Biodiversity and the California floristic province

VIC LEIPZIG AND LOU MURRAY

We live in an internationally famous hotspot, one of incredible

biodiversity. A Harvard biologist named Edward O. Wilson identified

25 of these regions around the globe.

Biodiversity hotspots are remarkable for their wide array of

plants and animals, many of which are found nowhere else in the

world. The areas are considered hotspots because the populations of

unique plants and animals found within them are declining and in

danger of extinction.

Our hotspot is known as the California Floristic Province. This

province covers the entire California coast from the ocean to the

Sierras. The region includes the Channel Islands and extends into

southwestern Oregon and Baja California.

A large number of ecosystems are found within this province, which

is no surprise since California is a pretty big area. Even though

most of our area is developed, Huntington Beach has remnants of four

of these ecosystems: coastal salt marsh, coastal sand dunes, coastal

sage scrub and freshwater willow wetlands. The latter ecosystem type

is found mainly in Central Park and Carr Park.

Our floristic province is amazingly diverse. It contains 4,426

species of plants. To put this into perspective, that’s higher than

what’s found throughout the entire central and northeastern United

States, plus adjoining areas of Canada, an area that is 10 times as

large as California.

When a species is restricted to a particular geographic region and

is found nowhere else in the world, it is called endemic. Of the

4,426 plant species found in the California Floristic Province, 2,125

are endemic. Put in other terms, 48% of plants, 46% of amphibians,

26% of reptiles, 21% of mammals and 2.3% of birds are endemic to this

province. If they die out here, the species become extinct.

It should be no surprise that many of these California species are

threatened with extinction. Currently, 250 plant and animal species

in California are protected by the Endangered Species Act, with 180

more proposed for listing. This is more than any other state.

California has already lost 32 plant species to extinction in recent

times.

What this means is that our area is in serious biological peril.

If you look at the impacts of human development on the landscape here

in Huntington Beach and up and down the coast of California, you’ll

see why. Think about the changes to the landscape here in the past

100 years. Every day, more and more land is being gobbled up by

development. In fact, more than 75% of the land surface of the

California province has had its native vegetation eliminated or

seriously altered by mankind.

In Huntington Beach we are fortunate to have the largest remaining

coastal salt marsh between Monterey Bay to the north and the Tijuana

River Estuary to the south. Although the Bolsa Chica is severely

degraded -- only 1/10 of its original size and lacking the large area

of surrounding uplands and freshwater marshes that once contributed

to the diversity of wildlife here -- it is still an incredible

resource.

Because animals appeal so much to the popular imagination, many

people are aware that Bolsa Chica is home to such sensitive species

as the snowy plover, elegant tern, California least tern, Belding’s

savannah sparrow and silvery legless lizard. Far fewer know about a

rare Bolsa Chica plant species called salt marsh bird’s beak. In

contrast to the interest birds and other animals generate, it is

really hard to garner much support for most endangered plants.

It’s ironic that society is willing to spend so much to save

popular species such as condors and eagles, species that grab the

imagination, with nothing for less obvious species. The solution is

to preserve areas of habitat large enough to support both dramatic,

popular species, and the smaller, less obvious species that are the

building blocks of ecosystems.

We are fortunate to live in an area of such incredible biological

diversity. We are fortunate to have so many people fighting to save

what little is left. But the next 100 years will bring further

population growth, further development, and further losses and

degradation of habitat. It will be a struggle to preserve what

remains of California’s wild heritage and save the endemic plant and

animal species of the California Floristic Province from extinction.

* VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and

environmentalists. They can be reached at [email protected].