Three California ecosystems endangered, report finds

California’s vulnerability was exposed in its deserts, the Sierra Nevada and the San Francisco Bay Delta.

The Mojave Desert is home to the pupfish and the Desert Tortoise, two species that are feeling the effects of higher temperatures and less precipitation. In the Sierra, earlier snow melt is devastating for amphibians. The report says that half the region’s 30 native species have declined. In the Delta -- where 12 of the region’s original 29 species are either extinct or endangered -- reduced water availability and fewer cold-water rivers are reducing the population of trout, salmon and smelt.

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times-Greenspace by Julie Cart