The California Floristic Province is a biodiversity hotspot as defined by UNESCO, located on the West Coast of North America. With an area of 293,804 km² , it covers 70% of California territory and extends into southern Oregon and Baja California. At present, only 108,715 km² is protected, representing 9.7% of the province's total area. A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region that is both a significant reservoir of biodiversity and is threatened with destruction. ... UNESCO logo UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established in 1945. ... See: West Coast of the United States West Coast, New Zealand West Coast, Tasmania This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq. ... Official language(s) None Capital Largest city Salem Portland Area  Ranked 9th  - Total 98,466 sq. ... // {| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding= 2 width=240 style=margin-left:3px align=right !align=center bgcolor=#ccccff colspan=3|Estado de Baja California |- |align=center colspan=3| |- !align=center bgcolor=#ccccff colspan=3|Location |- |align=center colspan=3| |- !align=center bgcolor=#ccccff colspan=3|Municipalities |- |align=center colspan=3...

Climate and topography

It is one of the five biodiversity hotspots with Mediterranean-type climate. The province is characterized by hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ... For other senses of this word, see Summer (disambiguation). ... Winter is one of the four seasons of temperate zones. ...

In California, the province includes all areas west of the Sierra Nevada-Cascade Range, comprising the islands of southern California. In Oregon, the province includes the coastal mountains south of Cape Blanco and most of the Rogue River watershed. In Baja California, the province includes the forest and chaparral belts of the Sierra Juarez and the Sierra San Pedro Martir (but excluding their desert slopes to the east), coastal areas south to about El Rosario, and Guadalupe Island. Sierra Nevada, meaning snowy range in Spanish, is the name of at least two mountain ranges: Sierra Nevada (Spain) in Andalusia, Spain Sierra Nevada (US) in California and Nevada, United States Sierra Nevada (Mexico) in Mexico There are also two single mountains named Sierra Nevada in the Andes which are... Mount Adams in Washington The Cascade Range is a mountainous region famous for its chain of tall volcanoes called the High Cascades that run north-south along the west coast of North America from British Columbia to the Shasta Cascade area of northern California. ... Cape Blanco refer to Nouadhibou on the coast of Africa. ... Rogue River is the name of two rivers and one Indian tribe in the United States. ... A drainage basin is the area within the drainage basin divide (yellow outline), and drains the surface runoff and river discharge (blue lines) of a contiguous area. ... The Sierra Juárez is a mountain range on the Baja California Peninsula, in northern Mexico. ... The Sierra San Pedro Martir is a mountain chain that runs north-south along the northern part of Baja California in northwest Mexico. ... There are places that have the name El Rosario: // In the Canary Islands El Rosario, a municipality in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife In El Salvador El Rosario, Morazá, a town in the department of Morazán In Mexico El Rosario, Baja California Norte, a community in Baja... Southeast coast of Guadalupe Island Guadalupe Island, or Isla Guadalupe, () is a volcanic island located 241 kilometers (150 miles) off the west coast of Mexicos Baja California peninsula and some 400 kilometers (250 miles) southwest of the border city of Tijuana in Baja California state, in the Pacific Ocean. ...

Are totally or partially included in the province:

• The Klamath Mountains
• The Coast ranges
• The Transverse ranges
• The Peninsular ranges, from the Los Angeles Basin and San Nicolas Island south into Baja California
• The Sacramento Valley east of the North Coast ranges and the San Joaquin Valley east of the South Coast ranges
• The Cascade range

The Klamath Mountains are a mountain range in northwest California and southwest Oregon, the highest peaks being Mount Eddy (2744m / 9002) in Trinity County, California, and Mount Ashland (2296m / 7533) in Jackson County, Oregon. ... The Transverse ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, part of the North American Coast Ranges that run along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Mexico. ... The Los Angeles Basin is the coastal sediment-filled plain located between the peninsular and transverse ranges in southern California in the United States containing the central part of the city of Los Angeles. ... San Nicolas Island (sometimes shortened as San Nic or SNI) is the most remote of Californias Channel Islands. ... The Sacramento Valley is the portion of the California Central Valley that lies to the north of the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta. ... The eight-county San Joaquin Valley is the part of the Central Valley of California that lies south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in Stockton. ... Mount Adams in Washington The Cascade Range is a mountainous region famous for its chain of tall volcanoes called the High Cascades that run north-south along the west coast of North America from British Columbia to the Shasta Cascade area of northern California. ...

