A Collection of Images to remind us we are not a desert...

Desert:    http://bit.ly/9JUB3u

San Diego Hills:  http://bit.ly/admNld

San Diego Riparian:  http://bit.ly/9TRkOx

Individual images, alternating... - it is generally obvious which is which...

http://www.mccollum.com/mitigation/CON1.jpg

http://www.iid.com/Media/Creosote-Desert-Scrub.jpg

http://www.sanctuariesproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/up-creek2.gif

http://openroad.tv/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/rosemarys-desert-wildflowers2.jpg

http://www.californiaherps.com/frogs/habitats/pondsdco406.jpg

http://obrag.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/anza-borrego-desert.jpg

Torrey Pines:
http://www.oceanlight.com/lr/full/02b6db101da330b632b0be4d8522ef42.jpg

http://thecrosbyopenspace.com/Images/Chaparral.jpg

http://www.san-diego-beaches-and-adventures.com/images/Elfin-Forrest-Nature-Trail-Creek-Crossing-San-Diego-Hiking-Trail.jpg

A springtime recovery - note the young chaparral beginning to become re-established:
http://media.photobucket.com/image/san%20diego%20chaparral%20images/dsought/My%2520New%2520Album/_DSC0003asSmartObject-1.jpg

http://www.californiachaparral.org/images/555_Guatay_old_growth_carpet_Final_III.jpg

http://room42.wikispaces.com/file/view/029chaparral.jpg/33405199/029chaparral.jpg

A desert/chaparral boundary/edge:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4065/4640758453_e64022cc60_z.jpg

This next one is important because it shows recovery and comparison for old burn areas:  
Background = unburned,  
Mid-ground (med-brown)= burned in 2003 - recovering,
Foreground (yellow grasses only) = burned in 2003 AND 2007 - unable to recover, being taken over by non-natives and invasives.
http://www.loe.org/images/080502/chaparral.gif
NOTE that human caused fires and resource depletion from 500 years of occupation by Europeans (cutting trees for lumber/fuel, grazing) are the main sources of stress to the original native landscape.  Clues to it's original composition can be found in areas of significant recovery - which suggest San Diego County had a far richer biodiversity than recorded history indicates (only the last 150 yrs.)

This one too, burned/human impacted habitat in the foreground:
http://mexico-herps.com/Habitats/Lichanura_habitat.jpg

And this one:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3353/3263537091_137432c86c.jpg

San Diego is not a desert - it is a recovering Riparian Oasis with Chaparral to protect the uplands.. ..