Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low

scrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...

plant community A plant community is a collection or Association (ecology), association of plant species within a designated geographical unit, which forms a relatively uniform patch, distinguishable from neighboring patches of different vegetation types. The comp ...

of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and northwestern coastal

Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

. It is within the

California chaparral and woodlands The California chaparral and woodlands is a terrestrial ecoregion of southwestern Oregon, northern, central, and southern California (United States) and northwestern Baja California (Mexico), located on the west coast of North America. It is a ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

, of the

Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub Mediterranean forests, woodlands and scrub is a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The biome is generally characterized by dry summers and rainy winters, although in some areas rainfall may be uniform. Summers are typically hot in ...

biome A biome () is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. In 1935, Tansley added the ...

Characteristics

;Plant community Coastal sage scrub is characterized by low-growing aromatic, and drought-deciduous shrubs adapted to the semi-arid

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

of the coastal lowlands. The community is sometimes called "soft

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant plant community, community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intens ...

" due to the predominance of soft, drought-deciduous leaves in contrast to the hard, waxy-cuticled leaves on sclerophyllous plants of California's chaparral communities. ;Flora Characteristic shrubs and subshrubs include: * California sagebrush (''Artemisia californica'') * Black sage (''Salvia mellifera'') * White sage (''Salvia apiana'') * California buckwheat (''Eriogonum fasciculatum'') * Coast brittle-bush (''Encelia californica'') * Golden yarrow (''Eriophyllum confertifolium'') Larger shrubs include: *

Toyon ''Heteromeles arbutifolia'' (, more commonly by Californian botanists), commonly known as toyon, is a perennial shrub native to Coastal California. It is the sole species in the genus ''Heteromeles''. Description Toyon typically grows from , r ...

(''Heteromeles arbutifolia'') * Lemonade berry (''Rhus integrifolia'')

Herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition o ...

grasses Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in ...

, and in some locales,

cacti A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

and

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

s, are also part of the flora. '' Hesperoyucca whipplei'', colloquially known as Chaparral Yucca, is commonplace throughout the climate zone.

Geographical subtypes

The coastal sage scrub plant community is divided into three geographical subtypes—northern coastal scrub, southern coastal scrub, and maritime succulent scrub. The coastal scrub communities are divided into three regions: #

Northern Coastal Scrub Northern coastal scrub is a diverse scrubland plant community found along the Pacific Coast from Northern California to Southern Oregon, as well as some offshore islands. It frequently forms a landscape mosaic with California coastal prairie, coast ...

and Coastal Prairie, which extends from

San Luis Obispo ; ; ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfway betwee ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. # Coastal Sage scrub, which extends from

Ensenada, Baja California Ensenada ("inlet") is a city in Ensenada Municipality, Baja California, situated on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. Located on Bahía de Todos Santos, the city had a population of 279,765 in 2018, making it the List of cities in Baja California, th ...

Monterey Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 census. The city was fou ...

. # Maritime Succulent Scrub, which can be found in San Diego County and

. # The Northern Coastal Scrub consists of

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

, which is terraces with deep alluvial soils, and scrub, which is found on steeper slopes and ravine areas. Evergreen shrubs and subshrubs, which are soft leaves. They are found in semi-open with a height of 2–3 meters, with multiple layers. Some examples of the plant species that can be found are Bush monkeyflower ('' Mimulus aurantiacus''), Poison oak ('' Toxicodendron diversilobum''), Coffee berry ('' Frangula californica''), Golden yarrow ('' Eriophyllum confertiflorum''). California sagebrush (''

Artemisia californica ''Artemisia californica'', also known as California sagebrush, is a species of western North American shrub in the Asteraceae, sunflower family. In the western United States, California sagebrush is grown in native plant gardens and as a drough ...

'') can be found in Coastal Sage Scrub community, especially in Orange County. Some other plant species that can be found is also giant coreopsis ('' Coreopsis gigantea''), Californian black sage ('' Salvia mellifera''), California buckwheat (''

Eriogonum fasciculatum ''Eriogonum fasciculatum'' is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common names California buckwheat and flat-topped buckwheat. Characterized by small, white and pink flower clusters that give off a cottony effect, this species grows vari ...

)'', and Californian white sage ('' Salvia apiana''). Plant species that can be found in Maritime Succulent Scrub is coast prickly pear (''

Opuntia littoralis ''Opuntia littoralis'' is a species of Opuntia, prickly pear cactus known by the common name coastal pricklypear. It is sometimes called the sprawling prickly pear due to its short stems and habit of growing close to the ground. ''"Littoral"'' me ...

''), coast barrel cactus ('' Ferocactus viridescens''), cliff spurge ('' Euphorbia misera''), bush rue ('' Cneoridium dumosum''), and '' Dudleya'' spp.

Northern coastal scrub

Northern coastal scrub occurs along the

Pacific Coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas North America Countries on the western side of North America have a Pacific coast as their western or south-western border. One of th ...

from the northern

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

to southern

. It frequently forms a landscape mosaic with the California coastal prairie plant community. The predominant plants are low

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

s and

herb Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...

s. Characteristic shrubs include coyote brush (''Baccharis pilularis''), yerba santa (''Eriodictyon californicum''), coast silk-tassel (''Garrya elliptica''), salal (''Gaultheria shallon''), and

yellow bush lupine ''Lupinus arboreus'', the yellow bush lupine ( US) or tree lupin ( UK), is a species of flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. Description ''Lupinus arboreus'' is an evergreen shrub growing to tall (hence the alternative common name, tr ...