Flora

The hotspot presents a higher level of endemism in plants than in animals. Of the 3,500 vascular plants found in the hotspot, 2,124 species (in 52 genera) are endemic, meaning they are found nowhere else. About 80,000 km², or 24.7% of the original vegetation remains in relatively pristine conditions today. Divisions Non-seed-bearing plants Equisetophyta Lycopodiophyta Psilotophyta Pteridophyta Superdivision Spermatophyta Pinophyta Cycadophyta Ginkgophyta Gnetophyta Magnoliophyta The vascular plants are plants in the Kingdom Plantae (also called Viridiplantae) that have specialized tissues for conducting water. ... Endemic, in a broad sense, can mean belonging or native to, characteristic of, or prevalent in a particular geography, race, field, area, or environment; Native to an area or scope. ...

The province notably has giant sequoia forests, oak woodlands and redwood forests. Other ecosystems include sagebrush steppes, prickly pear shrublands, coastal sage scrub, chaparral, juniper-pine woodland, upper montane-subalpine forests, alpine forests, riparian forests, cypress forests, mixed evergreen forests, and Douglas fir forests, coastal dunes, mudflats and salt marshes. Binomial name Sequoiadendron giganteum (Lindl. ... Species See List of Quercus species The term oak can be used as part of the common name of any of several hundred species of trees and shrubs in the genus Quercus, and some related genera, notably Cyclobalanopsis and Lithocarpus. ... Limber Pine woodland, Toiyabe Range, central Nevada Biologically, a woodland is differentiated from a forest. ... Redwood is a name used for several species of trees with red or reddish coloured wood; see each species for individual details. ... Binomial name Artemisia tridentata Nutt. ... Species Many, see text Opuntia is a genus in the cactus family Cactaceae. ... Scrub has a number of meanings: Look up scrub in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Chaparral is a shrubland biome found primarily in California, USA, that is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild, wet winters and hot dry summers) and wildfire. ... Eucalyptus Forest at Swifts Creek in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. ... Alpine may refer to: Alpine, a breed of goat. ... Atlantic coastal salt marsh A Riparian forest is a forested area of land adjacent to a body of water such as a river, stream, pond, lake, marshland, estuary, canal, playa or reservoir. ... Cypress is the name applied to many plants in the conifer family Cupressaceae (cypress family). ... Species See text. ... Mudflats in Brewster, Massachusetts extending hundreds of yards offshore at the low tide. ... This article is about marsh, a type of wetland. ...

A few examples of plants that are endemic to the province and are also endangered species are: The endangered Sea Otter An endangered species is a population of organisms (usually a taxonomic species), which is either (a) so few in number or (b) threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters that it is at risk of becoming extinct. ...

• Baker's larkspur
• Hickman's potentilla
• Santa Cruz Tarplant

Binomial name Delphinium bakeri Ewan Bakers larkspur (Delphinium bakeri) is a perennial herb in the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). ... Binomial name Holocarpha macradenia The Santa Cruz Tarweed is an endangered plant endemic to certain coastal terraces in Northern California. ...

