LandUse Learning Center

What is Sustainability?

Sustainable means the “ability to maintain” the quality and quantity of natural resources and natural systems. It’s using natural resources in ways that meet present needs without compromising the ability to provide for the needs of future generations. In other words, using our resources so they last forever. 

Enter the Native Habitat Area

The Native Habitat Area demonstrates four important plant communities of inland Southern California: coastal sage scrub, chaparral, oak woodland, and riparian. Here you will learn about the native plants and animals commonly found in these plant communities, plus how and why we conserve native landscapes.

Coastal Sage Scrub

The CSS plant community is unique to Mediterranean climates with hot, dry summers. Plants grow during southern California's mild, wet winters and many become dormant during summer to survive dry conditions. CSS shrubs are often about waist-high and non-woody.

Plant Adaptations

CSS plants are adapted to drought conditions. Many have leaves that are small, reducing surface exposure to evaporation, or that are light-colored, reflecting light and reducing heat. Although lush with growth during the wet season, some CSS plants may drop their leaves (drought deciduous) and appear brown or dead during summer.

Brittlebush

Encelia farinosa, is a common CSS shrub that provides nectar for pollinators. Notice its yellow flowers on stems that extend above the rounded shrub of leaves.

Animals

CSS plants grow low and close to the ground, providing cover for small animals and a better chance of survival. For this reason, CSS supports a high density of small mammals like jack rabbits, kangaroo rates, mice, and ground squirrels. Some CSS animals live in burrows, and some are nocturnal, coming out at night to avoid the heat of the day.

California Sagebrush

California Sagebrush (Artemisia californica) is frequently the dominant plant, thus the name Coastal Sage Scrub. The sagebrush is aromatic with a sap or gum of volatile oils. It's also known as "incienso" for those oils that were used as incense during Native American ceremonies.

Birds

Birds, like the cactus wren, California quail (CA's state bird), and the gnatcatcher forage and nest below and in the shrubs. The California gnatcatcher, an endangered species, frequently nests in sagebrush and buckwheat.

CSS = Soft Chaparral

The CSS community is sometimes referred to as "soft chaparral" due to the predominance of soft, drought-deciduous leaves, in contrast to the hard, waxy-cuticled leaves and woodiness of many chaparral plants.

CSS once dominated our low-lying landscapes, but today, over 90% of the habitat has been lost, largely due to urbanization.

Chaparral

The Chaparral plant community grows on hills and foothills and is mainly composed of woody shrubs up to 15 feet tall. Mature stands of chaparral form dense, closed canopies.

Chaparral Plants

The evergreen shrubs have deep roots that can access water to provide for larger and woodier growth. Leaves are often thick and waxy or small and shiny to reduce water loss.

Common Chaparral Shrubs

When visiting, look for common shrubs like toyon, manzanita, scrub oak, ceanothus, holly-leaf cherry, and lemonade berry. These shrubs provide important food and cover for wildlife.

Animals

Many animals are nocturnal and burrow underground in order to escape the heat. This allows them to conserve water, energy, and keeps them safe from fires.

The Gopher Snake has an enlarged angled scale on the tip of its nose which helps it burrow downward.

Birds

The roadrunner, thrasher, spotted towhee, and wrentit flit around through chaparral. The wrentit is usually heard, not seen. It is referred to as the "voice of chaparral" for its descending, bouncing, ping-pong-ball whistle.

Fire

The chaparral plant community is dense, woody, and volatile. It's important that any structures near chaparral have defensible space with reduced fuel loads. Read the publication:  Living on the Edge of the Urban Wildlands Interface  for guidance.

Riparian

Riparian plant communities are found along waterways, so expect to find plants that need more water, like trees and reeds. Some riparian plants include willow, cottonwood, and sycamore trees, plus cattails and mule fat.

Native Fish Stream

The 300-foot long stream recycles water that is piped uphill to a waterfall where it is naturally filtered and aerated. The flow mimics that of a creek that feeds into the Santa Ana River, creating an aquatic habitat for our native fish, amphibians, and turtles.

The Bridge

Bridges are essential features that protect waterways from disturbance. It's important to keep livestock, off-road vehicles, and development out of waterways to protect wildlife and water quality.

