COAST LIVE OAK WOODLAND HABITAT

Rufous-crowned Sparrow	Engelmann Oak	Mule Deer

Coast live oak woodlands occur mostly in the mesa areas of coastal California from Sonoma County south into Baja California. The term "woodland" is used instead of "forest" because woodlands tend to be more open and sunlit, their canopies sometimes touching, but rarely overlapping. Woodlands are typically found below 5000 feet in soils too dry to support a forest. They are found within a 50-mile radius of the coast, out of the influence of salt spray. Fog is common in these areas and soils are typically well drained.

The dominant plant is Coast Live Oak, often with small shrubs and/or annual grasses growing underneath. The Coast Live Oak has several features that enable it to survive the hot dry summers of the Mediterranean climate where it is found. It has a specialized root system including a deep tap root and tiered feeder roots which collect moisture at several levels in the soil. Also, its xylem tissues (the ones dedicated to the transport of water from the roots to the leaves) tend to harden as the summer drought progresses. Its evergreen leaves are thick and waxy, which keeps water losses to a minimum.

An intrinsic part of Coast Live Oak woodland ecology is fire. Coast Live Oaks have a thick bark that insulates inner tissues from relatively low-intensity (modest heat over a short time), infrequent fires. A higher-intensity fire can be survived by crown-sprouting, when the above-ground portion of the tree is killed, but the buried root crown resprouts. In some cases, sprouts can also be seen originating from the trunk. Buried acorns may also sprout after a fire. There are certain adaptive advantages to fire in this community: other plant species that compete with oak seedlings and saplings for water and nutrients are eliminated; more mineral nutrients become available as rains leach them from burned wood and ashes; and debilitating insect pests are temporarily eliminated from the foliage, bark, and buds. As with most factors affecting growth and development, even with fire there is an ideal frequency range which promotes health in the community. If fire is suppressed too long, non-native species overrun the understory, killing oak seedlings and saplings that are not well established. However, if fires occur too frequently, seedlings and saplings are killed off and viable acorns are eliminated from the area, stalling for many years a healthy regeneration of the woodland.

Coast Live Oak habitat often merges into Chaparral habitat or Coastal Sage Scrub habitat.

Characteristic plants: Coast Live Oak, Blue Elderberry, Poison Oak, Foothill Needle Grass, non-native annual grasses.

Plants of special interest: Engelmann Oak

Characteristic animals: Acorn Woodpecker, Mourning Dove, Northern Flicker, White-breasted Nuthatch, Spotted Towhee, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Opossum, Gray Fox, Striped Skunk, Botta’s Pocket Gopher, Mule Deer

Animals of special interest: Cooper's Hawk, Coastal Western Whiptail Lizard