The natural landscape of California is incredibly diverse, from the deserts of southwestern California, to the chaparral-covered hills of the coast, to the redwood forests of the north and the pine and fir forests of the Sierra Nevada, just to mention a few.
General Natural History Plants Animals Marine Life Geology Books
Images of the California Environment, from Don Bain at the University of California, Berkeley. Incredible collection of photos of natural habitats and environmental subjects, such as energy, fisheries, water resources.
Calphotos images are part of the UC Berkeley Digital Library Project. This site contains thousands of photos of California's natural environment and resources from many different sources.
Southern California Natural History is a wonderful web site, created by Professor H. Towner at LMU. It is a web textbook which covers the geography, climate, plants and animals of Southern California, complete with many photographs and even sound files for many species.
Desert Life in the American Southwest, including plant and animal life, and geology, is detailed in this web site from DesertUSA. This site also has links to quite a bit of information about deserts all over the west.
Natural Environment Information by County from LUPIN (Land Use Planning Information Network), part of CERES from the State of California Resources Agency, gives access to a great deal of information on each county in the state. Click on a county, and find out about such topics as agriculture, natural habitats, vegetation and water.
California Wetlands Information System, from the California Resources Agency, has links to a lot of information on wetlands. For example, there is a map of selected wetlands restoration projects; you can click on a location to find out more on some of the projects. And there is a similar map for wetlands mitigation projects. There is also a report by the Resources Agency on The State of the State's Wetlands. It is a 19-page report, in Adobe PDF format (takes a while to load), on wetland losses and gains, and the status of wetlands projects in California. California Wetlands Inventory, from the Coastal Conservancy, has a list of some wetlands in coastal counties from Santa Barbara to San Diego; click on the name of a wetland to get some basic information and references on it. The EPA has a very useful page of general information on Wetlands and links to more items of interest.
Cal Fish and Game's Wetlands Inventory and Conservation Unit is another good starting point for information on wetlands. You can get maps and information, and download GIS datasets on wetlands. Also, their page on Links to other Wetlands Resources is a good place to start a search for more information.
Here is a map showing Vernal Pools
in
California. These are seasonally flooded wetlands in depressions, or areas of poor
drainage. Many have unique and rare species. You can click on a vernal pool region
on the map, and for some of the regions, there is a page of information on the status of
vernal pools in the area. California Vernal Pool
Assessment is a very informative report, from the California Department of Fish and
Game, on vernal pools. It discusses vernal pools by region, summarizes their status,
and includes species lists.Bioregions and Biodiversity has a map, description of each region, and links to further information, from the California Resources Agency.
Special Lists: Plants, Animals, and Natural Communities is a set of lists by the California Department of Fish and Game of rare, threatened, and endangered plants and animals, as well as of natural communities and plants and animals of special interest.
Fire Effects Information System (FEIS), from the USDA Forest Service, is a database containing information on about 900 plant species, 100 animal species, and 16 plant communities in North America. While the database focuses on the fire ecology of the species and ecosystems, it also includes information on the taxonomy, distribution, biology, and ecology of each species. For example, see this page on the bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum). This is a pretty good source of information on the general ecology, as well as the fire ecology, of the species and communities covered, and references are included for further research.
The U.S. Forest Service's Ecological Subregions of the United States give succinct summaries of the geology, soils, plants, animals, and other characteristics of several subregions of California: Coastal Chaparral Forest and Shrub, Great Valley, Northern California Coast, Sierran steppe, Mixed and Coniferous Forest of the Sierras and other mountain ranges in the northern half of California, the Central Coast Ranges and Mountains of Southern California, and the Semi-desert and Desert of southern and eastern California.
The Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project looks at the forests, watersheds and natural areas of the Sierra Nevada.
Selected photos of California places is a great page with links to photos and live webcam shots of places in California. The images are sorted by geomorphic province (that is Peninsular Ranges, Sierra Nevada, Central Valley, etc.). Many are from Images of the California Environment, listed above, but there are other sources as well. You can see live shots of Mammoth Mountain, San Diego Bay, and various places in the San Francisco area, among others, as well as still photos of different landscapes throughout the state.
Field Guide to San Diego County, from the SD Natural History Museum, has checklists of species of plants and animals, guide to reptiles and amphibians, FAQs and other information on San Diego County natural history.
For related information and links, see "Biodiversity" in the page on Natural Resources of California.
Photographs of California Plants and Habitats, more than 20,000 photos made available for viewing by the University of California, Berkeley. This page is the starting point for plant and habitat photos. Beautiful photographs of many plant species and natural habitats, well worth spending time with.
CalFlora Database has information on over 8000 California plant species. You may search by plant name, county, elevation, plant community, and other criteria to get botanical information. A joint project of UC Berkeley, the USDA Forest Service, and several other organizations.
Biotic Zones of California from the California Native Plant Society. A description of plant communities in California, with characteristic species. Broken into regions, with cross-sections of each region, showing plant communities by elevation and other environmental factors.