Animals and Water

Water is a limiting resource in our dry, hot region, so most animals rely on riparian areas for survival. You can help keep water and waterways clean by preventing trash and pollutants from washing into storm drains that flow directly to waterways.

Riparian Animals

Some animals don't just visit riparian areas for a drink, they require water to live in, like fish, frogs and turtles. Our stream is home to native fish, including the Arroyo Chub and the threatened Santa Ana Sucker. Learn more at  Protecting our Native Fish .

Oak Woodland

Oak woodland plant communities are typically found on plateaus, valley floors, foothills, and fault-lines. Oak woodlands are one of the most threatened of southern California's plant communities.

Our Oaks

Here we feature our most common, Coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), and our rarest, Engelmann or Mesa Oak (Quercus engelmannii). The Engelmann Oak is native to southern California and grows nowhere else naturally (endemic).

Below the Oaks

Oak-dominated landscapes have understories of grasslands or coastal sage scrub with forbs, leaf litter, and woody debris. The decaying debris recycles nutrients back into the soil for future plant growth. Oak woodlands support more plants and animals than any other terrestrial ecosystem in California.

Understories

You may find a variety of beautiful and unique wildflowers like chocolate lilies, monkey flowers, lupine, and penstemon.

Animals

Oak woodlands provide food, shelter and nesting sites for a variety of animals from the tree tops to the soil below. Many animals use cavities in the trees, including squirrels, raccoons, bats, and cavity-nesting birds, like bluebirds, barn owls, and woodpeckers.

Dry Riparian

This region has many important stream channels, tributaries to larger streams, that are dry much of the year, sometimes referred to as arroyos, washes, or ravines. A green area on the side of a brown hill often indicates a small channel. Waterways with less moisture support different plants.

The Challenge

How can we have places for homes (urban areas), farms to grow food (agriculture), and at the same time maintain healthy, natural areas with native plants and animals?

By using land wisely, preserving large blocks of native habitat with connections or corridors for wildlife movement and migration. Please be an advocate for preserving our important habitat lands.

Four Yard Styles

These yards require little water and maintenance. Each of the yards includes a small water feature for wildlife and trees that provide for more diversity.

Mulch has been spread to shade out weeds and reduce evaporation from the soil surface, creating an environment that is beneficial for soil life.

Different types of irrigation systems and controllers (timers) demonstrate ways to improve watering efficiency.

Habitat Garden

Yard 1: When gardening for wildlife, seek to have a variety of plants that provide seeds and blooms throughout the year. This garden provides year-round food, water, and shelter for urban-adapted wildlife including birds, lizards and pollinators.

Water Retention

Yard 1 is graded to capture runoff, which increases the amount of water that infiltrates into the soil and percolates down to replenish underground water basins (aquifers).

Native Plants and Cultivars

Yard 2 features native plants and cultivars or “cultivated varieties” of our native plants. Cultivars are produced by breeding for characteristics like flower, seed or leaf color. The interior trail is composed of permeable decomposed granite which provides for water infiltration and reduced runoff.

Cultivars

See a variety of cultivars for sages, ceanothus, manzanita, toyon, and monkeyflowers. Four different colorings of Monkeyflowers are in the collage.

Watering Gardens

Many native plants become dormant from summer through fall to survive dry conditions. Alternately, they grow during mild, wet winter and spring. For this reason, it’s helpful to group plants according to their watering needs or hydrozone. You can be more efficient in watering the groupings of plants according to time of year and their needs.

Mediterranean Style

Yard 3 demonstrates plants from other places with Mediterranean climates, including central Chile, southwestern Australia, and the Cape of South Africa (lands between 30 to 45 degrees latitude, both north and south of the equator).

This rectangular design is common in Mediterranean countries like Italy or Spain.

Hardscape

This garden demonstrates hardscape (hard surfaces, such as concrete), that reduces the amount of area that needs to be watered. A row of Bay trees along the fence line provides a buffer for people and shelter for birds.

Rockrose

This Orchid Rockrose is an example of a rockrose that uses little water and comes from the Mediterranean region.

