What makes the California Floristic Province so unique?

The California Floristic Province is a world biodiversity hotspot as defined by Conservation International, due to an unusually high concentration of endemic plants: approximately 8,000 plant species in the geographic region, and over 3,400 taxa limited to the CFP proper, as well as having lost over 70% of its primary …

What threats does the California Floristic Province face?

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.

How has the California Floristic Province been destroyed?

_x000D_ Wilderness destruction caused by commercial farming is a major threat for the region as the California Floristic Province generates half of all the agricultural products used by U.S. consumers. The hotspot is also heavily threatened by the expansion of urban areas, pollution, and road construction.

What are some of the types of ecosystems found in the California Floristic Province?

The region contains a wide variety of ecosystems, including sagebrush steppe, prickly pear shrubland, coastal sage scrub, chaparral, juniper-pine woodland, upper montane-subalpine forest, alpine forest, riparian forest, cypress forests, mixed evergreen forests, Douglas fir forests, sequoia forests, redwood forests.

What is the most biodiverse place in the US?

New research has found that Alabama has more plant and animal species, both living and dead, than any other state in the nation.

How do you benefit from California’s biodiversity?

California biodiversity supports ecosystem services that benefit people and the economy, including carbon sequestration, timber production, crop pollination, soil fertility, tourism and recreation. The value of the benefits generated by rich ecosystems and species diminishes as biodiversity is lost.

How biodiverse is California?

California is the most biodiverse state in the U.S. and one of the most biodiverse regions of the world. California is a biodiversity hot spot because of its unique geography, climate, geologic history and size. California’s network of terrestrial protected lands covers 46% of the state.

Why is California so botanically diverse?

“Because California has so many unique and relatively young plant species, it was long assumed by biogeographers and naturalists that high speciation rates were the cause of California’s biodiversity,” says first author Lesley Lancaster, who conducted the study when she was a postdoctoral scholar at University of …

Why does California have high biodiversity?

California is a biodiversity hot spot because of its unique geography, climate, geologic history and size. California’s network of terrestrial protected lands covers 46% of the state. More than 30% of California’s species are threatened with extinction.

Which ecosystem in California has the greatest diversity?

Oak woodlands also are among the most biological diverse communities in the state, supporting 5,000 species of insects, more than 330 species of amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, and several thousand plant species (CDFG 2003).

Why does California have a lot of biodiversity?

Why does California have such high levels of endemism?

The highest rates of endemism occur in the Coast Ranges, which is also where California’s booming human population is concentrated; a disproportionately high number of endemics are found in the highly urbanized San Francisco Bay Area.

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