Coastal Training Program Welcome, Introduction, and Overview of the - PDF document

Coastal Training Program Welcome, Introduction, and Overview of the 2003 Workshop “The Conservation and Ecology of Policy California’s Maritime Chaparral” Sustain Natural Resources Science Grey Hayes Coordinator Management Elkhorn Slough Coastal Training Program Ecology and Conservation Ecology and Conservation Management Policy Ecology and Conservation Ecology and Conservation Management Policy Management Policy Restoration Conservation Easements Regulations Conservation Planning Restoration Conservation Easements Regulations Conservation Planning Buffers Recreation Fire Safety Exotic Species Reserve Design Appropriate Disturbance Endangered Species Landscaping Regulations Erosion Control 1

Reasons to protect maritime chaparral Why Maritime Chaparral? • Ground water: maritime chaparral blankets well-drained soils that may be important groundwater recharge areas • Highest number of the Monterey Bay’s most imperiled species • Fragile erosive slopes: maritime chaparral is good at holding in place poor soils that otherwise easily erode • Key to protecting Elkhorn Slough’s watershed • Fire: maintaining fire safe dwellings in and around maritime chaparral is expensive • New ecological information • Beauty: maritime chaparral is beautiful, affords good views, and supports a wealth of drought-resistant horticulturally significant species • Interesting challenge to human/wild interface • Weeds: In tact maritime chaparral resists invasion • Difficult and expensive to restore Goals of 1 st Workshop Eric Vandyke • Create consensus and understanding of a definition of • Definition and extent of maritime chaparral the term “maritime chaparral” in California • Convene the leading researchers working in this habitat, in order to • Maritime chaparral in the Prunedale Hills is being lost to oak invasion • Educate employees of regulatory agencies on the basic ecology and conservation of maritime chaparral – Create web and other materials for reference • Ridgeline maritime chaparral is more – Create a network of experts willing to answer future questions stable about maritime chaparral Maritime Chaparral Definition • Between Sonoma and Santa Barbara Counties • Climate characterized by cool, foggy summers, unlike the more common inland chaparral • Three levels of hierarchy: – Manzanita and/or Ceanothus dominated “alliances” that occur repeatedly over a large landscape • Hooker’s, Toro, Pajaro manzanitas – Special stands (few patches remaining) • Alameda manzanita – Rare shrubs • Santa Cruz Mountain and Little Sur manzanitas 2

Pajaro Hills Research 1931 1999 3

Result s: Tom Parker 65% Chaparr al Loss (~1%/ yr) • We are in the center of global manzanita 180 (Arctostaphylos) diversity • Manzanitas have a mutualistic relationship 145 with fungi, these same fungi also aid Acres 110 conifer invasion of chaparral • Maritime chaparral is fire dependent, but 75 consideration for season, size, and 40 frequency of fires important 1925 1945 1965 1985 2005 Year Arctostaphylos Arctostaphylos in western North America is • One species, A. uva-ursi , is found concentrated on across the northern the central hemisphere, in California coast. subalpine, north temperate forests, and the California Most of these coast. species occur in • All other species are maritime entirely or partially found in California. chaparral. A. uva-ursi What do these places have in How do manzanitas tolerate common? acidic, nutrient poor soils? Nutrient Poor and Manzanitas have Acidic Soils a mutualistic relationship with fungi. Disturbance by Fire Together they form mycorrhizal roots. 4

How do Manzanitas Survive Fire? Implications for management Obligate seeders are killed by fire and completely depend Too frequent, obligate upon seedlings after fire seeders can not form Fire Regime to reestablish their populations. seed banks. Too No Burl infrequent, conifers Frequency can invade many sites. Intensity Burls and root crowns permit Off season, wrong many species (facultative Season intensity, too small an sprouters) to resprout area, all of these can after fire. They also have Area Burl impact the recovery of seedlings establish following fire, but usually at much the chaparral stands. lower rates. Claudia Tyler & Dennis Odion • Post-fire succession of maritime chaparral vegetation at Burton Mesa – Ceanothus dies out, manzanitas increase Burton Mesa • Implications of prescribed fire on Morro manzanita – Morro manzanita has low % of viable seed, requires 40+ years after fire to build sufficient seedbank to recover from fire 2-3 years after fire Immediate post-burn late fall 1987 5

Stand Dynamics 5-6 years after fire 70 Adenostoma fasciculatum 60 Percent 50 cover Ceanothus cuneatus 40 30 Quercus agrifolia Arctostaphylos rudis 20 A. purissima C. impressus 10 Helianthemum scoparium 10 20 30 40 50 Years since fire Factors Controlling Germination 5 estimated % viability ------------------------------------------------ percent germination 4 3 Morro manzanita 2 1 0 control heat + heat only charate wet, charate only heat+char Source: Tyler, Odion, and Meade, 1998 CDFG Prescribed burn # viable seeds per 2 m sq top 2.5 cm 400 0-5cm depth lower 2.5 cm 300 200 100 5-10 cm depth 0 preburn postburn 40 year old stand Source: Tyler et al. 2000, CDFG 6

Iceplant invasion Morro Manzanita per square meter Source: Odion and Tyler, 2002 Conservation Ecology Take home messages from 2003.... Morro Bay Manzanita Chaparral Threats • We are in the center of the manzanita universe -Stands may be too young to regenerate after fire. • Maritime chaparral contains a number of rare and endangered species -Exotic species invasion following fire or clearing. • Maritime chaparral is fire dependent • What you see isn’t all that is there: seed banks reveal diversity after fire • Caution about too long or too short fire intervals Since the 2003 Workshop Since the 2003 Workshop • Large areas of maritime chaparral protected by the Elkhorn Slough Foundation & Big Sur Land Trust • Increased property rights concern with designation of maritime chaparral as ESHA in coastal zone • Improvements in regulators’ approach to maritime chaparral • Winter prescribed burn in maritime chaparral • One additional county government knows that they have this protected habitat: Marin • Continued destruction of habitat • Land managers planning longer fire return intervals • Increased invasive exotic control 7

In Near Term In your packet....and handouts • Conservation banking for maritime chaparral in Santa • Packet Cruz and Monterey Counties – Contact list of attendees • 24 consultants; 17 land managers; 11 regulators; 12 • Fort Ord HCP researchers – Agenda • HCP’s and long-term management plans for significant – Copies of 2 of today’s presentations maritime chaparral areas in Santa Cruz, San Luis • Handouts Obispo, and Santa Barbara Counties – Peer-reviewed articles • Community education on significance and status of – Answers to common questions maritime chaparral in Big Sur – Field trip information Questions for today • What regulatory tools are currently being used to protect maritime chaparral? • Are conservation techniques maintaining and restoring the entire suite of maritime chaparral species? • How do we better plan for the protection of maritime chaparral in the future? 8