A Manual of California Vegetation is an online version of the book published by the California Native Plant Society. It contains a classification of California's vegetation, dividing the vegetation into series dominated by trees, shrubs or herbs (as well as a few unique vegetation types), then subdividing on the basis of dominant species. For example, one vegetation series is the Douglas-fir series, dominated by Douglas fir, but also including such species as canyon live oak, chinquapin, or incense cedar. For each series, the manual gives a brief description, list of important species, brief description of habitat, list of references that describe the series, and other information. This classification system, which is still being refined and revised, is used by the California Department of Fish and Game, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, and many other agencies and organizations. The web version contains the full text of the printed manual, except for the literature citations.
Generate vegetation maps of California, choosing the region you are interested in, as well as the type of information to include on your map. This one is of San Diego County, but you can follow the instructions and generate the map of your choice. The Information Center for the Environment main page is here.
Introduction to the Flora tells about California's native plants, and from this page you can find a lot of information about California's plants and vegetation, from the California Native Plant Society.
California is home to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine, including the oldest known living tree, over 4700 years old.
Here is some information and photographs of plant species on Catalina Island, indexed by common name or by scientific name, from the Catalina Island Conservancy.
Animals
Many of the sources in the General Natural
History section above cover animals extensively, along with other aspects of natural
history. The links that follow focus on animals.
Photographs of California Animals, from the University of California, Berkeley. Not as large a collection as the plant photos listed above, but growing, and contains photos of a great variety of California animals.
Checklist of California Mammals , by Dr. Daniel Williams at CSU, Stanislaus.
Featured Critters is a gallery of wildlife from California Department of Fish and Game. It has many beautiful photographs, and a lot of information on wildlife from mountain lions to egrets to grunion to abalone.
Joe Morlan's California Birding Pages is a good place to start finding out about birds in California. Birding California is another good page on birds.
The San Diego County Bird Atlas is an ongoing project sponsored by the San Diego Natural History Museum to provide infromation on the distribution and status of birds in San Diego County. The Breeding Bird Species Accounts lists information about all species known to have bred in San Diego County.
IV the Birds--Birds of the Imperial Valley is a beautiful and informative site on the birds of this productive, though stressed, part of the Pacific Flyway. There are many beautiful photographs, a little on bird habitats, and some good information and links about the Salton Sea, as well as some good birding links.
The official state reptile of California is the Desert Tortoise. Find out about the desert tortoise, its status, habits, and habitat, at this site from the Desert Tortoise Preserve Committee. Also, take this Virtual Field Trip of the Desert Tortoise Natural Area.
The Fisheries Programs Branch of the Department of Fish and Game is a good source of information on freshwater fish and their habitats in California. This page has links to publications and other information on fish and fishing. Try Trout of California, a publication in pdf format, which covers trout classification, discusses every type of trout in the state, their life history and status, and a number of interesting facts about trout (this link will take you to a page that lists each topic in the document, so you only have to look at the part that interests you). Or read about Freshwater Nongame Fishes in California, which covers 33 species of fish.
Butterflies of California has descriptions, help on identification, natural history information, distribution maps, references, and beautiful photos of most of the many species included. You can also find out about Moths of California. Both from the USGS Biological Resources Division.
"City Bugs" Insects of the San Francisco Bay Region is a large and fascinating web site on insects. It covers insect identification and classification (Find Your Bug), has a virtual bug collection, and for many insect families includes a section on the biology, food habits and economic importance of the family, among other topics. There are many excellent photos of insects.
Frequently Asked Questions about Insects, from the UC Riverside Department of Entomology, has a lot of interesting information and links about a great variety of insects. Also, you can find out about Africanized Honeybees in California, and read some FAQ's about bees in general.
Spiders and Other Arachnids are also discussed at the UCR site, which includes a photo gallery, and some very interesting information about the notorious brown recluse spider.
Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary has some great photos and lots of information. Or try Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, or this page on Marine Reserves.
The National Marine Fisheries Service, Southwest Division, has a tremendous amount of information on fisheries, habitat conservation, and protection of marine resources, from salmon to .sardines. As a sampling, here is a page on the California/Oregon Drift Gillnet Fishery and a FAQ on Essential Fish Habitat. This is a valuable site for anyone interested in these topics.
There are now about 2000 Southern sea otters living along the California coast. Once on the
verge of extinction, this subspecies has made a recovery in recent decades, and is
listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Find out
some Southern
Sea Otter Facts from Friends of the
Sea Otter. There are some great photos,
natural history facts, censuses and a range map, to mention a few
items, as well as links to other sites that cover sea otters.Take a virtual dive in a submersible to the bottom of Monterey Bay. National Geographic Society has a site full of information on Monterey Bay.
The California Department of Fish and Game's Marine Region has information on fishing and marine resources. Also see DFG's Grunion page and their site focusing in California Abalone. For general information on abalone, try this pamphlet on California Abalone.
The home page of the beautiful Monterey Bay Aquarium is here. Try the Kelp Cam, with images from the aquarium kelp forest. Information on research from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute can be accessed from this site.
