[APWG] ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION Re: Eradication needs conversion back to 100% natives?

[Wayne Tyson]

APWG and Craig:

I quite agree with the spirit and almost all of the content of Dremann's 
post. I congratulate any land manager/restoration worker who is responsible 
for any bit of land that is 99.99 percent covered with plant species 
indigenous to the site--that is an incredible achievement, especially for an 
area that was 99 percent populated with exotic plants. In fact, I would not 
be so picky as to insist upon that level of perfection, particularly in 
non-forested ecosystems. I do not know what the background species richness 
or diversity was historically, but 154 species seems to be indicative of a 
high level of species richness. Given the importance of vegetation to animal 
populations, I presume that the animal populations in this case are similar 
to comparable areas in the immediate vicinity. I am particularly interested 
in the new species cited, and hope Dremann will provide more detailed 
information on these, including the names and the publications in which they 
were recorded, and whether or not herbarium samples have been collected.

I would like to see a progressive series of photographs and/or graphic 
presentation of data over the last seventeen years, if available, and would 
like the address or an accurate description of the property location so I 
can visit and photograph it next month, with the permission of the owner. If 
ecological surveys of the property have been conducted at intervals, I would 
like to see those. I no longer have a subscription to Ecological 
Restoration, so I can't access the referenced paper. If the author would 
care to send me a copy, I will be most interested in reading it.

I hope that there will be considerable discussion of Dremann's points on 
this list, including any discussion of reasons why eradication alone is 
sufficient to treat infestations of exotic species, if anyone disagrees with 
Dremann on the need for ecosystem restoration in conjunction with exotic 
species eradication.

WT


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Craig Dremann - Redwood City Seed Company" <Craig at astreet.com>
To: <apwg at lists.plantconservation.org>
Sent: Sunday, August 09, 2009 9:58 AM
Subject: [APWG] Eradication needs conversion back to 100% natives?


> Dear All,
>
> I would add to the discussion, that you have to take this concept one step
> further.
>
> Last weekend I had the opportunity to walk the 74 acres of the Shaw
> property near Santa Cruz, California, that in 1992 was 99% covered with
> 106 species of exotics, and as of last week, the exotics are gone, and the
> 74 acres is now 99.99% covered with 154 species of natives.
>
> You can see the weed and native list for the Shaw property at
> http://www.ecoseeds.com/shaw_plantlist.XLS.  There are two new species of
> natives on the property, that still have to be described by science, which
> is quite amazing, since new native species are only found in California
> rarely now.
>
> We wrote about this project in the June 2002 issue of ECOLOGICAL
> RESTORATION (Univ. of Wisc. Press).
>
> Also, some native plants popped out of the seedbank, that are so rare,
> that they have only been collected six times in the last 100 years in
> Santa Cruz County, like the Bottlebrush grass (Elymus californicus).
>
> What I am suggesting, is that while you are managing weeds in wildland
> situations, knowing the cause of the the eoxitc plant infestation is very
> important.  However, unless your goal is 100% native understory in the
> place of the weeds, then your work may also be futile.
>
> We know exactly what the cause, why lower elevation California is 99.9999%
> covered with over 1,000 species of exotic weeds---because  sheep and cows
> grazing everything to the dust from sea level to 5,000 feet, including the
> mountain tops, during several droughts, between 1860 and 1940.
>
> John Muir wrote about this in his book on California, with the frontspiece
> an engraving of a sheep that he labels---The Hooved Locusts.
>
> The sheep and cows catastrophically removed the native understory, making
> the ground bare, and in effect, put up a huge vacancy sign for every weed
> to try and find a home here.
>
> California is probably the largest area that is solidly weeds, on the
> planet.  If anyone knows of a largest area on the planet that is 99.99%
> exotic understory, I would be interested.
>
> What we need to know at this point, is how to convert those exotic areas,
> back to 100% native plant cover, with the right percentage of native
> species, so that the North American native ecosystems can hang together as
> a unit, for perpetuity.
>
> We could start along our highway roadside, like the Iowa DOT has done over
> the last decade or so?
>
> Because most new non-riparian exotics get spread into the environment,
> traveling along roadsides, like veins in the body, maybe fixing those
> areas first with Federal Highway funds, could be done, with new
> construction
>
> New highway construction could be the economic incentive to pay for the R
> & D necessary to do the work of <100% conversion back to natives>
> correctly.
>
> Yellowstone Park did this in 1995-2000, where the FHWA was doing a lot of
> road work through the park, and the Park Service had the agency pay for
> local native seed collection, to replant along the roadsides, once the
> construction was finished.
>
> I have a saying that I live by--If you do not ask, you will not get.  We
> cannot be satisfied with just eradication of exotic plants in wildland
> situations, but should have as the goal, 100% conversion back to natives!
>
> Sincerely,  Craig Dremann (650) 325-7333
>
>
>
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>
> Disclaimer
> Any requests, advice or opinions posted to this list reflect ONLY the 
> opinion of the individual posting the message.


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