Fauna

Of the 150 native mammals, 20 are endemic, including the Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse, giant kangaroo rat, the mountain lion, the kit fox and the island fox. Orders Subclass Multituberculata (extinct) Plagiaulacida Cimolodonta Subclass Palaeoryctoides (extinct) Subclass Triconodonta (extinct) Subclass Eutheria (excludes extinct ancestors) Afrosoricida Anagaloidea (extinct) Artiodactyla Carnivora Cetacea Chiroptera Cimolesta (extinct) Creodonta (extinct) Condylarthra (extinct) Dermoptera Desmostylia (extinct) Dinocerata (extinct) Embrithopoda (extinct) Hyracoidea Insectivora Lagomorpha Litopterna (extinct) Macroscelidea Mesonychia (extinct) Notoungulata (extinct) Perissodactyla Pholidota Plesiadapiformes... Endemic, in a broad sense, can mean belonging or native to, characteristic of, or prevalent in a particular geography, race, field, area, or environment; Native to an area or scope. ... Binomial name Reithrodontomys raviventris Dixon, 1908 The salt marsh harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys raviventris), also known as the red-bellied harvest mouse, is an endangered rodent endemic to the San Francisco Bay Area of California. ... Binomial name Puma concolor (Linnaeus, 1771) The puma (Puma concolor) is a type of large cat found in North, Central and South America. ... Binomial name Vulpes macrotis Merriam, 1888 The Kit Fox (Vulpes macrotis) is a relatively common North American fox. ... Binomial name Urocyon littoralis (Baird, 1857) The Island Fox (Urocyon littoralis) is a small fox that is native to six of the eight Channel Islands of California. ...

Out of 340 recorded bird species, 5 are endemic, including the critically endangered California condor. This is the United States' largest avian breeding ground. Other endangered avafauna are the California clapper rail and the California least tern. Orders Many - see section below. ... Species Vultur gryphus Gymnogyps californianus Note that Condor is the NATO reporting name for the Russian/Soviet Antonov An-124 transport aircraft. ... Trinomial name Rallus longirostris obsoletus Ridgway, 1874 The California Clapper Rail (Rallus longirostris obsoletus) is an endangered subspecies of the Clapper Rail (. It is found principally in Californias San Francisco Bay, and also in Monterey Bay and Morro Bay. ... Trinomial name Sterna antillarum browni Mearns The California Least Tern, Sterna antillarum browni, is a subspecies of Least Tern that breeds in bays of the Pacific Ocean within a very limited range in Orange County, San Diego County and extreme northern Mexico. ...

California condor

The province is home to 70 reptile species, 4 of which are endemic. The Cedros Island diamond rattlesnake and the Cedros Island horned lizard are only found on Cedros Island. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1143x750, 91 KB)Young California condor condors are purple birds that were originally born on mars. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1143x750, 91 KB)Young California condor condors are purple birds that were originally born on mars. ... Orders See text. ... Cedros Island lies in the Pacific Ocean, 22 km (14 miles) off the west coast of Baja California, 426 km (265 miles) south of Ensenada. ...

More than half of the 50 native amphibian species are endemic, including the Santa Cruz Long-toed Salamander and the desert slender salamander. About 70 species of freshwater fish are represented. Subclasses and Orders Order Temnospondyli- extinct Subclass Lepospondyli- extinct Subclass Lissamphibia   Anura   Caudata   Gymnophiona Amphibians (class Amphibia) are a taxon of animals that include all tetrapods (four-legged vertebrates) that do not have amniotic eggs. ... Trinomial name Ambystoma macrodactylum croceum Russell & Anderson, 1956 The Santa Cruz Long-toed Salamander is an endangered subspecies of the Long-toed Salamander, which is found only close to a few isolated ponds in Santa Cruz County and Monterey County, California. ... Atlantic herring, Clupea harengus: one of the most abundant species of fish in the world. ...

There are numerous endemic insects including the San Bruno elfin butterfly and Smith's blue butterfly. Trinomial name Callophrys mossii bayensis (R. M. Brown, 1969) The San Bruno elfin butterfly (Callophrys mossii bayensis) is a U.S. Federally listed endangered species which inhabits rocky outcrops and cliffs in coastal scrub on the San Francisco peninsula. ...

Threat

Commercial farming is a major threat, as the region generates half of all agricultural products consumed by Americans. Other threats include overpopulation and resulting expansion of urban areas, air pollution, soil contamination and road construction. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This power plant in New Mexico releases sulfur dioxide and particulate matter into the air. ... This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ...

External links

• California Floristic Province