Coastal Sage Scrub - Southern Coastal Scrub

Southern Coastal Scrub

Southern coastal scrub is mostly found along the coast in Central and Southern California, from the San Francisco Bay Area in the north, through the Oxnard Plain of Ventura County, the Los Angeles Basin, most of Orange County, parts of Riverside County, coastal San Diego County, and the northwestern corner of Mexico's Baja California state, including the region around Tijuana and Ensenada.

The metropolitan areas of Los Angeles, San Diego, and Tijuana are located in the southern coastal scrublands, and most of the scrublands have been lost to urbanization and agriculture. The plants of this community prefer the mild maritime climates found along California's coastline. World Wildlife Fund estimates that only 15% of the coastal sage scrublands remain undeveloped. Some of the remaining CSS in Los Angeles County can be found at the Robert J. Bernard Field Station at the Claremont Colleges.

A number of rare and endangered species occur in Southern coastal scrub habitats. For example, the California Gnatcatcher (Polioptila californica), is a threatened bird species endemic to the coastal sage scrublands. At the Torrey Pines State Reserve the endangered Torrey Pine (Pinus torreyana) is found as the dominant tree, in one of only two known stands of this Pine species.