Species Occurring in the Planning Area
Yolo County supports a wide array of species, from specialized
plants and animals that only occur in the alkali pools and vernal pools
of the Central Valley floor, to rare butterflies that occur on the
ridges of the Coast Range in the northwestern portion of the
County. Mammals, including the ringtail, badger, mountain
lion, and a number of bat species, and birds, including those native to
riparian habitats, oak woodlands and chaparral communities, all make
their home in Yolo County. Rare amphibians, such as the
California tiger salamander, and reptiles, such as the giant garter
snake, live and breed in the aquatic habitats in many areas of the
County. While the Yolo Natural Heritage Program will
facilitate conservation benefits for a broad diversity of species and
habitats, the following list includes species that are the primary
focus of the plan due to their rarity and current conservation status.
Species Accounts
The species list is linked to
a detailed species account that
describes the species ecology, life history, distribution in the
County, population trends, threats and other conservation
issues. These species accounts have been prepared and
reviewed for the Yolo Natural Heritage Program by scientists and
recognized species experts.
| Plants Invertebrates Amphibians Reptiles Birds Mammals |
 ©Theresa Sinicrope Talley, UC Davis |
| Common Names | Scientific Names |
Plants Adobe-lily Colusa grass Solano grass Masons' lilaeopsis Hall’s harmonia Colusa layia Bent-flowered fiddleneck Heckard’s pepper-grass Morrison's jewelflower Brittlescale San Joaquin spearscale Ferris’s milk-vetch Alkali milk-vetch Delta tule pea Drymaria-like western flax Snow Mountain buckwheat Baker’s navarretia Rose mallow Palmate-bracted birds-beak |
Fritillaria pluriflora Neostapfia colusana Tuctoria mucronata Lilaeopsis masonii Harmonia hallii Layia septentrionalis Amsinckia lunaris Lepidium latipes var. heckardii Streptanthus morrisonii ssp. morrisonii Atriplex depressa Atriplex joaquiniana Astragalus tener var. ferrisiae Astragalus tener var. tener Lathyrus jepsonii var. jepsonii Hesperolinon drymarioides Eriogonum nervulosum Navarretia leucocephala ssp. bakeri Hibiscus lasiocarpus Cordylanthus palmatus |
Invertebrates Conservancy fairy shrimp Vernal pool fairy shrimp Midvalley fairy shrimp Vernal pool tadpole shrimp California linderiella fairy shrimp Sacramento Valley tiger beetle Valley elderberry longhorn beetle Molestan blister beetle Ancient ant Amphibians California tiger salamander California red-legged frog Foothill yellow-legged frog Western spadefoot Reptiles Giant garter snake Coast horned lizard Northwestern pond turtle |
Branchinecta conservatio Branchinecta lynchi Branchinecta mesovallensis Lepidurus packardi Linderiella occidentalis Cicindela hirticollis abrupta Desmocerus californicus dimorphus Lytta molesta Smithistruma reliquia Ambystoma californiense Rana aurora draytonii Rana boylii Spea hammondii Thamnophis gigas Phrynosoma coronatum frontale Actinemys marmorata marmorata |
Birds Least bittern Redhead White-tailed Kite Bald eagle Northern harrier Swainson’s hawk Golden eagle American peregrine falcon Prairie falcon California black rail Western snowy plover Mountain plover Black tern Western yellow-billed cuckoo Burrowing owl Long-eared owl Short-eared owl Loggerhead shrike Yellow-billed magpie Purple martin Bank swallow Yellow-breasted chat Grasshopper sparrow Tricolored blackbird Yellow-headed blackbird Mammals Western red bat Townsend's western big-eared bat Pallid bat Ringtail American badger |
Ixobrychus exilis Aythya americana Elanus leucurus Haliaeetus leucocephalus Circus cyaneus Buteo swainsoni Aquila chrysaetos Falco peregrinus anatum Falco mexicanus Laterallus jamaicensis coturniculus Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus Charadrius montanus Chlidonias niger Coccyzus americanus occidentalis Athene cunicularia Asio otus Asio flammeus Lanius ludovicianus Pica nuttali Progne subis Riparia riparia Icteria virens Ammodramus savannarum Agelaius tricolor Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus Lasiurus blossevillii Corynorhinus townsendii townsendii Antrozous pallidus Bassariscus astutus Taxidea taxus |