The Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve preserves approximately 8,400 acres (34km2) of the plateau, and includes the Moreno and Machado Adobes, Riverside County’s oldest standing structures, and other buildings from the 19th century Mexican land grantRancho Santa Rosa.[1]
The Engelmann oak was once widespread throughout the western U.S. Now the farthest north they are found is Pasadena. The Reserve has the only protected, reproducing Engelmanns in the states.[2]
A vernal pool is a shallow depression in the soil which fills up with water during spring rains. Fairy shrimp and other minute crustaceans hatch during this time and lay eggs. These eggs remain dormant during the dry months until the next rainy season allows them to hatch. (6)
Although the parcels remain under the ownership of separate agencies, they are managed cooperatively, with biological resource management, which includes prescribed fire and habitat restoration programs managed by the Nature Conservancy, and visitor management. This includes operation of a visitor center and a 40-mile (60km) trail system, managed by the Riverside County Parks (RivCo Parks).
A non-profit organization, the Santa Rosa Plateau Nature Education Foundation, provides funding for field trips to the Reserve for all third-graders in the area.[4]
Flowers
The Reserve is home to many species of flowers. In one month, March 1998, 50 different wildflowers were reported in bloom.[5]
The best time to view the flowers is in the spring and the best trail for flowers at this time is the Vernal Pool Trail. The one flower people come specifically to the Reserve to see is the Chocolate Lily. It is most often seen in April on the slopes of the Coronado Plateau (the area of the vernal pools). As the vernal pools start to evaporate, flowers grow in concentric circles around them. The most common flower around the vernal pools is the California poppy.[6]
There have been at least 185 species of bird spotted on the Reserve. Among the larger birds, the mallard, black-shouldered kite, Cooper's hawk, red-shouldered hawk, golden eagle and American kestrel are known to nest on the site. The barn owl and great-horned owl have also had their nestings confirmed.[8]
Anna's hummingbird are found year around on the Reserve while the black-chinned hummingbird is common in the spring and into the summer. If you hear a knocking on wood, it's probably an acorn woodpecker. Although, if it's followed by what sounds like a laugh, it may be a northern flicker. If you hear a commotion in the bushes, it may just be a rufous-sided towhee scratching through the leaf litter for insects and other invertebrates.[9]
Reptiles
The reserve is home to the Southwestern pond turtle. They are on the list of Species of Special Concern. They are not allowed to be taken from their habitat. The longest turtles found on the Reserve are approximately five and a half inches. When they are wet, they are dark, making it easy for them to blend in with the mud at the bottom of ponds. They have webbed feet for efficient swimming and claws, which are used for digging nests, tearing meat, and during courtship. They mainly feed on aquatic invertebrates. They spend most of their lives underwater, which is also where they mate. They leave the water on a daily basis to bask, in order to regulate their body temperature.[10] In southern California, pond turtle populations have declined 95-99%. The Reserve is one of only four to six reproductively viable populations of the Southwestern pond turtle in southern California.[11]
Snakes found on the Ecological Reserve include: San Bernardino ring-necked snake, Hammond's two-striped garter snake, coastal rosy boa, Western yellow-bellied racer, California striped racer, San Joaquin coachwhip, red diamond rattlesnake, Southern Pacific rattlesnake, San Diego gopher snake, California kingsnake.[12]
Other reptiles include: San Diego horned lizard, western fence lizard, granite spiny lizard, side-blotched lizard, western skink, western whiptail, San Diego alligator lizard.[13]
Amphibians
Amphibians found on the Ecological Reserve include: coast range newt, garden slender salamander, black-bellied salamander, western spadefoot toad, Pacific treefrog, California red-legged frog, bullfrog.[14] Bullfrogs are an invasive species, which because of their superior size, takes over territory from native species.
