Despite their apparent simplicity, San Marcos Foothills Grasslands, especially on the West Mesa, support an impressive array of resources throughout the annual cycle. In winter and early spring, the rains bring on a flush of exotic grasses, which cattle are largely successful in consuming. In March and April, the Cranefly population explodes and every space between the grass clusters holds flies. By summer, the grasshoppers emerge and in some areas they persist until fall.

The boulders on the Grasslands of the West Mesa are the larger rubble carried from the mountains, buried, and recently exposed by erosion. They reveal that most of the West Mesa has not been extensively plowed. For Native Americans, some partially exposed boulders served as bedrock metates (grinding stones). For snakes, lizards,

Table 1. Grass Species of San Marcos Foothills
Common Name	Species	Wetland Indicator Status
Annual Bluegrass	Poa annua*	FACW-
Bermuda Grass	Cynodon dactylon*	FAC
California Barley	Hordeium brachyantherum ssp. californicum	FACU
California Brome	Bromus carinatus
Erharta	Erharta erecta*
False Brome	Brachypodium sp.*
Foothill Melic Grass	Melica imperfecta
Foothill Needlegrass	Nassella lepida
Fountain Grass	Pennisetum setaceum*
Foxtail	Hordeum cf. murinum ssp. glaucum*	NI
Giant Rye	Leymus condensatus	(FACU)
Goldentop	Lamarckia aurea*
Italian Ryegrass	Lolium multiflorum*	FAC
Mediterranean Barley	hordeum marinum ssp. gussoneanum*	FAC
Melic Grass	Melica frutescense*
Purple Needlegrass	Nassella pulchra
Rabbitsfoot Grass	Polypogon monspeliensis*	OBL
Red Brome	Bromus madritensis ssp. rubens*	NI
Ripgut Brome	Bromus diandrus*	(FACU)
Soft Chess	Bromus hordeaceus*	FACU
Slender Fescue	Vulpia bromoides*
Smilo Grass	Piptatherum miliaceum*	(FACU)
Thin Grass	Agrostis pallens
Vernal Barley	Hordeum intercedens	OBL
Western Rye	Elymus glaucus	FACU
Wild Oat	Avena fatua*
See p. 78 for indicator definitions	*Indicates that the species is a naturalized exotic (not a native to the Santa Barbara area)

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