WILDLIFE DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Strix occidentalis | Spotted Owl 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
The general distribution of the three spotted owl subspecies is as
follows:

California spotted owl - northeastern Tehama County, California, south
through the Sierra Nevada and the high mountain ranges of southern
California, and in the Coast Ranges from southern California north to
Monterey County [5,11].

Northern spotted owl - southwestern British Columbia south through the
Coast Ranges and Cascade Range (both west and east sides) of Washington
and Oregon, south into southwestern Oregon and northwestern California
north of San Francisco [5,9,17].

Mexican spotted owl - southern Utah and central Colorado, south through
the mountainous regions of Arizona and New Mexico; Guadalupe Mountains
of western Texas; mountains of northern and central Mexico south to
Michoacan and Guanajuato [5].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES22 Western white pine
FRES23 Fir-spruce
FRES24 Hemlock-Sitka spruce
FRES25 Larch
FRES26 Lodgepole pine
FRES27 Redwood
FRES28 Western hardwoods
FRES35 Pinyon-juniper


STATES : 


    
AZ
    
CA
    
CO
    
NM
    
OR
    
TX
    
UT
    
WA






    
BC
    






    
MEXICO
    




BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    1  Northern Pacific Border
    2  Cascade Mountains
    3  Southern Pacific Border
    4  Sierra Mountains
    7  Lower Basin and Range
   11  Southern Rocky Mountains
   12  Colorado Plateau
   13  Rocky Mountain Piedmont


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K001  Spruce - cedar - hemlock forest
   K002  Cedar - hemlock - Douglas-fir forest
   K003  Silver fir - Douglas-fir forest
   K003  Silver fir - Douglas-fir forest
   K005  Mixed conifer forest
   K006  Redwood forest
   K007  Red fir forest
   K009  Pine - cypress forest
   K018  Pine - Douglas-fir forest
   K019  Arizona pine forest 
   K020  Spruce - fir - Douglas-fir forest
   K021  Southwestern spruce - fir forest
   K023  Juniper - pinyon woodland
   K025  Alder - ash forest
   K026  Oregon oakwoods
   K029  California mixed evergreen forest
   K030  California oakwoods
   K031  Oak - juniper woodlands


SAF COVER TYPES : 
   210  Interior Douglas-fir
   211  White fir
   212  Western larch
   213  Grand fir
   215  Western white pine
   216  Blue spruce
   217  Aspen
   218  Lodgepole pine
   221  Red alder
   222  Black cottonwood - willow
   223  Sitka spruce
   224  Western hemlock
   225  Western hemlock - Sitka spruce
   226  Coastal true fir - hemlock
   227  Western redcedar - western hemlock
   228  Western redcedar
   229  Pacific Douglas-fir
   230  Douglas-fir - western hemlock
   231  Port-Orford-cedar
   232  Redwood
   233  Oregon white oak
   234  Douglas-fir - tanoak - Pacific madrone
   237  Interior ponderosa pine
   239  Pinyon - juniper
   240  Arizona cypress
   241  Western live oak
   243  Sierra Nevada mixed conifer
   244  Pacific ponderosa pine - Douglas-fir
   245  Pacific ponderosa pine
   246  California black oak
   247  Jeffrey pine
   249  Canyon live oak
   250  Blue oak - Digger pine
   255  California coast live oak


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Spotted owls occupy a variety of forest types, from humid coniferous
forests in the northern part of its range to xeric pine (Pinus spp.)-oak
(Quercus spp.) woodlands in the mountains and canyonlands of Mexico and
the American Southwest [9].

In California, northern spotted owls most commonly use Douglas-fir
(Pseudotsuga menziesii) and mixed-conifer forest types but have also
been found in redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) forests, Bishop pine (Pinus
muricata) forests, and in stands dominated by ponderosa pine (P.
ponderosa).  In Washington's coastal forests, the northern spotted owl
is found in forests dominated by Douglas-fir and western hemlock (Tsuga
heterophylla).  At higher elevations in western Washington, Pacific
silver fir (Abies amabilis) is commonly used, whereas on the east side
of the Cascades, Douglas-fir and grand fir (A. grandis) are used
[17,19].  Forsman [9] found that spotted owls in Oregon used all mature
coninferous forests except subalpine fir (A. lasiocarpa) and nearly
monospecific forests of ponderosa pine and lodgepole pine (Pinus
contorta) or Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis).  Some hardwood stands are
also used [11].  Understory layers are often dominated by shade-tolerant
trees such as western hemlock, western redcedar (Thuja plicata),
Port-Orford-cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana), grand fir, white fir
(Abies concolor), Shasta red fir (A. magnifica shastensis), Pacific yew
(Taxus brevifolia), vine maple (Acer circinatum), canyon live oak
(Quercus chrysolepis), California bay (Umbellularia callfornica), and
tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflora) [9].

California spotted owls typically occupy Douglas-fir or fir-pine forests
and oak woodlands [12,20].  California spotted owls have been found
nesting in stands composed of mixtures of interior live oak (Quercus
wislizenii), California sycamore (Platanus racemosa), California buckeye
(Aesculus californica), and blue oak (Quercus douglasii) [17].  Mexican
spotted owls occupy spruce, Douglas-fir and pinyon (Pinus spp.)-juniper
(Juniperus spp.) forests.  Aspen (Populus spp.) and maple (Acer spp.)
stands are also used [12].  Major plant species in canyons occupied by
Mexican spotted owls typically include ponderosa pine, firs, and
deciduous trees such as oaks and boxelder (Acer negundo) [5].


REFERENCES : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Strix occidentalis | Spotted Owl