Urban growth of San Diego is seen clearly in white tones of this NASA image. Wildlife corridors from the mountains of the Cleveland National Forest to the coastal habitats of Torrey Pines State Park are highly constricted. Rugged Fanita Ranch buffers the only large block of habitat remaining in central San Diego County. Fanita provides linkage to Mission Trails Regional Park and the narrow wildlife corridor of the San Diego River. San Diego itself clusters around the bay enclosed by Point Loma and Coronado Island. In the mountains to the right, Lower Otay Lake and Sweetwater Reservoir show up as dark patches.

Islands of habiat and narrow wildlife corridors have made San Diego County an endangered species hot spot. There are more threatened and endangered species in San Diego County than anywhere else in the continental United States.
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Los Angeles Basin to Mexico (north to south). Pacific Ocean to California Desert (Salton Sea in mid photo edge).

Notice how the mountains (dark green) form a barrier to urban sprawl in the L. A. Basin, and how sprawl is marching east in San Diego County.