Tag Archives: moss

The Cosumnes River Preserve

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“Cosumnes” derives from the Miwok word kosum, salmon; thus “people of the salmon.” The salmon runs be Chinook and steelhead.

“The Central Valley once contained one of the largest expanses of stream-side forest and wetland habitat in North America. Along with cottonwoods, willows, ash, and other flood-resistant trees, great forests of valley oaks studded its fertile floodplains. But the rich river-bottom soil that nourished the oaks was also coveted by private farmers who cleared most of the land. Today, only tiny remnants of these magnificent oak groves are to be found in the Central Valley. Along the lower Cosumnes, small but significant stands of valley oaks have survived. These groves cover some 1,500 acres, and along with the remaining riverside forests and wetlands, they provide habitat for the wildlife that still flourishes here.”

— http://www.cosumnes.org/about-the-preserve/

“The Cosumnes River Preserve is a project aiming to preserve 46,000 acres of this historic land in its natural state. We seek to protect and enhance the habitat within the Cosumnes River Preserve project area, including riparian forest, wetland, vernal pool grassland, oak woodland, riverine, marsh, and farm habitat, in order to preserve biodiversity and benefit declining, threatened, and endangered species of wildlife and plants. We attempt to accomplish this using a cooperative management approach by developing both short- and long-term integrated conservation and management projects, as well as supporting policies compatible with our goals. We believe that effective conservation integrates the preservation of natural lands as well as agricultural lands and practices.”

— http://www.cosumnes.org/about-the-preserve/

THE GOLDEN BOUGH

In addition to copious wasp galls, which are themselves a microcosmic biome, the Valley oaks and ashes host an astonishing range of epiphytes, parasites, fellow-travelers, mosses, lichens, and both overnight and long-term guests: mammals, birds, and insects. Most conspicuous and delightful, given the season, were mistletoes. Click below to learn about the mistletoe’s contribution to this rich habitat.

http://natural-history-journal.blogspot.com/2017/12/say-merry-christmas-with-californias.html

The Fearless Explorers: Benji, Chris, and Ken. “From the Indies to the Andes In Our Undies.”

Green-Up Time

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Yesterday morning I did see
Berries on the toyon tree
I took a breath and thought, could it be?
It’s green-up time! Then I began to look around; and in every field I found
Greens were a-pushin’ up through the ground
For green-up time!

— With apologies to Alan Jay Lerner

The old road, already a wildlife corridor, also now apparently functions as a watercourse, wearing in a natural gutter along the inside of the north-facing canyon wall. For months in the rainy season this spot must never get full sun, and must always remain cool and moist. The air, my God, so fresh, so clean. The scene, so green.

The sapling is a holly-leaf cherry. It has chosen well its niche in life. Its tasty fruits will tumble down the Devil’s Slide, and as it grows into a shrub, its spiny leaves will shade and protect the moss cultures (from clumsy hikers, and from graffitti).

One fascinating organism looks like salt-and-pepper fried eggs, dripping down the rock. A party of them seems at one point to have led themselves out of the mainstream, as if by a God-given manifest destiny. It grows and grows, until it reaches the end of its rock, finis terra, below which is transient sandy creek bottom. Thwarted? Or; maybe it is the other way around: maybe it crawled up from the creek, to the lip of the rock, and is making a run for the wet corner. I feel dumb before this beautiful sight, motion on a level I can scarcely fathom.