The predominant terrain feature of the region is the northwest-southeast trending ridges and valleys of the Coast Ranges. Serpentine rock is frequently found at the surface throughout the region. It is associated with a number of endemic plant species and unusual communities. The coastal side of the mountains is often enveloped in heavy fog, favoring plants that depend on fog drip for summer moisture, such as redwoods and closed-cone pines. These closed-cone pine communities tend also depend on fire to germinate their seeds, so they tend to have very narrow ranges with the right combination of specialized conditions. Elsewhere in the region, we find a repeating pattern with chaparral communities on warmer and drier aspects and evergreen woodlands on cooler, moister ones.

Figure CW-2 shows the management status of lands in the Central Western California Region. Less than one-quarter of the region is publicly owned, compared to the state as a whole with approximately 50%. The public ownership is widely distributed among U.S. Forest Service (10.9% of the total region), BLM (2.9%), National Park Service (1.1%), Department of Defense (3.9%), state parks (2.0%), California Fish & Game (0.3%), other state land (0.4%), and local jurisdictions (2.9%). Open space districts manage nearly 19,000 ha of land in this region, largely in the mid-peninsula area. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and other non-governmental organizations own 0.2% of the land area.

Status	Area (km²)	%
1	2,476	6.6
2	1,639	4.4
3	4,782	12.8
4	28,389	76.1
Total	37,286	100.0

The region is very similar to the Southwestern and Northwestern California regions in the proportion of staus 1 and 2 but has less than half as much status 3 land (Table CW-1). Consequently the percentage of status 4 lands (mostly private land) is substantially higher in this region. Some of the management status designations are uncertain. For instance, some of the parklands and open space around the San Francisco Bay are heavily used by recreationists and may even include developed facilities which would change their status to a higher number. Likewise, Hunter-Liggett Military Reservation and Vandenberg Air Force Base were classified as status 3 lands because they contain large areas of important wildlands, but portions of both sites are also heavily used for military operations and training maneuvers.

There are 11 privately owned managed areas or easements, 28 state parks or reserves (not including beaches), 13 Fish & Game ecological reserves and 8 wildlife areas, 5 BLM ACEC's or wilderness areas, 5 USFS Research Natural Areas, 8 USFS wilderness areas, and 4 National Park units. Status 1 and 2 managed areas are dominated by the San Rafael and Ventana wilderness areas, with notable contributions from the Dick Smith Wilderness, Golden Gate NRA, Point Reyes National Seashore, Clear Creek Serpentine ACEC, and Henry W. Coe State Park.