Scripps Institute of Oceanography is a major oceanographic research organization affiliated with the University of California. Here are links to information on research at SIO, including such topics as global climate change, geology of the oceans, marine life, and management of coastal zones.
California Ocean and Coastal Environmental Resources Network contains a wealth of information. From the State Resources Agency.
Southern California Coastal Water Research Project focuses on marine environmental research.
The Love Lab: research on fishes of central and southern California, especially rockfishes, sponsored by the USGS Biological Services Division. Ever wonder if we've been overfishing our coastal zones? Here is a brief, pointed report on the status of fish communities on natural reefs off Southern and Central California. And here are a lot of great fish photos from the Love Lab.
Links to information on Salmon and Steelhead, from NMFS.
UCLA Ocean Discovery Center focuses on Santa Monica Bay. Lots on the natural history of the bay.
Southern California Marine Institute has educational programs on the ocean environment.
Bibliography on Gray Whales from Whalenet.
Links to many ocean-oriented sites from NMFS.
Biological Sciences Database--Marine Biology, from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Geology
California has
a lot of geology. We are on the boundary between two tectonic plates, the North
American Plate on the east, and the Pacific Plate on the west. The Pacific Plate is
moving northwest past the North American Plate at an average rate of about 5.5 centimeters
(two inches) a year. In some places, the movement is more or less continuous: the
town of Hollister is famous for the constant slow creep which distorts streets, sidewalks
and walls, and makes frequent repairs necessary. In other parts of the boundary,
stress builds up for years, before sudden movement takes place. The San Francisco
Earthquake of 1906 is a famous example of this: in one part of the San Andreas Fault north
of San Francisco, the western side of the fault (the Pacific Plate side) suddenly moved
about 6 meters (twenty feet)! In addition, there is another plate, the Gorda Plate,
off the Northern California coast. This small plate is moving eastward and slowly
subducting beneath the North American Plate. The triple junction (the meeting point
of the three plates), is just off Cape Mendocino. The subduction of the Gorda Plate
(and the Juan de Fuca Plate to the north) creates the active volcanos of the Cascade
Range, and could potentially lead to very large earthquakes. Such tectonic activity
has built the mountain ranges of California through a variety of processes. More
about the fascinating geology of California can be learned from some of the sites listed
below, as well as in the page on Natural Hazards, or some
of the books in the reference
list.
Geologic Information about California, from the USGS, is a good place to start.
Plate Tectonics history of California, with maps, from 30 million years ago to the present, from the USGS. Also, a general map of the geology of Western North America, showing plate boundaries and terranes, from the USGS.
An ophiolite is a sequence of rocks that are believed to be a section of oceanic crust with the underlying mantle rock. If an ophiolite is exposed at the surface, this implies that a very deep section of the sea floor has been pushed up onto the land. This, in turn, implies tremendous and complex tectonic activity. Ophiolites in California can tell us about the geologic history of the area. A good exposure of an ophiolite sequence can be seen along the Smith River. Take this Virtual Field Trip to see and learn about the Josephine Ophiolite on the Smith River.
Lots of information from the California Geological Survey.
California's Coastal Geography and Geology, from CERES.
Deserts: Geology and Resources, is an online book from the USGS, covering deserts in general, but with coverage pertinent to California..
Bay Area Geology contains maps and information on faults and earthquakes, among other topics. This page has many links to other information on the geology of Calfornia.
Learn about Gold: California's State Mineral.
A lot of information on Long Valley Caldera in eastern California, from USGS.
A short essay on the Geology of San Diego County, from the SD Natural History Museum. Also see Faults and Earthquakes, and Minerals of San Diego County.
Some Good Books on California Natural History. Just a very brief sampling of what is available. This list concentrates on general works. There are many guidebooks to the flora and fauna of California available as well.
Harden, Deborah R. 1998. California Geology. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Good, readable textbook on the subject. Covers some basic principles of geology, then discusses the geology of the various regions of California.
McPhee, John. 1993. Assembling California. New York: The Noonday Press. Interesting and readable account of California geology. Not a textbook, but you will learn a lot about California's geology, and about plate tectonics.
Mount, Jeffrey F. 1995. California Rivers and Streams. Berkeley, UC Press. Written for geology students, and rather technical in places, but there is a great deal here for the general reader, especially in the part of the book dealing with land use and impact on the rivers in California.
Norris, Robert M. and Robert W. Webb. 1990. Geology of California. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Textbook covering the geology of the entire state.
Schoenherr, Allan A. 1992. A Natural History
of California. Berkeley, UC Press. Huge, comprehensive, readable and a
good reference.
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Comments, Questions, or Suggestions? Email: J.R. Thorngren
(but I can't do calculations for you...or do your homework)
06/07/06
The grizzly bear is the state animal of California, and is the bear on the California flag. There are no grizzly bears in the wild in California today. The last one in the state was killed in 1922, or possibly in 1924.