Outline of Quino Recovery Plan - The Xerces Society

The Gavilan Hills area exhibits diverse topography and vegetation that is
dominated by chamise chaparral and juniper woodlands. Clay soils are present
throughout. Rounded hills provide gentle south- and northwest-facing slopes as
well as shallow soils along rock faces where dwarf (or dot-seed) plantain
(Plantago erecta), the primary hostplant in this area, is locally abundant.
Flattened ridge tops may also serve as suitable habitats. Nearby open juniper
woodland provides additional habitat.
Warm Springs Creek habitat complex: Recent Quino checkerspot observations
are distributed between Interstate 215 and State Route 79 north of Murrieta Hot
Springs Road to at least Scott Road concentrated in the vicinity of Warm Springs
Creek (Figure 2), although much of the habitat at the southern end of the
Hogbacks, where butterflies were recently observed, was disturbed in 1998.
Habitat Considerations:
Western connectivity is constrained by Interstate 215. Landscape connectivity is
fragmented by ongoing development in this metapopulation, particularly in the
vicinity of Murrieta Hot Springs Road. The extent of landscape connectivity to
the north is not known. Quino checkerspot habitat is associated with openings in
coastal sage scrub and typified by low rounded hills, clay soil lenses, and
cryptogamic soil crusts. Dwarf plantain (Plantago erecta) is the primary larval
host plant in this area.
Skinner/Johnson habitat complex: Recent Quino checkerspot observations are
distributed throughout Southwest Riverside County Multiple Species Reserve,
and are concentrated around Lake Skinner and south of Benton and Borel Roads
(Johnson Ranch) (Figure 2). Although Quino checkerspots have also recently
been observed in eastern Temecula, north and east of Butterfield Stage Road,
primarily in the Crowne Hill area (Figure 2), this area is completely isolated by
development and authorized for further development (U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service 2000).
Habitat Considerations:
Landscape connectivity within the habitat complex is compromised by surface
roads such as Washington Street and Borel Road, which may now or in the
future be mortality sinks during periods of high traffic. Any landscape
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