Geology
The oldest rock seen on the Reserve is meta-volcanic rock, laid down 220-190 million years ago. Above that is found meta-sedimentary rock, consisting of slates, argillites and some quartzite and limestone beds. Gabbro, consisting of feldspar, pyroxene and olivine, was laid down 143-101 million years ago. The granite on the Plateau arrived 119-105 million years ago. Arkosic sand and gravel was deposited by flowing water approximately 23-9 million years ago. Olivine basalt is from a lava flow of 9-6 million years ago.[15]
Lichen
Lichen found on rocks on the Reserve include species from genera Fruticose, Squamulose, Foliose, and Crustose. Common species found on large rock outcroppings include common greenshield lichen, beaded rosette lichen, sunken disk lichen and rim lichen.[16] Lichen are a symbiotic relationship between various species of fungus, which provide the structure, and algae, which provide the organism's nutrients.
Human history
The first Native Americans are thought to have inhabited the area for more than 8,000 years. The Native Americans known as Luiseño, due to their connection to the San Luis Rey Mission, began to inhabit the area about 1,500 years ago. It is thought they only used the Plateau during the warm weather months, and to collect acorns in the fall. During the rest of the year they lived in the nearby Temecula Valley. They had a village called Meha near the ranch on the Plateau. The midden found at the village suggests it had been occupied for approximately 6,000 years.[17] When visiting the adobes, one can see indentations in boulders used by the Native Americans to grind acorns and other food.
Before the arrival of Spanish missionaries, the indigenous peoples of Southern California lived in bands, each of which controlled its own territory. The bands interacted with each other through ceremonial exchanges, marriages and trade. Their territories included acorn gathering sites in the mountains. The acorns they liked the best were from the black oak, which only grows above 3,000 feet. In the winter these bands would move to the coast.[18]
In 1798, the mission fathers of San Diego decided there should be a mission between there and San Juan Capistrano. Thus was formed mission San Luis Rey de Francia. Native Americans that fell under the jurisdiction of this new mission were all labeled Luiseño. When Spanish rule ended in 1822, the new Mexican government decreed that mission lands would be secularized. In California this did not happen until 1834. It was during this period that the plateau received its name, probably in honor of Saint Rose of Lima.[19]
In 1846, Juan Moreno was granted 47,000 acres by the Mexican governor of California, Pio Pico. In 1855, Moreno sold Rancho Santa Rosa to Augustin Machado. After he died, the land passed through several hands before being purchased by John Deer of England. After him the land went to his son, Parker Dear.[20] It is said that Parker Dear treated his Native American help like slaves and they would sometimes run away.[21]
In 1904 Walter Vail purchased the land, mainly to raise cattle.[22] When he died, the land went to his son, Mahlon Vail. Mahlon is said to have respected Native American rights to harvest acorns, gather wood and hunt on the Plateau. However, they were not allowed to bunk with the other cowboys and had to live off the ranch.[23]
Temecula is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city had a population of 110,003 as of the 2020 census and was incorporated on December 1, 1989. The city is a tourist and resort destination, with the Temecula Valley Wine Country, Old Town Temecula, the Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival, the Temecula Valley International Film Festival, championship golf courses, and resort accommodations contributing to the city's economic profile.
The Santa Ana Mountains are a short peninsular mountain range along the coast of Southern California in the United States. They extend for approximately 61 miles (98 km) southeast of the Los Angeles Basin largely along the border between Orange and Riverside counties.
The Santa Margarita River which with the addition of what is now Temecula Creek, was formerly known as the Temecula River, is a short intermittent river on the Pacific coast of southern California in the United States, approximately 30.9 miles (49.7 km) long. One of the last free-flowing rivers in southern California, it drains an arid region at the southern end of the Santa Ana Mountains, in the Peninsular Ranges between Los Angeles and San Diego.
The Cahuilla, also known as ʔívil̃uqaletem or Ivilyuqaletem, are a Native American people of the various tribes of the Cahuilla Nation, living in the inland areas of southern California. Their original territory included an area of about 2,400 square miles (6,200 km2). The traditional Cahuilla territory was near the geographic center of Southern California. It was bounded to the north by the San Bernardino Mountains, to the south by Borrego Springs and the Chocolate Mountains, to the east by the Colorado Desert, and to the west by the San Jacinto Plain and the eastern slopes of the Palomar Mountains.
