Sparsely Vegetated Ecosystem

Sparsely vegetated ecosystems are rare. The vegetation is often discontinuous and interspersed with bare sand, gravel and bedrock. Because they are dynamic and fragile these habitats contain highly specialized plant and animal species. For example, many red and blue listed plant species known to occur in this habitat type include the yellow sand-verbena (Abronia latifolia), beach bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), contorted-pod evening primrose (Camissonia contorta), sand-dune sedge (Carex pansa), and deltoid balsamroot (Balsamorhiza deltoidea). Rare birds include the Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica), American Golden-Plover (Pluvialis dominica), Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus), and the California Gull (Larus californicus).¹