A Cypress forest is a western United States plant association typically dominated by one or more
cypress
Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the ...
species. Example species comprising the canopy include ''
Cupressus macrocarpa
''Hesperocyparis macrocarpa'' is a coniferous tree. It is commonly known as the Monterey cypress and is one of several species of cypress trees endemic to California.
The Monterey cypress is found naturally only on the Central Coast of Califor ...
''. In some cases these forests have been severely damaged by goats, cattle and other grazing animals.
[M.A. Rodriguez-Malagon et al., "The Guadalupe Island Recovery Track"] While cypress species are clearly dominant within a Cypress forest, other trees such as
California Buckeye, ''
Aesculus californica'', are found in some Cypress forests.
Examples
The Guadalupe Island Cypress Forest is situated on
Guadalupe Island, offshore from
Baja California. This forest was greatly destroyed by the introduction of
grazing goats, but
conservation biology
Conservation biology is the study of the conservation of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions. It is an int ...
efforts have been conducted to assist in restoring the forest.
Another example on the Pacific Coast mainland of
Northern California
Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...
is the
Sargent's cypress Forest, located in coastal
Marin County
Marin County is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is acros ...
,
California.
[USGS Bolinas Quadrangle]
See also
*
Pygmy forest
Line notes
References
Marlene A. Rodriguez-Malagon, Alejandro Hinojosa Corona, Alfonso Aguirre-Munoz and Cesar Garcia Gutierrez ''The Guadalupe Island Forest Recovery Track''C.Michael Hogan (2008) ''Aesculus californica'', Globaltwitcher.com, ed. N. StrÓ§mbergSargent Forest of Marin County, CaliforniaUSGS Bolinas Quadrangle Map, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC
Forests
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