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The Tehachapi Mountains form the backbone of this connection because of their geographic position between the Sierra Madre, Castaic, and Sierra Nevada Ranges.   This linkage is biogeographically unique because it is situated at the juncture of several major ecoregions, creating a remarkable montage of vegetation communities, ranging from high-elevation forested montane habitats and wet meadows, to desert scrub and juniper, to annual grasslands and oak savannahs, to coastal riparian and scrub habitats. The vegetation is quite distinct where ecoregions meet, with Joshua trees intermixed with oak, juniper and pine in a transition zone on the Mojave side of the Tehachapi Mountains.  

This linkage provides a relatively intact representation of several unique ecosystems with functioning natural ecosystem processes.  Numerous imperiled plant and animal species are known from the vicinity including Bakersfield cactus, arroyo toad, red-legged frog, blunt-nosed leopard lizard, San Joaquin kit fox, and Tehachapi pocketmouse. American badger, mountain lion, and mule deer are a few of the focal species selected that require large, intact wildlands to survive.  The results of our analyses demonstrate the importance of maintaining habitat connectivity at all elevations, from the foothills and grasslands of the San Joaquin Valley, to the high-elevation hardwood and coniferous forests, to the foothill transition into the Mojave Desert along the base of the southern Tehachapis and northern Liebre and Sawmill mountains.