 Plant communities also rely on taking in moisture from the air by intercepting fog to supplement the low, seasonal rainfall.Formation of coastal elfin forests in northern California and Oregon, began with a series of marine terraces.A combination of uplift and changes in ocean level formed a system of terraces, resulting in an “ecological staircase”, with each terrace approximately 100,000 years older than the one below it and supporting a distinct association of soils, microbes, plants, and animals.