#miramarmounds

[birdsy-purplefishes]

The day before yesterday I had the immense privilege of visiting #MiramarMounds #NationalNaturalLandmark with @cnpssd. This area is part of #MCASMiramar & not open to the public. It’s the largest remaining mima mound-vernal pool complex in Southern California and home to the federally endangered San Diego Fairy Shrimp and several endangered plants. #MimaMounds—named after the Mima Prairie in Washington state where they’re also found—are small, fairly uniform hummocks that give the landscape a strange bumpy texture when seen from above. Between the mounds are #vernalpools, shallow seasonal ponds that form where the soil has a nearly-impermeable hardpan underneath. Evidence suggests that the mounds are the result of generations of pocket gophers pushing dirt uphill rather than the usual downhill, which they do in places with low water tables. (Look it up, it’s fascinating!). The pools are soaking wet during the rainy season & dry as adobe bricks the rest of the year. It’s a harsh environment and the plants & animals that live in them have interesting adaptations to it. In Southern California, flat land is the favorite habitat of the highly invasive Suburban Sprawl, which has destroyed an estimated 90-97% of all vernal pool habitat. This land was spared development because it’s owned by a military base. See comments for plant info because my caption was gonna be too long. #californianativeplants (at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq2O9WJOIM4/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=