Channel Islands to San Diego County and extending into north-central Pacific coastal Baja California and its offshore islands such as Cedros Island.
Parma Park is a park located in Santa Barbara, California.
California oak woodland is a plant community found throughout the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion of California in the United States and northwestern Baja California in Mexico. Oak woodland is widespread at lower elevations in coastal California; in interior valleys of the Coast Ranges, Transverse Ranges and Peninsular Ranges; and in a ring around the California Central Valley grasslands. The dominant trees are oaks, interspersed with other broadleaf and coniferous trees, with an understory of grasses, herbs, geophytes, and California native plants.
Mount Hood, also known as Hood Mountain is a mountain near the southeastern edge of Santa Rosa, California at the northeast of the Sonoma Valley and attains a height of 2,733 feet (833 m). The original name was Mount Wilikos, an Indian name meaning "willows." Most of the drainage from Mount Hood contributes to the headwaters of Sonoma Creek. A prominent feature is the extensive rock face visible on the upper half of the mountain as viewed from State Route 12. The habitats on the mountain include mixed oak forest, pygmy forest, chaparral and riparian zones. In prehistoric times the slopes of Mount Hood were inhabited by a division of the Yuki tribe. Most of Mount Hood is within the Hood Mountain Regional Park maintained by Sonoma County. Mount Hood is part of the inner coast Mayacamas Range, and lies mostly within Sonoma County, with a part of the mountain geographically within Napa County. Mount Hood affords overlooks of the Pacific Ocean, San Francisco Bay and "a spectacular view east to the Sierra Nevada Range."
Sonoma Mountain is a prominent landform within the Sonoma Mountains of southern Sonoma County, California. At an elevation of 2,463 ft (751 m), Sonoma Mountain offers expansive views of the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Sonoma Valley to the east. In fact, the viticultural area extends in isolated patches up the eastern slopes of Sonoma Mountain to almost 1,700 feet (520 m) in elevation.
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.
Ephedra californica is a species of Ephedra, known by the common names California jointfir, California ephedra, desert tea, Mormon tea, and cañatillo.
The California coastal sage and chaparral is a Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecoregion located in southwestern California and northwestern Baja California (Mexico). It is part of the larger California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion.
Rhamnus ilicifolia is a species of flowering plant in the buckthorn family known by the common name hollyleaf redberry. It is native to western North America, where it is a common plant growing in many types of habitat, including chaparral and wooded areas, from Oregon through California, to Baja California and Arizona.
The Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy (PVPLC) is a non-profit organization that is based on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in southwestern Los Angeles County, California.
Hill Canyon is a deep canyon in the western Simi Hills and within northern Newbury Park and Thousand Oaks, in Ventura County, southern California.
The average rainfall in a 20-year period between 1982 and 2002 was approximately the same as over the past century: 15 inches per rainfall year (July 1 to June 30).
Most plants of the southern scrub community are shallow rooted to take advantage quickly of small amounts of water.
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