Zayante Band-winged Grasshopper - Habitat

Habitat

A shallow sea that once covered California's Central Valley emptied into the Pacific Ocean, and as the Santa Cruz Mountains formed, sand from the ocean floor rose and created the sandhills ecosystem that is present today. The sandhills supports a vast number of biodiversity. The habitat support plants and animals that are found nowhere else, but exclusively only in the Zayante sandhills ecosystem. It is one of the rarest ecosystems of California, and one of the rarest of the United States .The habitat itself is also in great danger, because of being subjected to habitat loss caused by human activities that include, urban, agriculture, and recreational developments, and sand mining.

The Zyante sandhills ecosystem is not only home to the endangered Zayante band-winged grasshopper, but it is home to many unique species of animals and plants, many of which are also on the endangered species list, including the Mount Hernon june beetle, Santa Cruz wallflower, Ben Lomond buckwheat, Bonny Doon silverleaf manzanita, Ben Lomond spineflower, and the Santa Cruz kangaroo rat (Donald J. Barry 2000).

Many of the habitat lies on private property making it difficult to preserve and protect the critically endangered Zyante sandhills. Without agreed effort by local business and private land owners to preserve the habitat, actually doing so will be proven to be difficult.

Santa Cruz County, the City of Scotts Valley, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and various organizations and individuals are continuing to move forward in hopes of preserving what is left of the sand hills habitat. Being able to really protect and preserve the Zayante sandhills will require action by many individuals, interest groups, and the government as well.