The Cloud Forest is the fog-fed woodland that once covered the high central ridge of Santa Rosa Island, a canopy of oak and pine growing above a layer of chaparral. The forest takes its name from the fog it depends on for water.
Details
- Type
- Point of Interest
- Accessibility
- Limited accessibility
Overview
The forest grew along the high ridge that dominates the center of Santa Rosa Island. Trees and shrubs there draw water from heavy fog that rolls across the island and condenses on leaves and twigs, then drips to the ground. The system is self-reinforcing: the trees shelter the chaparral, and the chaparral builds a deep, moist leaf-litter bed where acorns and seeds can sprout. The island oaks here grow nowhere else in the world except the California Channel Islands. The Santa Rosa Island Torrey pine, genetically distinct enough to be treated as a separate subspecies, persisted on the island in part because of the cool, moist fog and limited competition.
Decline and Restoration
Grazing by non-native sheep, pigs, cattle, horses, deer, and elk from the mid-1800s onward destroyed more than 75 percent of the island's native vegetation and eliminated most of the cloud forest. After Santa Rosa Island became part of Channel Islands National Park in the late 1980s, the park removed the non-native grazers and began restoring the landscape with guidance from U.S. Geological Survey science. Crews have used fog fences, wire fences covered with fabric that collect drip water into tanks, to supply nursery plantings. Much of the island has recovered, though the cloud forest itself has been slow to return.