Understory

The Cahuilla Mountain Research Natural Area occupies the summit and upper slopes of Cahuilla Mountain, a small, but well-defined and distinctive mountain lying between the main San Jacinto massif to the east and the Santa Ana and Agua Tibia Mountains to the west. Cahuilla Mountain has a broad, shallowly-dissected top and relatively steep sides. the top has northern and southern summit areas, both reaching somewhat over 5600 ft. (1707 m). These summits are separated by about 0.6 mile (1 km) of slightly lower elevation. A little less than one square mile (2.59 square km) of the mountain is over ...

The main feature distinguishing both the Mud Lake and the Wheeler Peak units of the Mud Lake Research Natural Area is the isolated populations of Baker cypress. They occupy the north- to northeast-facing slopes of ridges vegetated with mixed conifer, white fir, and red fir forest, with a variable mixture of mostly successional montane chaparral. The Wheeler Peak unit is generally more successionally advanced than the Mud Lake unit, which was largely engulfed by a crown fire just before the turn of the 20th century. The Baker cypress stands are both monospecific and mixed within the mixed conif...

The Cone Peak Gradient Research Natural Area contains a variety of vegetation types ranging from maritime to interior-montane, a number of which contribute toward completion of the RNA system for the Pacific Southwest Region. It shares a boundary with the Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve, a component of the University of California Natural Land and Water Reserves System and is actively used by the university for research.

The Sentinel Meadow Research Natural Area straddles an east-west ridge in the Glass Mountains on the north rim of the Long Valley Caldera. North slopes drain into the Mono Basin, and the southern escarpment drops into the Owens River drainage. Vegetation includes primarily the arid subalpine forest, several shrub communities, and large areas of barren soil.

The Last Chance Meadow Research Natural Area lies on a subalpine ridge between the Cottonwood Creek and Mulkey Creek drainages. The ridge is typical of the southern Sierra Nevada Crest region. Foxtail pine on this RNA grows in pure stands and in mixed stands with limber pine and lodgepole pine.

The Cub Creek Research Natural Area includes mixed conifer forest and six other major vegetation types which in total support more than 230 different plant species. In addition, the diverse community patterns and mixed arrangements of the communities taken as a whole make this area a good representative of the unique and diverse vegetational patterns that occur in the Cascade Range physiographic province of California.