CNDDB Code	CNDDB Community Name (Holland 1986)	CNDDB Rank	Status 1 %	Status 2 %	Status 3 %	Status 4 %	Total Mapped Distribution (km²)	Status 1+2 %
21210	Northern Foredunes	S2.1	0.0	100.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	100.0
21320	Central Dune Scrub	S2.2	16.6	11.0	59.8	12.5	13.6	27.6
31100	Northern Coastal Bluff Scrub	S2.2	9.1	90.9	0.0	0.0	39.1	100.0
32100	Northern (Franciscan) Coastal Scrub	S4/3.2/2.3	10.2	15.3	4.0	70.5	423.2	25.5
32200	Central (Lucian) Coastal Scrub	S3.3	3.3	4.3	25.2	67.2	680.5	7.6
32300	Venturan Coastal Scrub	S3.1	12.3	1.7	21.0	65.1	631.3	14.0
32600	Diablan Coastal Scrub	S3.3	0.7	0.4	9.7	89.1	780.7	1.1
35210	Big Sagebrush Scrub	S4	50.0	0.0	50.0	0.0	5.0	50.0
36220	Valley Saltbush Scrub	S2.1	0.0	0.0	11.5	88.5	14.8	0.0
37110	Northern Mixed Chaparral	S4	32.5	0.0	23.5	44.0	15.0	32.5
37200	Chamise Chaparral	S4	18.1	3.6	24.4	53.9	2,302.2	21.7
37300	Red Shank Chaparral	S3.2	15.5	0.0	30.6	54.0	8.4	15.5
37400	Semi-Desert Chaparral	S3.2	15.6	8.4	29.1	46.9	494.9	24.0
37510	Mixed Montane Chaparral	S4	15.1	21.6	13.0	50.3	15.5	36.7
37520	Montane Manzanita Chaparral	S4	30.0	42.1	16.3	11.6	21.6	72.1
37530	Montane Ceanothus Chaparral	S4/3.3	46.1	0.0	44.5	9.4	20.9	46.1
37610	Mixed Serpentine Chaparral	S2.1	0.5	2.8	29.5	67.2	62.0	3.3
37620	Leather Oak Chaparral	S3.2	0.2	18.7	20.1	60.9	94.5	18.9
37810	Buck Brush Chaparral	S4	16.5	2.8	35.0	45.7	2,983.9	19.3
37820	Blue Brush Chaparral	S4	5.3	9.4	12.5	72.8	68.3	14.7
37830	Ceanothus crassifolius Chaparral	S3.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	100.0	1.5	0.0
37840	Ceanothus megacarpus Chaparral	S3.2	0.0	0.0	55.9	44.1	4.1	0.0
37900	Scrub Oak Chaparral	S3.3	30.7	0.8	42.3	26.2	436.4	31.5
37A00	Interior Live Oak Chaparral	S3.3	51.1	1.1	31.8	15.9	428.0	52.2
37B00	Upper Sonoran Manzanita Chaparral	S4	45.9	3.9	17.6	32.6	266.5	49.8
37C10	Northern Maritime Chaparral	S1.2	18.3	0.0	38.3	43.3	2.9	18.3
37C20	Central Maritime Chaparral	S2.2	6.4	7.1	47.7	38.8	218.0	13.5
37E00	Mesic North Slope Chaparral	S3.3	31.3	7.2	37.6	23.8	293.0	38.5
37G00	Coastal Sage-Chaparral Scrub	S3.2	3.5	3.7	19.7	73.1	152.3	7.2
39000	Upper Sonoran Subshrub Scrub	S3.2	2.7	0.4	27.5	69.5	191.7	3.1
41000	Coastal Prairie	S2.1	0.8	8.4	2.5	88.4	749.2	9.2
42200	Non-Native Grassland	S4	0.4	2.7	5.6	91.3	6,958.3	3.1
52110	Northern Coastal Salt Marsh	S3.2	4.4	40.7	5.7	49.2	80.2	45.1
52310	Cismontane Alkali Marsh	S1.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	100.0	4.5	0.0
52410	Coastal and Valley Freshwater Marsh	S2.1	11.6	3.9	30.7	53.9	5.6	15.5
61130	Red Alder Riparian Forest	S2.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	100.0	2.4	0.0
61210	Central Coast Cottonwood-Sycamore Riparian Forest	S3.2	7.4	1.5	14.6	76.5	77.6	8.9
61220	Central Coast Live Oak Riparian Forest	S3.2	8.4	7.0	5.6	78.9	29.2	15.4
61230	Central Coast Arroyo Willow Riparian Forest	S3.2	1.5	0.3	42.3	55.9	42.5	1.8
62100	Sycamore Alluvial Woodland	S1.1	6.5	0.0	44.3	49.2	9.0	6.5
63200	Central Coast Riparian Scrub	S3.2	0.0	3.4	0.0	96.6	2.1	3.4
63310	Mule Fat Scrub	S4	1.5	0.0	0.4	98.2	28.9	1.5
71120	Black Oak Woodland	S3.2	9.0	12.3	12.4	66.3	66.4	21.3
71130	Valley Oak Woodland	S2.1	0.2	2.3	18.2	79.3	163.2	2.5
71140	Blue Oak Woodland	S3.2	1.8	2.6	12.6	83.0	2,143.4	4.4
71160	Coast Live Oak Woodland	S4	1.9	2.9	8.6	86.7	954.1	4.8
71170	Alvord Oak Woodland	S2.2	1.3	0.0	9.6	89.2	339.7	1.3
71310	Open Foothill Pine Woodland	S4	3.1	0.2	19.7	77.0	197.0	3.3
71321	Serpentine Foothill Pine-Chaparral Woodland	S3.2	18.1	1.8	25.9	54.2	33.0	19.9
71322	Non-Serpentine Foothill Pine Woodland	S4	17.2	0.0	13.2	69.7	5.8	17.2
71410	Foothill Pine-Oak Woodland	S4	1.9	4.2	11.2	82.6	2,232.3	6.1
71430	Juniper-Oak Cismontane Woodland	S3.2	0.0	0.4	18.6	81.0	157.9	0.4
72200	Mojavean Pinyon and Juniper Woodland	S3.2/4	42.1	0.0	57.9	0.0	15.2	42.1
72400	Cismontane Juniper Woodland and Scrub	S2.1	0.0	4.5	15.4	80.2	31.2	4.5
81100	Mixed Evergreen Forest	S4	15.4	12.7	8.8	63.1	1,625.0	28.1
81200	California Bay Forest	S3.2	0.0	5.9	29.1	65.0	9.2	5.9
81310	Coast Live Oak Forest	S4	3.4	2.1	9.2	85.3	1,318.5	5.5
81320	Canyon Live Oak Forest	S4	69.6	0.0	26.0	4.4	61.7	69.6
81330	Interior Live Oak Forest	S4	16.9	14.2	15.6	53.4	43.6	31.1
81340	Black Oak Forest	S4	0.0	12.8	1.4	85.8	38.5	12.8
81400	Tan-Oak Forest	S4	21.4	1.8	22.4	54.4	31.9	23.2
82320	Upland Redwood Forest	S2.3	4.1	21.2	6.6	68.1	799.9	25.3
82420	Upland Douglas-Fir Forest	S3.1	46.0	17.9	0.8	35.3	49.7	63.9
83120	Bishop Pine Forest	S2.2	31.5	33.4	7.2	27.8	44.5	64.9
83130	Monterey Pine Forest	S1.1	5.7	1.8	3.7	88.8	39.2	7.5
83210	Knobcone Pine Forest	S4	26.8	19.1	14.0	40.1	18.6	45.9
83220	Northern Interior Cypress Forest	S2.2	0.0	18.4	48.4	33.2	7.4	18.4
84110	Coast Range Mixed Coniferous Forest	S4	69.8	21.4	0.2	8.6	10.1	91.2
84120	Santa Lucia Fir Forest	S2.2	100.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	8.4	100.0
84130	Coast Range Ponderosa Pine Forest	S3.2/1.1	10.2	12.2	30.8	46.8	42.5	22.4
84140	Coulter Pine Forest	S3.2	37.9	1.5	15.6	45.0	95.0	39.4
84150	Bigcone Spruce-Canyon Oak Forest	S3.2	43.4	0.0	56.3	0.3	21.1	43.4
84180	Ultramafic Mixed Coniferous Forest	S4	0.0	87.2	0.1	12.7	25.7	87.2
84210	Westside Ponderosa Pine Forest	S2.1	100.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	4.3	100.0
85100	Jeffrey Pine Forest	S4	100.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.7	100.0
85210	Jeffrey Pine-Fir Forest	S4	99.5	0.0	0.5	0.0	3.0	99.5
	Region Total - Natural Communities						29,282
	Region Total - All Lands		6.6	4.4	12.8	76.1	37,274	11.0

