Coyote Ridge - Treasure of the Santa Clara Valley
Coyote Ridge Overview
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Spring
wildflowers at Coyote Ridge |
Imagine a place of sweeping vistas,
singing grasses, wildflowers, eagles, falcons, coyotes, but few people.
All this within view of one of the largest metropolitan areas in America.
All this two miles from an interstate highway. The hills on the
eastern side of the Santa Clara Valley, known collectively as the Diablo Range,
are in places made up of a rock known as serpentinite, or more commonly, just
serpentine. Coyote Ridge is a block of serpentine fifteen miles long and two
miles wide just east of US 101. In the spring it is a mass of
wildflowers, right down to the highway. Kestrels can be seen along the
highway, hovering as they look for prey. Red-legged frogs can be seen in ponds,
and pronghorns can be seen in the hills beyond.
At other times of the year the brown
hills may go unnoticed. But if you look up, you will see outcroppings of
the curious serpentine rock, so named because unweathered pieces can be green
and scaly like a snake. And nestled in among these outcroppings, the rare
and endangered plants. Perched on the rock may be a horned lark, or a
California quail. And somewhere within the dried foliage, the larvae of
the rare Bay checkerspot butterfly listed federally listed as a
threatened species.
A key link in the open space belt
around Santa Clara ValleyThe ridge is
contiguous with public and undeveloped lands to the east in the Diablo Range.
It is part of a corridor of connectivity through which wildlife can pass from
the coastal ranges of the Santa Cruz Mountains to the Central Valley.
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Tiburon Indian Paintbrush |
Conservation Goal of the Santa Clara
Valley Chapter of CNPS
Since the early 1990's, CNPS-Santa
Clara Valley has conducted vegetation surveys, monitored rare plant
populations, led field trips, produced videos, brochures and articles, held
public meetings, and advocated conservation policies before public bodies.
Protection of this treasure has been adopted by the City of San Jose, the
Valley Transportation Authority, the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority,
the Silicon Valley Land Conservancy and the Nature Conservancy.
A
treasure house of rare plant species
This area contains at least fifteen
plants identified by the California Native Plant Society as rare or
endangered. Four of these are on a federal listing of endangered plants:
they are the Santa Clara Valley dudleya, the coyote ceanothus, the Tiburon
Indian paintbrush, and the Metcalf Canyon jewelflower.
A
butterfly on the edge
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Bay Checkerspot
butterfly |
The last healthy populations of the
Bay checkerspot butterfly are found along Coyote Ridge. The caterpillars feed
only on California plantain and the adults sip nectar from wildflower species
that thrive in the serpentine soils of the ridge. The preservation of this
Coyote Ridge population is critical to the survival of this rare and beautiful
butterfly.
A
natural science laboratory
Scientists from University of
California Berkeley, Davis, Stanford University, San Jose State University,
Santa Clara University, and elsewhere are studying the effect of soils,
temperature, pollinators, and human environmental factors such as air pollution
on the ecosystems.