Our Menu of Geographic Habitat Zones of Southern California

This website is primarily about the natural world of Southern California. It is organized by geographic habitat zones ranging from the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Colorado River to the east. It includes areas to the north in Southern California and south into Baja California, Mexico.

  • The Coastal zone on the west is bordered by the Pacific Ocean. Its most unique quality is that it is temperate in climate.

  • The Inland zone is the foothills made up of old seabeds and alluvium that are mesas cut by canyons.

  • The Mountain zone includes altitudes ranging from one thousand to almost eight thousand feet. It is a huge granite area that dominates the middle of the region.

  • The Desert zone to the east includes the Great Salton Sea Sink, where agriculture, fossil history and plate tectonics merge.

  • The Urban zone is located throughout the region, and documents the impact of Homo sapiens on the environment and biology.




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