Vertebrates diverse and abundant in well-structured oak woodland

Abstract

Knowledge of the diversity and abundance of vertebrates in rela- tively undisturbed oak woodlands could be used as a baseline for evaluating natural and human- caused perturbations. High num- bers of terrestrial vertebrates were found in well-structured oak woodland at a study site in the Central Coast region. Within classes of terrestrial vertebrates, woodrats, dark-eyed juncos and slender salamanders exhibited the strongest habitat associations. Dense oak woodlands with shrubby understory and downed woody material supported the greatest numbers of vertebrate fauna.