The Santa Lucia Preserve is a microcosm of the Central Coast Bioregion, located 5 miles inland from Monterey Bay and encompassing 20,000 acres of the northern Santa Lucia Range. The habitat diversity, its varying topography and natural features – from perennial streams to mountainous terrains – give rise to 12 different habitats. This StoryMap will take you on a journey through 8 of The Preserve’s dominant habitats.
Cattle graze in the foreground, Mesa study plot in the background on the right. Photo by Alix Soliman. July 19, 2023 By Alix Soliman, Communications & Outreach Coordinator We’re thrilled to announce that the Santa Lucia Conservancy’s eight-year study of livestock grazing as a tool for conservation in California’s coastal grasslands has been published in Applied Vegetation Science. Grasslands cover […]
July 10, 2023 By Andrew Evans, Conservation Grazing Associate This spring and summer, we’ve been seeing an abundance of diverse native wildflowers blanketing our grassy hillsides, poking up out of rocky outcrops, and brightening our lowland meadows. After a wet winter, the seeds of drought-adapted plants that have laid dormant in the soil are springing to life once again. When […]
March 29, 2023 By Andrew Evans, Conservation Grazing Associate Having received more than 54 inches of rainfall on The Preserve so far this water year (from October 2022 to September 2023), we’ll be seeing an abundance and diversity of wildflowers not frequently seen on The Preserve. The seeds of drought-adapted native wildflowers have laid dormant in the soil, waiting for […]