Sustainable and Edible

Yard 4 provides food for people as well as to share with wildlife. Fruits, vegetables, and herbs are grown to provide fresh, flavorful, and nutritious foods that require no transportation to and from market, thus reducing the use of fuel and the resultant air pollution.

Yard trimmings are composted in different kinds of composters. The composted waste becomes a rich soil amendment, eliminating the need for purchased, chemical fertilizers.

Hedge Alternatives

Meet a hedge of edible pomegranates and some native plant shrubs that are pruned to look like formal hedges.

Lawn Alternatives

Yard 4 demonstrates low water-use alternatives to traditional lawns for those who don’t need a lot of turf for kids or pets.

Arbor Trail

Along this pathway you will see a variety of waterwise tree species that do well in harsh, urban conditions of inland southern California.

How do trees help us?

Trees cool and clean the air, reduce runoff, provide wildlife habitat, and sequester carbon to help reduce climate change. Learn how trees help you, and how you can help trees through the video:  Watering tips for trees - YouTube .

For more information, read  Tree Care  and also visit  Waterwise Tree Care .

Urban Heat Islands

Pavement, roofs, and air pollutants absorb and trap heat causing summertime air temperatures to be higher in cities than in surrounding areas. Heat islands create more illness, mortality, pollution, and demand for energy.

Trees reduce heat by providing shade, reducing glare, and converting water to vapor (transpiration). Urban forests are cool!

The “Green House” Effect

Have you ever walked into a greenhouse and felt the warm, humid air? Similarly, the greenhouse effect refers to the warming of the entire Earth’s atmosphere. We can all help by using fewer fossil fuels and planting and caring for trees that sequester and hold carbon.

City Trees and Wildlife

Dead and dying trees are normally removed from urban areas. As a result, fewer cavities are available for wildlife. To restore nesting sites for cavity-nesting birds, we hang nest boxes that have specific hole sizes. Volunteers monitor these boxes, especially for the Western Bluebird. Data is collected and submitted to Cornell University and the California Bluebird Recovery Program to help scientists study that species.

Want to learn how to TREEVitalize your property?

Start with research and planning: select the "Right Tree for the Right Place":

When and How to Prune

Learn about proper pruning:  Tips for pruning mature trees - YouTube  . Download  A Practical Guide to Tree Pruning  to become an informed consumer of tree care services and to prevent impacts to wildlife.

Conservation Practices

In the Ag Area, we create a diverse system, build soil health, and use nature-based pest control methods.

We use low-volume irrigation with weather-based controllers that apply the appropriate amount of water at a slow rate to prevent waste, runoff and erosion.

Compost and Mulch

To fertilize, we spread compost around the base of the trees and mulch between the tree rows to shade out weeds, conserve water, and prevent erosion.

Cover Crops

Cover crops "cover" bare soil to prevent erosion, build soil health, increase water infiltration, prevent weed growth, and provide habitat for beneficial insects. Plant roots are like anchors holding the soil in place. Plant tops intercept the impact of pounding raindrops, which prevents soil particles from dislodging and washing away as sediment in runoff.

Least-Toxic Methods

Notice non-toxic pest control methods, including ant traps. See bat boxes for bats that eat insects, and raptor boxes that support birds of prey to control rodents.

Nest and Roosting Boxes

Unfortunately, populations of bats and raptors have been affected by loss of roosting sites and increased use of rodenticides. Properly placed boxes are a simple way to help support these critical members of our ecosystem and help control pests.

Purchasing Power

You can support neighboring farmers by buying local produce. You will be supporting the health of our economy, environment, and people. Find where to buy nutritious, flavorful foods in our Fresh and Local food and ag guide at  https://riversidefoodS.org/ .

Hedgerows

A hedgerow was planted along the field edge. The variety of native plants in the hedgerow provides habitat for beneficial insects that prey on pests. Here is a  list of suggested native hedgerow plants .

Pollinator Garden

Before leaving the LandUse Learning Center, visit a small pollinator garden to learn about planting for pollinators, especially for the Western Monarch Butterfly. Get the details about planting with native milkweed through the informational  Steps for Success with Milkweed and Monarchs guide.