Title: Biodiversity in the Sierra Nevada
Author: Murphy, Dennis D.; Fleishman, Erica; Stine, Peter A.
Date: 2004
Source: In: Murphy, Dennis D. and Stine, Peter A., editors. Proceedings of the Sierra Nevada Science Symposium. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-193. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture: 167-174
Station ID: GTR-PSW-193
Description: The earliest explorers of the Sierra Nevada hailed the mountain range for its unsurpassed scenery. Although a significant component of that beauty was an especially rich assemblage of plants and animals, it was not until many decades later that the Sierra Nevada's wealth of biodiversity was appreciated fully and documented in earnest. Indeed, by the time naturalists, including the legendary John Muir, began to write of the rangeÂ’s biological assets, features such as ancient forests, alpine meadows, and stream corridors were under full assault from unsustainable levels of logging, livestock grazing, and mining. Grizzly bears, wolverines, mountain sheep, and condors had disappeared outright or were far along the path toward disappearance in the Sierra Nevada. Unknown populations of more cryptic species were likely extirpated also, reducing the species' genetic diversity and either disrupting or permanently altering ecological interactions. We will never have complete knowledge of species richness, composition, and distribution of the native biodiversity of the Sierra Nevada prior to European-American settlement.
Keywords:
View and Print this Publication (400 KB)
Publication Notes:
- We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
- This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.
- You may send email to pubrequest@fs.f
ed.us to request a hard copy of this publication. (Please specify exactly
which publication you are requesting and your mailing address.)
Get the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat reader or Acrobat Reader for Windows with Search and Accessibility
Citation
Murphy, Dennis D.; Fleishman, Erica; Stine, Peter A. 2004. Biodiversity in the Sierra Nevada. In: Murphy, Dennis D. and Stine, Peter A., editors. Proceedings of the Sierra Nevada Science Symposium. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-193. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture: 167-174.