The island scrub jay, also known as the island jay or Santa Cruz jay, is a bird in the genus, Aphelocoma, which is endemic to Santa Cruz Island off the coast of Southern California. Of the over 500 breeding bird species in the continental U.S. and Canada, it is the only insular endemic landbird species.
The Luiseño or Payómkawichum are an Indigenous people of California who, at the time of the first contacts with the Spanish in the 16th century, inhabited the coastal area of southern California, ranging 50 miles (80 km) from the present-day southern part of Los Angeles County to the northern part of San Diego County, and inland 30 miles (48 km). In the Luiseño language, the people call themselves Payómkawichum, meaning "People of the West." After the establishment of Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, "the Payómkawichum began to be called San Luiseños, and later, just Luiseños by Spanish missionaries due to their proximity to this San Luis Rey mission.
The Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument is a National Monument in southern California. It includes portions of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountain ranges, the northernmost ones of the Peninsular Ranges system. The national monument covers portions of Riverside County, west of the Coachella Valley, approximately 100 miles (160 km) southeast of downtown Los Angeles.
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.
A tenaja or tinaja is a water basin or retention area. The term usually implies a natural or geologic cistern in rock which retains water. They are often created by erosional processes within intermittent streams.
Geothallus is a monotypic genus of liverwort in the family Sphaerocarpaceae family. It includes only the single species Geothallus tuberosus. Its common name is Campbell's liverwort. It is endemic to California, where it is known only from San Diego and Riverside Counties.
The Boggs Lake Ecological Reserve is a nature reserve in Lake County, California. The land area is about one quarter of a square mile and contains a large vernal pool as well as endangered plants such as the Boggs Lake hedge-hyssop.
The North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve is a nature reserve of 3,315 acres (13.42 km2) located three miles (5 km) north of Oroville, in Butte County, northern California. The land was acquired by the state in October, 1993.
Rancho Santa Rosa was a 47,815-acre (193.50 km2) Mexican land grant in present day Riverside County, California given in 1846 by Governor Pio Pico to Juan Moreno. At the time of the US patent, Rancho Santa Rosa was a part of San Diego County. Riverside County was created by the California Legislature in 1893 by taking land from both San Bernardino and San Diego Counties. The site is now registered as a California Historical Landmark.
De Luz Heights is an unincorporated community that is in northwestern San Diego County, California, United States.
Orcuttia californica is a rare species of grass known by the common name California Orcutt grass.
Rancho Little Temecula was a 2,233-acre (9.04 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Riverside County, California given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to Pablo Apis. The grant was one of the few held by indigenous people. The grant is south of present-day Temecula and is bordered on the north by Temecula Creek. At the time of the US patent, Rancho Little Temecula was a part of San Diego County. Riverside County was created by the California Legislature in 1893 by taking land from both San Bernardino and San Diego Counties.
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.
Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the United States. The name was derived from the city of Riverside, which is the county seat.
La Cresta is an unincorporated community in the Santa Rosa Plateau region in Riverside County, California, United States. It is situated west of Murrieta, north of Temecula and the San Diego County Border, and east of Orange County. It is centrally located approximately 55 miles from Downtown San Diego, 65 miles from Downtown Los Angeles, and 15 miles from the Pacific Ocean. The population of La Cresta is approximately 2,860.
The wildlife of Turkmenistan is the flora and fauna of Turkmenistan, and the natural habitats in which they live. Turkmenistan is a country in Central Asia to the east of the Caspian Sea. Two thirds of the country is hot dry plains and desert, and the rest is more mountainous. Very little rain falls in summer and the chief precipitation occurs in the southern part of the country in the winter and spring. The Caspian coast has milder winters.
References
↑ Lech, Steve (2011). More Than a Place To Pitch a Rent: The Stories Behind Riverside County's Regional Parks. Riverside, CA: Steve Lech. p.150. ISBN978-0-9837500-0-0. OCLC768249467.
↑ The Nature Conservancy. "Oak Tree Trail: a self-guided tour."
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