DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Pseudotsuga macrocarpa | Bigcone Douglas-Fir 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Bigcone Douglas-fir occurs in mountains of southern California.  It is
distributed from the Santa Ynez Mountains in eastern Santa Barbara
County and the Tehachipi Mountains of southwestern Kern County south to
Julian, San Diego County [3,18].  It is cultivated in Hawaii [33].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES21  Ponderosa pine
   FRES28  Western hardwoods
   FRES34  Chaparral - mountain shrub


STATES : 
     CA  HI


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
NO-ENTRY


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    3  Southern Pacific Border


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K005  Mixed conifer forest
   K030  California oakwoods
   K033  Chaparral
   K034  Montane chaparral
   K035  Coastal sagebrush


SAF COVER TYPES : 
   243  Sierra Nevada mixed conifer
   245  Pacific ponderosa pine
   246  California black oak
   247  Jeffrey pine
   248  Knobcone pine
   249  Canyon live oak
   255  California coast live oak


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Low elevation (<3,500 feet [1,067 m]) bigcone Douglas-fir forest
communities are disjunct, surrounded by extensive areas of chamise
(Adenostoma fasciculatum) chaparral or coastal sage scrub [4,22,13].  In
canyon bottoms, bigcone Douglas-fir communities intergrade with riparian
forest [11].  From 3,500 to 4,500 feet (1,067-1,372 m), stands are more
widespread.  Canyon live oak (Quercus chrysolepis) is sympatric with
bigcone Douglas-fir at these elevations.  Together they form a
two-layered forest consisting of a subcanopy of canyon live oak and an
overstory of bigcone Douglas-fir [14,21].  Coulter pine (Pinus coulteri)
replaces bigcone Douglas-fir on more xeric sites at these elevations
[1].  From 4,500 to 5,500 feet (1,372-1,676 m), canyon live oak thins
and bigcone Douglas-fir becomes increasingly abundant.  At higher
elevations, bigcone Douglas-fir decreases in importance and the bigcone
Douglas-fir forest type is gradually replaced by mixed evergreen forest.
Codominant species at higher elevations not listed as SAF Cover Types
include incense-cedar (Libocedrus decurrens), California white fir
(Abies concolor var. lowiana), singleleaf pinyon (Pinus monophylla),
sugar pine (P. lambertiana), and interior live oak (Q. wislizenii)
[18,32].

Publications listing bigcone Douglas-fir as a dominant or indicator
species are as follows:

Terrestrial natural communities of California [11].
Vegetation types of the San Bernadino Mountains [14].
Vegetaion of the San Bernadino Mountains [21].
A vegetation classification system applied to southern California [26].
An introduction to the plant communities of the Santa Ana and San
  Jacinto Mountains [32].

Related categories for Species: Pseudotsuga macrocarpa | Bigcone Douglas-Fir