Santa Rosa Plateau
The Santa Rosa Plateau is an upland plateau and southeastern extension of the Santa Ana Mountains in Riverside County, southern California. It is bounded by the rapidly urbanizing Inland Empire cities of Murrieta to the northeast, and Temecula to the southeast.
The Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve preserves approximately 8,400 acres (34 km2) of the plateau, and includes the Moreno and Machado Adobes, Riverside County’s oldest standing structures, and other buildings from the 19th century Mexican land grant Rancho Santa Rosa.
The Santa Rosa Plateau is home to several native plant communities and habitats, including purple needlegrass prairie (Nassella pulchra), California oak woodland (Engelmann Oaks—Quercus engelmannii), montane chaparral, coastal sage scrub, and vernal pools, which are increasingly rare in urbanized Southern California.
The Engelmann oak was once widespread throughout the western U.S. Now the farthest north they are found is Pasadena. The Reserve has the only protected, reproducing Engelmanns in the states.
A vernal pool is a shallow depression in the soil which fills up with water during spring rains. Fairy shrimp and other minute crustaceans hatch during this time and lay eggs. These eggs remain dormant during the dry months until the next rainy season allows them to hatch. (6)
...
Wikipedia