(Lupinus variicolor and L. formosus, Leguminosae), the peculiar 

 prostrate Yellow Mats (Sanicula arctopoides, Umbelliferae), 

 Golden Aster (Chrysopsis villosa var. bolanderi), and a few other 

 members of the Compositae. 



Because Coastal Prairie areas are naturally treeless and because 

 they occur in temperate and relatively well-watered areas of 

 California, the majority of the area occupied by the Coastal Prai- 

 rie plant community has been subjected to grazing by sheep and 

 cattle since the settlement of California by agriculturalists. Many 

 of the areas along the coast that are being developed for summer 

 housing tracts also occur in areas occupied by the Coastal 

 Prairie plant community. 



Coastal Salt Marsh (Plate 5C, D; Map 2) 



Coastal Salt Marsh is a plant community which exists under 

 some of the same climatic conditions as the Coastal Strand com- 

 munity although there are some striking differences in the ecology 

 of the two communities. As the name implies, the Coastal Salt 

 Marsh community occurs along the Pacific coast of California 

 (and adjacent areas), although it is a much less frequently en- 

 countered community than is the Coastal Strand community. 

 The Coastal Salt Marsh community is found in estuaries, bays, 

 and other areas that are protected from the wave action and 

 strong winds of the open coast. This community is widely scat- 

 tered on the Pacific coast; in California it occurs at the edges of 

 Humboldt Bay, San Francisco Bay, Tomales Bay, Morro Bay, the 

 vicinity of Santa Barbara, the San Diego area, and a few other 

 areas. 



The soil is generally very wet and in some areas is periodically 

 inundated with salt water by tidal action. As a consequence of 

 the water-saturated soils (which are often heavy clays), the roots 

 of salt-marsh plants occur in a soil with a very low oxygen con- 

 centration. Because of the salinity of the salt-marsh soils and 

 of the water that reaches the plants growing on these soils, 

 salt-marsh plants are all halophytes, that is, plants that live in 

 saline soils. The halophytes of the Coastal Salt Marsh community 

 are mostly low perennial herbs with fleshy stems and leaves. 

 Often, the leaves are very much reduced. Salt-marsh plants are 



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