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needlegrass (Stipa ulchra), and an assortment of native wildflowers. 1 There are two <br /> locations on Buckeye Ranch where vernal pool vegetation was located. These sites have <br /> few perennials and are often dominated by a succession of native annual wildflowers. Deep <br /> plowing and cultivation of these sites typically depletes the vernal pool plant community. <br /> According to Mayer and Landenslayer(1988),plant structure and species composition <br /> depends largely on variations in weather(rainfall) and livestock grazing patterns. Dramatic <br /> differences between seasons and years are common. Plant species composition varies <br /> during the year due to differences in plant phenology. The annual grasses germinate soon <br /> after fall rains and grow slowly during the cool winter months. With warming conditions <br /> in spring, these annuals grow very rapidly. Most annuals flower between April and June. <br /> Some species, such as tarweed (Madia sp.), yellow star-thistle (Centaurea solstitialis) and <br /> turkey mullein (Eremocarpus setigerus), grow throughout the summer. Timing and <br /> duration of grazing influences community structure and composition. If grazing is light and <br /> rainfall abundant, large amounts of standing dead plant material develops. The absence of <br /> grazing can favor the development of dense stands of grasses such as ripgut brome. <br /> Heavy spring grazing favors the development of summer annual forbs such as tarweed and <br /> turkey mullein and reduces the amount of dead standing material. Livestock grazing favors <br /> the growth of low-stature forbs such as filaree (Erodium spp.) and summer annuals such <br /> as turkey mullein. It is noteworthy that these species are beneficial to wildlife. <br /> Wildlife Associations <br /> Because the grassland component of Buckeye Ranch provides the understory of the valley <br /> 1 Little direct evidence exists about the prisine valley grassland components.Discussion has centered <br /> around the native bunchgrasses such as pine bluegrass(Poa scabrella),meadow barley(Hordeum <br /> californicum),purple needlegrass(Stipa pulchra),nodding needlegrass(S.cernua),California melic <br /> (Melica californica),and blue wildrye(Elymus glaucus),or whether native wildflowers along with <br /> purple needlegrass were more dominant in the drier sites. <br /> Buckeye Ranch Resource Plan (November, 1993) <br /> 40 <br />