Vegetation change on Santa Cruz Island, California: the effect of feral animal grazing
Brumbaugh RW and Leishman NJ. Vegetation change on Santa Cruz Island, California: the effect of feral animal grazing. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service General Technical Report. PSW-58
Coastal sage scrub and chaparral communities on Santa cruz Island, California,have been substantially modified by feral sheep grazing within the last 130 years. The sheep population rapidly increased after a probable introduction in the early 1850's as part of a large-scale sheep ranching program. By 1870, at least 45,000 sheep were on the island (U.S. Census of Agriculture 1870). Other estimates of sheep population on the 61,000- acre island during the late 19th century range between 45,000 and 100,000 (Brumbaugh 1980). Today feral sheep are confined to the more rugged, less accessible northwest and northeast mountains and marine terraces. Fewer and fluctuating numbers of sheep remain on the hilly southern portion while sheep are excluded from the central valleys .
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Brumbaugh, Robert; Leishman, Norman
- Units
- CHIS
- Keywords
- Feral Animals, Grazing, Plant Studies, Santa Cruz Island Channel Islands National Park CA, Vegetation