What California County has the most biomes? (Los Angeles, San Diego: neighborhood, to live)

[dmlandissf]

I'm curious as to which California County is most diverse in terms of ecological environments. I drove from the coast in San Diego Coast today inland. We went from La Jolla and drove through Alpine, Julian, and then down to the desert (Ocotillo Wells) and then back to our place to Indio. The landscape was really impressive - particularly the wildlife blooms. We went from coastal chaparral to Southern California forests to the desert in only 2 hours. I might say either San Diego or Los Angeles Counties but others may have different opinions.

[NORTY FLATZ]

San Diego County, has 4 climate regions. (Coastal, inland, mountain & desert.)

Each one is different from the rest.

These 4 separate climates, give motorcyclists year 'round world class riding.

[MechAndy]

Are biomes the same as microclimates ?
If so the Bay Area is full of them.
You can go several miles and get 5-8 degree temp difference due to canyon winds or hills that block the marine environment.
There are probably near 50 different zones.
The same can be said for the Olympic Peninsula.

[joosoon]

Originally Posted by NORTY FLATZ

San Diego County, has 4 climate regions. (Coastal, inland, mountain & desert.)

Each one is different from the rest.

What's most striking about the four, and sorta unique to SD county, is the transitions between them aren't subtle. And with respect to the desert scenery, it's the most picturesque in the state.

[dontbelievehim]

Fresno county is a large county, so its kind of cheating, but it has glaciers and desert(Coalinga) within the county.

That seems notable, i would think.

[dmlandissf]

Speaking of biomes - (different ecological zones), we are traveling from Coachella Valley to Bay Area in a few days. What route would be the best to see the "superblooms"? I'm thinking we would go through Lancaster (Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve) and take Hwy 5 up to hwy 46 (Lost Hills ) west to 101 to see incredible wildflowers. We've done this drive before and it can be done in 10 hours.

[tstieber]

Originally Posted by dmlandissf

I'm curious as to which California County is most diverse in terms of ecological environments. I drove from the coast in San Diego Coast today inland. We went from La Jolla and drove through Alpine, Julian, and then down to the desert (Ocotillo Wells) and then back to our place to Indio. The landscape was really impressive - particularly the wildlife blooms. We went from coastal chaparral to Southern California forests to the desert in only 2 hours. I might say either San Diego or Los Angeles Counties but others may have different opinions.

I would think biomes are different than microclimates. Based purely on microclimates, I'd say the Bay Area has far more. For biomes, though, I think San Diego county is better.

For starters, San Diego has taller mountains than the Bay Area, and they are farther inland, both of which are favorable for more pronounced seasons. Our SD mountains get way more snow more often than the Bay Area mountains, plus the Bay Area has just a few 'peaks,' while we have bigger ranges at higher elevations. So areas like Palomar Mountain or Mt Laguna have biomes that you just won't get in the Bay Area. In fact, Palomar Mountain seems to be the only spot in SoCal that has native plants not seen outside of the Sierras.

Then, given that we have taller mountains, they block Pacific storms better from areas to the east, which creates true deserts. Another very unique biome. Then we have our coastline, which is semi-arid Mediterranean, our inland valleys, which are squarely Mediterranean, and then a strip of foothills east of there, around 3000 feet, which has a biome identical to Northern and Central California's rolling hills of grassland and oak. So we have a lot of diversity of native vegetation here, from ancient cedars on Palomar Mountain to ocotillo in the desert to live oaks inland.

In the Bay Area, despite the many microclimates, the topography is not so extreme, so you have a lot of low hills everywhere, and that means depending on elevation and proximity to the coast, you could have anything from coastal chapparal similar to SD to redwood forests to grassland and oak. But you won't see the extremes of Sierra-like vegetation or desert vegetation. Nevertheless, the microclimates are intense. I've literally seen days where it was 110f in an inland city like Concord at the exact same time that it was 55f and socked in with marine layer in Pacifica along the coast. That's pretty extreme, but on any given summer day, you can expect the region to range from the 60s to the 90s depending on location, and it changes seemingly around every corner. although if you stay in any single neighborhood, it's very consistent.

[apple92680]

Originally Posted by NORTY FLATZ

San Diego County, has 4 climate regions. (Coastal, inland, mountain & desert.)

Each one is different from the rest.

These 4 separate climates, give motorcyclists year 'round world class riding.

So does Los Angeles County. You can go from the coast to the valleys, to the foothills where there are deciduous forests, to pine-covered mountains to the poppy fields on the edge of the Mojave Desert.

Los Angeles and San Diego County, both, have everything from offshore kelp forests to oak groves, to freshwater creeks, to mountains streams and hidden lakes, to cacti and joshua trees. You can drive from a foggy coast, to warm inland valleys, to chilly and snow-covered mountains and back down into a warm desert all in one day.

[sav858]

Probably LA and SD. LA's probably are bit more striking as the mountains are much taller than SD's.

[NORTY FLATZ]

I think you meant San Bernadino's mountains....