Editing Tehachapi Mountains (section)

==Natural history==
[[File:California's mountain barrier.png|thumb|upright|left|The Tehachapi and [[Sierra Nevada|Sierra]] ranges form a significant barrier between [[bioregion]]s.]]
[[File:TejonWest.jpg|thumb|The [[California mixed evergreen forest]] plant community in the upper Tehachapi Mountains]]
[[File:Tehachapi Mountains from Grapevine.jpg|thumb|View of the Tehachapi Mountains from [[Interstate 5 in California|I-5]] as it descends into the [[Central Valley (California)|Central Valley]]]]
The  Tehachapi Mountains are a major and crucial [[wildlife corridor]] and plant habitat bridge linking the other Transverse Ranges and the [[California Coast Ranges]] on the west with the Sierra Nevada on the east. Their relative lack of development, especially in the large [[Tejon Ranch]] section, have allowed the continuity of these ecological functions to date.

===Flora===
The Tehachapis are primarily in the [[California interior chaparral and woodlands]] sub-[[ecoregion]], with native [[grassland]]s, [[California oak woodland]]s and [[oak savanna]] the predominant [[habitat]]s. The higher [[montane]] elevations include the [[California mixed evergreen forest]] [[plant community]].  Some of the [[chaparral]] woodland species include: [[Quercus chrysolepis|canyon live oak (''Quercus chrysolepis'')]], [[Quercus lobata|valley oak (''Quercus lobata'')]], [[Quercus douglasii|blue oak (''Quercus douglasii'')]], and [[Pinus sabiniana|gray pine (''Pinus sabiniana'')]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?195,210,232|title=UC/JEPS: Jepson Manual treatment for PINUS sabiniana|website=ucjeps.berkeley.edu|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref>

Montane species include: [[Quercus kelloggii|black oak (''Quercus kelloggii'')]], [[Pinus coulteri|Coulter pine (''Pinus coulteri'')]], [[Calocedrus|incense cedar (''Calocedrus decurrens'')]], [[Abies concolor|white fir (''Abies concolor'')]], and in a few remote locations small stands of [[Populus tremuloides|quaking aspen (''Populus tremuloides'')]].<ref>The American Journal of Science; By Yale University Dept. of Geology and Geophysics; Published by J.D. & E.S. Dana, 1940</ref>

The [[Leptosiphon nudatus|Tehachapi linanthus (''Leptosiphon nudatus'')]] is a [[phlox]] plant species [[endemism|endemic]] to [[chaparral]] habitat in the Tehachapi Mountains and the southern Sierra Nevada.  The [[Packera ionophylla|Tehachapi ragwort (''Packera ionophylla'')]] is an [[aster (genus)|aster]] plant species [[endemism|endemic]] to forest habitat in the Tehachapis and eastern Transverse Ranges. The [[Eriogonum callistum|Tehachapi buckwheat (''Eriogonum callistum'')]] is known only from the chaparral of the Tehachapis.<ref>[http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Eriogonum+callistum The Nature Conservancy: ''E. callistum'']</ref>

===Fauna===
The [[Tehachapi slender salamander]] is [[endemism|endemic]] to the Tehachapi Mountains and a listed [[vulnerable species]]. The [[white-eared pocket mouse]] is [[endemism|endemic]] to the Tehachapis and [[San Bernardino Mountains]] and a listed [[endangered species]].

There are at least 107 bird species, including the [[Steller's jay]] and [[mountain chickadee]], found in the Tehachapis,<ref>{{cite web|title=Tehachapi Sightings|date=December 2010|first=Jean|last=Moore|work=Tehachapi Mountain Birding Club|url=http://www.tehachapibirdclub.com/sightings/monthly-sightings/296-tehachapi-sightings-dec-10.html}}</ref> many which consume acorns of the black oak (''Quercus kelloggii'') as part of their diet.<ref>{{cite web|first=C. Michael|last=Hogan|year=2008|title=Quercus kelloggii|work=Globaltwitcher|editor=N. Stromberg|url=http://www.globaltwitcher.com/artspec_information.asp?thingid=82385|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213134008/http://www.globaltwitcher.com/artspec_information.asp?thingid=82385|archive-date=2012-02-13}}</ref> Other flora found here include the [[Purshia tridentata|buckbrush]] and [[mountain mahogany]].  The notable [[Bird of prey|raptor]] is the [[California condor]], a [[critically endangered species]].  As in many California mountains, larger fauna includes: [[mule deer]], [[mountain lion]], [[coyote]], [[fox]], [[American black bear|black bear]], [[domestic pig|feral pig]], [[bobcat]] and [[raccoon]].

The Tehachapi Mountains are also the only known breeding site prior to 1860 of the [[jaguar]] in the United States. The big cats were found there as recently as the late 1800s.<ref name=Seton>{{cite journal |title=Is the Jaguar Entitled to a Place in the California Fauna? |author=Merriam, C. Hart |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |year=1919|volume=1|pages=38–40 |doi=10.1093/jmammal/1.1.38}}</ref>

===Climate===
[[File:Muir Woods National Monument Road Trip (33983009688).jpg|thumb|Winter snowfall on the southwestern slopes of the Tehachapi Mountains]]
The range includes and is the boundary between the [[xeric]] Mojave Desert and Mediterranean [[climate zone]]s, and includes the [[subalpine zone]].  The majority of the range is in the Mediterranean climate zone, receiving precipitation in the winter similar to the neighboring Transverse Ranges in the [[Los Padres National Forest|Los Padres]] and [[Angeles National Forest]]s to the west and southwest. They create a [[rain shadow]] for the eastern foothills [[ecotone]] into the Mojave climate zone that typically receives only a few inches of precipitation a year, usually in winter.  Summer [[monsoon]] season can bring localized rains to the higher subalpine parts of the range.  The wettest slopes receive about 20–25 inches of precipitation a year, some in the form of snow.

The prevailing wind is northwesterly, funneling up the east–west [[canyons]] from the San Joaquin Valley into the [[valleys]], upper canyons, and passes of the Tehachapi range with regularity.  The [[Tehachapi Wind Resource Area]] exists due to this. To the northwest lies the [[San Joaquin Valley]] with its [[grassland]]s and oak savanna climbing the broad western slopes of the range.  The Tehachapis collect marine and valley moisture, which piles up into fog that blankets the windward sides of the range many weeks of the year.   The higher north-facing slopes are [[California mixed evergreen forest|mixed evergreen forest]], while the south-facing are [[California chaparral and woodlands|chaparral and woodlands]], typical of the relationship between the cooler moisture-retaining northern slopes and the exposed warmer and drier southern slopes. Canyons can have year-round [[surface water]] flow, even on southern slopes, from springs and [[orographic]] enhancements bringing extra precipitation and snow from passing storms.