(''Lupinus arboreus''). Herbaceous species include

western blue-eyed grass ''Sisyrinchium bellum'', the western blue-eyed grass or Californian blue-eyed grass, is the common blue-eyed grass of California and Oregon in and west of the Sierra Nevada, its range extending south into Baja California. In parts of its ran ...

(''Sisyrinchium bellum''),

Douglas iris ''Iris douglasiana'', the Douglas iris, is a common wildflower of the coastal regions of Northern and Central California and southern Oregon in the United States. It grows mainly at lower elevations, below , though it is occasionally found at hei ...

(''Iris douglasiana''), and

Southern coastal scrub

Southern coastal scrub is mostly found along the maritime Central Coast region, and the terraces and mountains with coastal climate influence in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. Its distribution extends from the southwestern San Francisco Bay Area in the north, through

Big Sur Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of the U.S. state of California, between Carmel Highlands and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Range, Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from th ...

Vandenberg Air Force Base Vandenberg may refer to: * Vandenberg (surname), including a list of people with the name * USNS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' (T-AGM-10), transport ship in the United States Navy, sank as an artificial reef in Key West, Florida * Vandenberg S ...

, the

Oxnard Plain The Oxnard Plain is a large coastal plain in southwest Ventura County, California, United States surrounded by the mountains of the Transverse Ranges. The cities of Oxnard, Camarillo, Port Hueneme and much of Ventura as well as the unincorpo ...

, the

Los Angeles Basin The Los Angeles Basin is a sedimentary Structural basin, basin located in Southern California, in a region known as the Peninsular Ranges. The basin is also connected to an wikt:anomalous, anomalous group of east–west trending chains of mountai ...

, most of Orange County, parts of Riverside County, coastal

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its border with Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634; it is the second-most populous ...

, and the northwestern region of Baja California state in Mexico, including the areas around

Tijuana Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...

and Ensenada. Torrey Pine Grove

;Southern California The metropolitan areas of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, and

are located in the southern coastal scrublands, and most of the scrublands have been lost to

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation in British English) is the population shift from Rural area, rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. ...

and

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

. The plants of this community prefer the mild maritime climates found along Southern California's coastline.

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the ...

estimates that only 15 percent of the coastal sage scrublands remain undeveloped. Some of the remaining southern coastal scrub in Los Angeles County can be found in dunes under the takeoff path at Los Angeles International Airport—LAX, in the coastal

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) is a national recreation area containing many individual parks and open space preserves, located primarily in Southern California's Santa Monica Mountains. Located in greater Los Ange ...

, and at the Robert J. Bernard Field Station at the

Claremont Colleges The Claremont Colleges (known colloquially as the 7Cs) are a consortium of seven private university, private institutions of higher education located in Claremont, California, United States. They comprise five undergraduate colleges (the 5Cs)� ...

. In San Diego County, the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base protects larger areas, and the

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (MCAS Miramar) is a United States Marine Corps installation that is home to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is the aviation element of the I Marine Expeditionary Force. It is located in Miramar, a commu ...

has

vernal pool 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 saf ...

s and the endemic mint '' Pogogyne abramsii''. One of the largest remaining areas of inland coastal sage scrub is found in the Temescal Mountains of Riverside County. A few rare and

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

occur in southern coastal scrub habitats. For example, the coastal California gnatcatcher (''Polioptila californica californica'') is a threatened

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

species

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the coastal sage scrublands. Other endemic fauna includes the El Segundo blue butterfly in the LAX dunes; and the Palos Verdes blue butterfly (''Glaucopsyche lygdamus palosverdesensis''), at only one site on the

Palos Verdes Peninsula The Palos Verdes Peninsula () is a peninsular subregion of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, located within southwestern Los Angeles County, California. It is often called simply "Palos Verdes", and is made up of a group of cities in the Palos ...

. The endangered Torrey pine (''Pinus torreyana'') is the dominant tree at

Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve is a coastal state park in San Diego, California. The reserve is one of the wildest stretches of land on the Southern California coast, covering . It is bordered immediately to the south by Torrey Pines Golf Co ...

in San Diego, one of only two known stands of this

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

species.

Notes

References

* In: Mayer KE and Laudenslayer WF. ''A Guide to Wildlife Habitats of California''. Sacramento, CA: California Department of Fish and Game
"Coastal Scrub"
de Becker, Sally. (1988). * Schoenherr, Allan A. (1992). ''A Natural History of California''. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

External links

*

* ttp://www.biosbcc.net/b100plant/htm/soft.htm Santa Barbara College, Biology Dept: "Soft Chaparral or Coastal Sage Scrub Community"br>Calflora Database — Southern California Plant Communities
— ''see #4. Coastal sage scrub''.
Claremont Colleges: Robert J. Bernard Field Station website
— ''Lists and photographs of organisms found in Coastal sage scrub''.
Las Pilitas horticulture database: California coastal sage scrub plant community
— ''text, images, species links''.
Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants: Native Plant Guides
— ''Southern California species''. {{clear California chaparral and woodlands Plant communities of California Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub in the United States Ecoregions of California Plant communities of the West Coast of the United States Natural history of Baja California *Coast * *