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into the non-native grassland classification of Holland (1986)or the annual grassland habitat of California (Mayer and Landenslayer 1988). At Buckeye Ranch, cultivation and many years of seasonal moderate to heavy grazing have resulted in the complete replacement of the original native wildflowers and perennial grasses by introduced annual grasses from the Mediterranean. There is a good possibility that much of the upland grassland areas of Buckeye Ranch were cultivated in the past to grow a crop such as wheat or barley. This was a common practice around the turn of the century when wheat and barley fields were planted among the oaks across the state. The low levee along the northern boundary of Buckeye Ranch may have been built to protect fields from flooding. Today the annual grassland of Buckeye Ranch is dominated by ripgut brome (Bromus rigidus), soft chess (B. mollis), wild oats (Avena fatua), foxtail (Hordeum leporinum), and medusahead (Taeniatherum asperum). The dominance of each particular annual grass in the grassland ecosystem is dependent primarily on management. With no grazing or fire the grassland becomes dominated by ripgut brome. Ripgut is a tall, vigorous and productive grass that chokes out annual wildflowers and forbs. A moderate amount of grazing will result in a grassland dominated by soft chess, wild oats and annual clovers (Trifolium and Medicago). Heavy grazing and/or disturbance favors the foxtail, medusahead, and filaree (Erodium spp). The introduced warm-season Bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon)is naturalized on Buckeye Ranch at several locations. Dallisgrass (Paspalum dilatatum) is found in low wet meadows and seeps. The dry lake bed area has been cultivated and seeded to productive pasture grasses such as Johnsongrass or Sudangrass (Sorghum spp). Despite decades of agriculture and grazing,remnant stands of native perennial grasses exist on Buckeye Ranch. Scattered populations of both creeping wildrye (Leymus triticoides) and saltgrass (Distichlis spicata) species grow on the ranch at the present time. Little is known about the original native grassland cover of the upland portions of the site, but it is generally believed that the more moist grassland sites were once dominated by valley Buckeye Ranch Resource Plan (November, 1993) 39