20 NOETH AMERICAN FAUNA [No. 55 



MAMMALS 



Aside from seals, sea lions, and sea otters, the mammals that can 

 be considered closely associated with the coast strip are few and 

 only very local subspecies, such as two forms of pocket gophers 

 (Thomomys hesperus and helleri), a meadow mouse (Microtus cali- 

 fornium angusticeps) , and possibly a shrew (Sorex paeificus yaqui- 

 nae) . In general, it is occupied by the humid Transition Zone spe- 

 cies of land mammals. 



BIRDS 



Of birds, the Pacific wren tit and a song sparrow may be charac- 

 teristic; and the tufted puffin, pigeon guillemot, California murre, 

 several cormorants, and the black oyster catcher are shore or island 

 breeders along the coast. However, the strip is too narrow to restrict 

 many of the free-ranging species such as birds and mammals. A 

 close study might show a considerable number of reptiles, insects, 

 and mollusks. 



PLANTS 



For most of the coast strip, the Sitka spruce, the most contorted 

 form of Pinus contorta, and the Port Orford cedar are the dominant 

 forest trees, but many others not restricted to it enter from the 

 adjoining humid Transition or from the higher Canadian Zone. 



Western hemlock, lowland white fir, Douglas fir, western yew, 

 and Sitka willow are abundant in the fog belt. They also have a 

 wider range well up into the Cascades. The salmonberry, salal, 

 evergreen blueberry (V actinium ovatum), California rhododendron, 

 sweetgale, and Baccharis pillulairis are all common in this narrow 

 belt, showing a mixture of southern and northern species. Of mosses, 

 lichens, and other low forms of plant life, a long list of restricted 

 varieties may be expected. 



The low beach plants such as Lupinus littoralis, Polygonum pa- 

 ronychia, Abronia latifolia, Fragaria chiloensis, Convolvulus solda- 

 nella^ and many others indicate an association of light- and sand- 

 loving species, somewhat apart from the shaded forest belt and 

 possibly of more southern origin. 



The sphagnum bog plants, in or just back of the forested coastal 

 strip, are mainly northern species, such as Oxytioccus intermedius, 

 Kalmia glauca, Myrica calif omica, Gentiana sceptrum, Eriophorum 

 chamissonis, Drosera rotundifolia, and many others that have only 

 a secondary relation to the life conditions of the fog belt. 



HUMID DIVISION OF TRANSITION ZONE 



The humid division covers a wide extent mainly of forested 

 country from the coast strip east to the middle-west slopes of the 

 Cascades in Oregon. In altitude it reaches from sea level up to 

 3,000 and 4,000 feet, respectively, on the cold and warm slopes of 

 Mount Hood, and to approximately 5,000 feet all around Mount 

 McLoughlin (Pitt). The upper edge of the zone varies between 

 these extremes of altitude along both sides of the mountains accord- 

 ing to high or low base level of the adjoining valleys. 



The degree of humiditv to which this subdivision of the zone 

 owes most of its characteristics varies from an average annual pre- 



