Klamath-Siskiyou forests

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The Klamath-Siskiyou forests are a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of northwestern California and southwestern Oregon. The ecoregion extends across 50,300 square kilometers (19,400 square miles) of the mountainous region known as the Klamath Knot. The ecoregion harbors rich biodiversity, with several distinct plant communities, including temperate rain forests, moist inland forests, oak forests and savannas, high elevation forests, and alpine grasslands. Thirty conifer species inhabit the region, including seven endemic species, making the region one of the richest coniferous forest regions of the world in species diversity. The region also has several edaphic plant communities, adapted to specific soil types, notably serpentine outcrops.

Conifer species include Coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii subsp. menziesii), Lawson's Cypress (also known as Port Orford Cedar, Chamaecyparis lawsoniana), Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa), Sugar Pine (Pinus lambertiana), Mountain Hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana), White Fir (Abies concolor subsp. lowiana), Red Fir (A. magnifica subsp. shastensis), Weeping Spruce (Picea breweriana), Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), and Pacific Yew (Taxus brevifolia).

The ecoregion's rivers and streams are home to nine species of native Salmonids.

[edit] External links

• Klamath-Siskiyou forests (World Wildlife Fund)
• Klamath-Siskiyou Forests images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu (slow modem version)