Of the 76 natural plant communities, 48 have a mapped distribution greater than 25 km² (Table CW-2). These 48 plant communities are the focus of the vegetation analyses in this report. The 7 most extensive community types mapped are Non-Native Grassland (42200), almost 7,000 km² (24% of native community types); Buck Brush Chaparral (37810), almost 3,000 km² (10%); Chamise Chaparral (37200), 2,302 km² (8%); Foothill Pine-Oak Woodland (71410), 2,232 km² (8%); Blue Oak Woodland (71140), 2,143 km² (7%); Mixed Evergreen Forest (81100), 1,625 km² (6%); and Coast Live Oak Forest (81310), 1,319 km² (5%).

Four categories of distribution are summarized here from Table CW-2 for plant communities mapped over greater area than 25 km².

1. Plant community types mainly on status 4 (primarily private) lands. Eleven types out of 48 have more than 80% of their mapped distribution on status 4 lands. These are predominately lower elevation types such as Diablan Coastal Scrub (32600), Coastal Prairie (41000), Non-native Grassland (42200), Mule Fat Scrub (63310), Blue Oak Woodland (71140), Coast Live Oak Woodland and Forest (71160 and 81310), Alvord Oak Woodland (71170), Foothill Pine-Oak Woodland (71410), Black Oak Forest (81340), and Monterey Pine Forest (83130). Many of these types are subject to the impacts of livestock grazing on the extensive ranch lands throughout the region. Privately owned oak woodlands are rapidly being converted to vineyards in many parts of the region to accommodate the booming wine industry.

