September 2006

The Dry Season

By HR Conservancy

It’s the dry season, the time of maximum stress for our native plants and animals. Nearly all of them are uniquely adapted to the 6 to 7 months we are without rain in a normal year. Most of our annual plants have all died but they have produced enough seed that their genetic heritage will survive, when the rains come. The chaparral plants survive, just barely, with their small, waxy, or hairy leaves, designed to minimize moisture loss. The oaks, sycamores, and cottonwoods all grow only where their roots can find moisture, along watercourses and on north-facing slopes. A sustained drought, like we had in the mid 1980’s, kills trees and shrubs that are in marginal locations or haven’t sent their roots deep enough. The Ranch lost some nice oak trees and many holly-leafed cherry bushes during that dry season.

The animals are specially adapted to this dry season too. All the young birds are fledged, the mice have stopped reproducing. Snakes will soon be starting to go to ground, except in the evenings. The turtles are stacked up in the remaining pools, jockeying for a sunny spot. The adult frogs and newts are hiding on stream banks or under logs and leaf litter. The trickle of water coming down our creeks is vital for these creatures and their young. The tadpoles and newt larvae have not yet grown legs enough to survive out of the water. The larger animals come down to these pools for water more frequently and must often travel out of their normal ranges to reach water. This makes them more vulnerable to predators.

We have some 14 major watersheds on the Hollister Ranch and all the plants, animals and humans on the Ranch depend on the water stored in these watersheds, especially at this time of year. Share the water, use it sparingly and responsibly; your neighbors are counting on it too.