healthy future for the California oak woodlands include maintenance and restoration of old-growth forests, watershed management and improvement, protection of water quality, protection of wildlife species that have cultural and environmental value to the area, restoration of valley oaks, and the habitat maintenance of “special status botanical species” and select endangered species. Examples of occurrence The headwaters area of Yulupa Creek in Annadel State Park is cited as one of the best examples of California oak woodlands. Much of this woodland is a relatively pristine ecosystem with considerable biodiversity. An unusual characteristic of this Annadel forest is the high content of undisturbed prehistoric bunch grass understory, testifying to the absence of historic grazing or other agriculture. The Morro Bay watershed, located in Southern California, is an example of a coast live oak ecosystem. This sub-category of California oak woodland consists primarily of coast wild oak and are predominantly found in coastal regions, but can extend to foothill ecosystems. Ecology of California oak woodlands The composition and characteristics of California oak woodlands varies across the state, but are defined by three main oak species throughout coastal regions: coastal live oak, Englemann oak, and Oregon white oak. The concentration of each of these oak species correlates with the location of the woodland throughout California. In southern and central areas, the predominant oak species is coastal live oak which grow on coastal valleys and foothills. In drier regions within this range, coastal wild oak is associated with foothill pine, valley oak and blue oak; whereas wetter areas are defined by tanoak, canyon live oak and California bay. Coastal live oak woodland found in Southern California is associated with valley oak similar to drier northern sites, but also sees interior live oak, Coulter pine and California black walnut. Outside of the southern ranges of coastal wild oak are small areas of oak woodland characterized by Englemann oak. These sites can coincide with coastal live oak, however they can also occur as stands composed almost entirely of Englemann oak. Northern, wetter regions of California are populated with oak woodlands formed from Oregon white oak. These woodlands are associated interior live oak and canyon live oak similar to coastal live oak woodlands, but differ with Pacific madrone and California black oak. The variety of canopy density which results from the diversity of tree species found in different woodland regions causes a wide range of understory grass