Analysis of the Number of Species on the Dripping Springs Trail, Agua Tibia Range, Palomar Mountains
For its elevation, the percentage of native taxa is very high compared to the other trails in our database, primarily because this area has been among the least disturbed by human activities. The plants on the campground portion are represented by the pink solid rectangle in the plots below, and the plants on the trail portion beyond the campground are represented by the larger red solid rectangle.
The number of native taxa is lower than many of our other trails. It is possible that this simply reflects the incompleteness of this guide so far. It could also be due to the low rainfall along this trail, compared to most of our other trails. This trail is in the rain shadow of the Palomar Range, and Banks maps most of this trail as being primarily influenced by the desert. Only the upper portion is under montane influence.
The number of non-native taxa is remarkably low. Many of the points with fewer non-native taxa are from higher altitude trails (see the first plot above).