2. Scrub, chaparral, and herbaceous types mainly located in unprotected areas. Eight of the scrub, chaparral, and herbaceous types mapped to areas greater than 25 km² are represented by less than 10% in status 1 or 2. Types in this category include both Central (Lucian) and Diablan Coastal Scrub (32200 and 32600), Mixed Serpentine Chaparral (37610), Coastal Sage-Chaparral Scrub (37G00), Upper Sonoran Subshrub Scrub (39000), Coastal Prairie (41000), Non-Native Grassland (42200), and Mule Fat Scrub (63310). Of these, the Mixed Serpentine Chaparral and the Coastal Prairie types are considered to be relatively rare and very threatened by the Natural Heritage Division.

3. Forest and Woodland types located mainly in unprotected areas. Twelve forest and woodland types identified as over 25 km² in area have less than 10% status 1 or 2 representation. This includes all of the oak and foothill pine types mentioned in category 1 above, except for Black Oak Forest. The additional types are Central Coast Cottonwood-Sycamore Riparian Forest (61210), Central Coast Arroyo Willow Riparian Forest (61230), Valley Oak Woodland (71130), Open Foothill Pine Woodland (71310), Juniper-Oak Cismontane Woodland (71430), and Cismontane Juniper Woodland and Scrub (72400). Although Monterey Pine has been planted widely as an ornamental and commercial species, it is considered very rare and threatended in its three natural stands (Holland 1986). The two juniper types are endemic to the Inner Coast Ranges of this region.

4. Community types that appear well protected. Fifteen plant communities of the 48 in the region with areas greater than 25 km² have more than 25% of their extent in status 1 and 2. These 15 types are clumped into montane chaparral (Scrub Oak, Interior Live Oak, Upper Sonoran Manzanita, Mesic North Slope) and coniferous forest communities (Mixed Evergreen, Canyon Live Oak, Interior Live Oak, Upland Redwood, Upland Douglas-Fir, Bishop Pine, Coulter Pine, and Ultramafic Mixed Coniferous Forest), generally at higher elevations, plus 3 coastal types (Northern Coastal Bluff and Northern [Franciscan] Coastal Scrub and Northern Coastal Brackish Marsh). Most of these have relatively limited distributions in the CA-GAP database, typically <100 km². Noteworthy exceptions are Mixed Evergreen Forest (81100) mapped over 1,600 km² and Upland Redwood Forest with 800 km². It should be noted, however, that Mixed Evergreen Forest is a very heterogeneous type, composed of many combinations of dominant species. Stoms et al. (in review) recognized 23 specific types of Mixed Evergreen Forest in this region, with varying levels of protection. Although the type appears to be well-represented in managed areas, we recommend that more homogeneous types be described and a new gap analysis be done before making final conclusions. The entire range (8 km²) of Santa Lucia Fir Forest (84120) is within the Ventana Wilderness.

Several other community types are of conservation concern despite having >10% of their area in managed areas or <25 km² mapped in this region. Central Maritime Chaparral (37C20) is composed of combinations of narrowly distributed manzanita species that occur nowhere else. Only 13.5% of the mapped area is managed primarily for biodiversity. Like most other riparian types, the Central Coast Live Oak Riparian Forest is considered at-risk, even though 15.4% of its range is already protected. Maritime Coast Range Ponderosa Pine Forest (84132) is a narrowly restricted and highly threatened type. It is restricted to sterile marine sand deposits of the Santa Margarita Formation in Santa Cruz County (Scotts Valley-Ben Lomond and Bonny Doon areas) and is fire-dependent (Holland 1986). This subtype was not specifically mapped by CA-GAP but was included in the widespread Coast Range Ponderosa Pine Forest (84130) which was not found to be highly vulnerable overall in this analysis. Sycamore Alluvial Woodland (62100) and Cismontane Alkali Marsh (52310) are rare, very threatened types, and yet uner-represented in this region.