#Odocoileus hemionus californicus | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

rabbitcruiser · 6 years ago

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Goat Rock State Beach, CA (No. 2)

The oldest natural history of this area related to mammals manifests in a series of rock outcrops about one third of a mile south of Goat Rock Beach, positioned above the shoreline on a low lying marine terrace. There are uplifted sea stack formations with prominent rubbing marks about two to four meters in elevation above the ground surface, a height too high to have been caused by modern bovids. Mammoths are believed to have roamed here as recently as 40,000 years ago, and they are thought to have created these severe rubbing marks. Mammoth fossil remains have been found at Bodega Head at the south end of Sonoma Coast State Beach.

The earliest known human settlement of this site was by the Native American Coast Miwok and Pomo tribes. As early as 1849 archaeological discoveries were recorded in the vicinity, and to date several prehistoric kitchen middens and other types of tribal habitation finds have been made. Goat Rock Beach is part of the Mexican land grant rancho Bodega.The Russians are thought to have begun logging the old-growth forests directly above the coastal prairie in the early 19th century.

The underwater delineation of the property is considered to extend to 1000 feet from the shoreline. While no shipwrecks have been discovered, the literature indicates that there are at least 17 vessels which may have been lost in these waters. There are remains of numerous historic barns and other agricultural buildings on the coastal prairie several miles south of Goat Rock Beach, indicating 19th century settlement by Europeans; to the south, at Duncans Landing there are iron pins embedded in the sandstone bluffs as evidence of an active shipping industry here in the late 19th and early 20th century.

In the era circa 1920, a sizeable quarrying was conducted at Goat Rock, which activity produced the apparent separation of Goat Rock from the mainland. Quarry products were transported to the mouth of the Russian River via a now abandoned rail line; some of these materials were used to attempt the construction of a jetty in the mouth area, but that project was eventually terminated.

There are three distinct habitats present at Goat Rock Beach, including marine, littoral zone and coastal prairie. The marine environment presents gray whales, harbor seals and California sea lions as well as a multitude of fish species and other marine organisms; in fact, several species of anadromous fish enter the Russian River estuary and migrate for tens of miles up the Laguna de Santa Rosa and other Russian River tributaries. Furthermore, a variety of pelagic birds and shorebirds are locally in evidence. Additionally there are modest kelp beds and other marine vegetation. The littoral beach environment has fewer organisms than more southerly zones of California, because of the colder temperatures here.

The coastal prairie soils on the marine terrace above the beach are moderately well drained and granular with moderate soil permeability; these features manifest high erosion potential and moderately high bio-productivity. Acidity of these loamy soils is medium to high, and thus some vegetative stunting and hospitality to rare plants is offered; however the tree stunting is not as pronounced as farther north along the Mendocino coast, which presents extensive and exaggerated pygmy forests. The upland environment on the coastal prairie offers a range of grass species and wildflowers including varieties of lupine, thistle and wild oats. The typical annual plant productivity is approximately 1500 kilograms per acre of air dried yield per annum in an abundant moisture year, and about half that amount in a very dry year. A variety of birds and mammals thrive on the coastal prairie including numerous California Mule Deer, Odocoileus hemionus californicus.

Source: Wikipedia

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