San Diego National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. It is part of the

San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Complex The San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Complex is a series of wildlife refuges established by the United States National Wildlife Service beginning in 1972. The complex incorporates five refuges in San Diego County, California, San Diego County and ...

. A variety of habitats from

coastal sage scrub 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 ...

and chaparral to

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (se ...

and freshwater

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

describe this inland refuge in San Diego's backcountry. The Living Coast Discovery Center is located in the Sweetwater Marsh Unit adjacent to the administrative headquarters for the US Fish & Wildlife Service. The Center features exhibits of marine life, birds and plants found the San Diego Bay, and partners with the Refuge to offer environmental education programs. There are 1.5 miles of trails with access to the Bay. The Otay-Sweetwater Unit of the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge is part of the National Wildlife Refuge System's contribution to the Multiple Species Conservation Plan, a program designed to conserve enough open space and habitat for species survival while enabling orderly development to occur where necessary. It is closed to the public. San Diego National Wildlife Refuge's abundance of coastal sage and chaparral are an important addition to other inland preserves established to conserve and restore fast diminishing habitat. This inland refuge is home to such endangered birds as least Bell's vireo,

California gnatcatcher The California gnatcatcher (''Polioptila californica'') is a small long insectivorous bird which frequents dense coastal sage scrub growth. This species was recently split from the similar black-tailed gnatcatcher of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan ...

, a rare butterfly, the Quino checkerspot and to the

San Diego horned lizard The San Diego horned lizard or Blainville's horned lizard (''Phrynosoma blainvillii'') is a species of phrynosomatid lizard native to southern and central California in the United States and northern Baja California in Mexico. Taxonomy Descri ...

. Biological surveys for other species are ongoing as new land is acquired. The approved refuge boundary for the San Diego Refuge is , and for the Vernal Pools Unit.

References

Refuge website
{{authority control National Wildlife Refuges in California Protected areas of San Diego County, California Wetlands of California Landforms of San Diego County, California