California mixed evergreen forest


California mixed evergreen forest is a plant community found in the mountain ranges of California and southwestern Oregon.
The Mixed evergreen forest plant community is native to the Northern and Southern California Coast Ranges and Sierra Nevada of central and northern California; the Transverse Ranges and Peninsular Ranges of southern California; and the southwestern Oregon Coast Ranges.
California mixed evergreen forests occur in ecoregions of the California Floristic Province, including in areas of the California chaparral and woodlands and its sub-ecoregions, Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains forests, Northern California coastal forests, and Sierra Nevada lower montane forest. The mixed evergreen forests of each ecoregion have slightly different species composition.

Klamath-Siskiyou mixed evergreen forest

The mixed evergreen forests of the Klamath Mountains-Siskiyou Mountains occur above 300 meters elevation, and are of four main types. Douglas-fir forests are found on gentle slopes, north-facing slopes, ridges with deep soil, and river terraces with deep sediments, usually underlain with sedimentary rocks. Coast Douglas-fir is the predominant tree, occupying up to 70% of the forest cover. Broadleaf evergreen trees are relatively few. Tree species of secondary importance are:
On granite soils, a similar species composition predominates, but with more broadleaf evergreens, chiefly:
On steep, well drained slopes, canyon live oak is the dominant species, with coast Douglas-fir in a minor role.
On serpentine soils, mixed evergreen forests are made up of:

California Coast Ranges mixed evergreen forest

Mixed evergreen forests in the California Coast Ranges vary in species related to coastal or inland climate influences. It usually happens in the elevation from 0 meter to 500 meters high. Mountains in the San Francisco Bay Area frequently support mixed evergreen forests. Generally the moister the forest habitat the greater the understory density. Coast mixed evergreen is drier than coast redwood and it is a four-layer forest structure. The conifers are usually emergent as canopy layer and broad-leaf evergreen trees emerge as sub-canopy layer. The shrubs occur as the understory species.
Common wildlife include Steller's jay, chestnut-backed chickadee, western gray squirrel, raccoon and many others. These forests are more diverse in animal life than those having only conifers. The predominance of broadleaf trees provide a greater abundance of food sources.

Southern Coast, Transverse, and Peninsular Ranges mixed evergreen forest

Also called southern mixed evergreen forests, the mixed evergreen forests of the southern California Coast Ranges, the Transverse Ranges, and the northern Peninsular Ranges, are restricted to cooler north-facing slopes at higher elevations.