This region contains a wide variety of ecosystems, including: sagebrush steppe; prickly pear shrubland; coastal sage scrub; juniper-pine woodland; sequoia forests, redwood forests, coastal dunes and salt marshes, among several others. Today, a quarter of the original vegetation remains in more or less pristine condition.
This hotspot is home to the Endangered giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum), the planet's largest living organism and its taller but less massive relative, the Endangered coastal redwood (Sequoia sempervirens). A number of threatened endemic species are found here, too, including the Endangered giant kangaroo rat (Dipodomys ingens), the desert slender salamander (Batrachoseps major aridus) and some of the last individuals of the Critically Endangered California condor (Gymnogyps californianus). The hotspot is the breeding ground for this very large bird that is now expanding to Arizona and Utah in the United States of America.
The natural ecosystems of the California Floristic Province face serious threats from human activities and development. Direct pressures on ecosystems include urbanization, pollution, habitat encroachment, expansion of large-scale agriculture, strip mining and oil extraction, invasive alien species, road construction, livestock grazing, logging, increasing use of off-road vehicles, and suppression of natural fires.
For more information on this Hotspot, please visit www.cepf.net.
