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NONWETLAND COMMUNITIES <br /> .. Annual Grassland <br /> Vegetation <br /> Annual grassland is the prevalent vegetation type throughout the site. Annual <br /> grassland habitat occupies approximately 138 acres of the project site (Figure 3). The <br /> dominant plant species are mostly non-native annual grasses and forbs, such as soft chess, <br /> ripgut brome, red brome, wild oats, filaree, mustards, bindweed, and yellow star-thistle. <br /> Some native wildflowers common or locally dominant include various tarplants, turpentine <br /> plant, doveweed, and fiddleneck. <br /> Annual grassland at the site is similar to grasslands throughout eastern San Joaquin <br /> County and California's Central Valley. <br /> Wildlife <br /> Annual grasslands provide foraging areas and cover for many wildlife species. <br /> Wildlife species diversity in the grasslands is enhanced in areas adjacent to oak woodland <br /> and riparian habitats. Typical amphibians and reptiles residing in grasslands include Pacific <br /> treefrogs, western fence lizards, and gopher snakes. Birds known to breed in grasslands <br /> include homed larks and western meadowlarks. Mammals include deer mice,Botta's pocket <br /> gophers, black-tailed hares, California ground squirrels, striped skunks, and coyotes. Small <br /> birds and mammals in grasslands are prey for coyotes,great homed owls,American kestrels, <br /> red-tailed hawks, and other wintering raptors. <br /> Oak Woodland <br /> Vegetation <br /> A relatively large remnant stand of oak woodland (approximately 74 acres) is found <br /> in the southern section of the project site (Figure 3). This stand of oak woodland has been <br /> identified by the San Joaquin General Plan as a significant oak grove (Sedway Cooke <br /> Associates 1990). Blue oak and interior live oak dominate the woody overstory of this <br /> habitat. The oak trees range from saplings several inches in diameter to mature trees <br /> approximately 20 inches in diameter at breast height. The abrupt boundary between the oak <br /> woodland and surrounding annual grassland indicates historic oak removal from adjacent <br /> areas to improve livestock pasture and dryland farming land uses. Aerial photography <br /> indicates that this area has been a remnant oak woodland since at least 1937. <br /> 11 <br />