. Bulletin. Science; Natural history; Natural history. 48 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. Fig. 3. Vizcaino Desert between the Sierra Vizcaino and the Sierra Santa Clara. Sierra Santa Clara in the background. ciated with this cold-water current are cool, continuous onshore breezes which buffer the coastal areas of western Baja California from the considerably higher inland temperatures. Descending belts of warm, moist air at these latitudes contact the cold Pacific waters, causing fog to form which is blown inland by the onshore breezes. This creates a cool, humid climate which is refl
. Bulletin. Science; Natural history; Natural history. 48 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. Fig. 3. Vizcaino Desert between the Sierra Vizcaino and the Sierra Santa Clara. Sierra Santa Clara in the background. ciated with this cold-water current are cool, continuous onshore breezes which buffer the coastal areas of western Baja California from the considerably higher inland temperatures. Descending belts of warm, moist air at these latitudes contact the cold Pacific waters, causing fog to form which is blown inland by the onshore breezes. This creates a cool, humid climate which is reflected in an abundance of lichens and epiphytes that cover the rocks and vegetation along the coastal areas (Fig. 4). In fact, the west coast of central Baja California is one of only three fog deserts in the entire world (Meigs 1966). The Vizcaino Peninsula lies at the southern extent of northern winter anticyclonic storm systems, and consequently, receives little in the way of winter precipitation, and even less from southern summer storms which come up from the Gulf of California or the eastern Pacific. Precipitation records from Bahia Tortugas and Punta Abreojos (Fig. 2) indicate annual amounts totaling 95 mm and 76 mm, respectively (Hastings and Hum- phrey 1969). The Vizcaino Peninsula lies within the Vizcaino Desert, a biotic subprovince (Grismer 1994) of the Vizcaino Region (Wiggins 1980). The Vizcaino Desert is the most floristically depauperate and vegetationally scant area within the Vizcaino Region, largely because of its low topographical relief and continuous winds. Generally, the dominant floral components are Yucca valida, Fouquieria diguetii, Frankenia palmeri, Atriplex julacea, and A. polycarpa, although floral diversity increases in many localized areas on hillsides and in valleys. Observation Localities and Study Periods The Sierra Santa Clara was visited by one of us (LLG) on 9-13 December 1988, by two of us (LLG and JAM) on 3-5 July 1990, and by all of us on
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