[APWG] ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION Percent distribution and trends of indigenous and non-indigenous plant species Re: Funding a 70-acre weed-back-to-native project with donations--99.99% natives

Tue Aug 27 14:54:10 CDT 2013

Craig et y'all: 

Naw, I'd say it was more like 4.4 (actually 4.39956) square feet--if I wanted to be ridiculously consistent. 

But cover is not an accurate enough measure. Individual plants vary too much in their "coverage," so to get really narrow-nosed about it, basal area would probably be closer to it--expressed as a ratio of the basal area of the entire acre. Otherwise, we would have to generalize, right? 

First, I'd want to know what sampling procedure produces the data, and how many replications have been done by other researchers over what period of time. It's not science if the data come only from one sampling at one point in time. Ecosystem dynamics are about trends, not absolutes. 

Maybe I'll get a chance to see this miracle one of these days. 

I agree with Dremann about the creeping extinction idea, and am proud of him for thrusting himself forward in any attempt to flatten the slippery slopes of gradual reduction in populations of species, or "spacial [sic] extinction," as Dremann terms it--in fact, I am so insanely particular that I am concerned about the erosion/decline of intra-specific variation that biological and anthropogenic disruptions in ecosystems almost certainly must cause. I appreciate his appreciation of the beauty of the earth, including the odor of tarweeds. I wish him well, even if I am skeptical, even disbelieving of, his 99.99 percent calculations. I hope that such extravagant notions don't undermine the areas in which he is more credible than incredible. I hope that he hangs in there for a long, long time. Craig and me, we're in the same quadrant, if not always in the same corner. 

WT

PS: I gave a talk (my first in a decade or so) at the Native Seed Conference in Santa Fe last April--all about just a few of the major mistakes I've made in the several decades I've messed around with seeds and ecosystem restoration. 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: craig at astreet.com 
  To: apwg at lists.plantconservation.org ; craig at ecoseeds.com 
  Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 11:34 AM
  Subject: Re: [APWG] Funding a 70-acre weed-back-to-native project with donations--99.99% natives

  > What, exactly, does "99.99% weed-infested" mean?
  >
  > What, excatly, does "99.99% weed-free" mean?
  >
  > WT

  Dear Wayne,

  Glad to hear from you again.  99.99% weed-infested acre of land=If you looked at each square foot of that acre, you would only find about 4-5 square feet still occupied by some native plants.

  Conversely, if you measured another acre and determined that it was 99.99% weed-free, that means that there was solid local native plant cover on the entire acre, except for 4-5 square feet that were still occupied by some weeds.

  This goes to the heart of my idea of spacial extinction of local native plants.  

  We usually look at the term extinction to mean the death of an entire species, like the Passenger pigeon, for example.  

  But perhaps what we should be more concerned about, is the creeping road to extinction, which is what I call spacial extinction, where a local native species is extinct on a single square foot for whatever reason--weeds, plowing, plopping a building on top of that square foot of land, planting a corn field, etc.

  In California, spatial extinction is a very serious issue, especially if we want to preserve some of our native grassland and wildflower fields for the future--considering that the native grasses and wildflower fields are already spatially extinct over 99.99% of the lower elevations of the State.  

  What I am trying to do with this 70 acres in Palo Alto, is to see how this problem of spatial extinction can be corrected, so that this site could possibly become an in situ source of local native genetic material for other restoration projects where the natives have become spatially extinct.  

  I have set 99.99% local native cover as a goal, and it is not unreasonable after I saw Mark VandePol's 14 acres only 25 miles away, with his entire property restored to 99.5% native cover, after starting with a huge weed patch similar to the 70 acres here in Palo Alto.

  I am looking for donations through GoFundMe to get the bales of native grass straw I want to use to kill the weeds this winter.  Anyone in the area is welcome to visit--the site is only about a mile from the Page Mill Road exit from I-280.

  And that stretch of I-280 between San Jose and San Francisco is one of the most beautiful drives in the country because the valley was preserved without any development in the 1920s as one of San Francisco's water supply reservoirs.  

  In spring you pass by the I-280 Redwood City/Edgewood Road exit you see serpentine wildflower fields, and if you drive past this time of year, open your windows to smell the native white flowered hayfield tarweeds in bloom, with their stems and branches emitting their lemony scent. 

  Sincerely,  Craig Dremann (650) 325-7333

  ========================================

  > ----- Original Message -----
  >
  From: craig at astreet.com
  > To: apwg at lists.plantconservation.org
  > Sent: Saturday, August 24, 2013 8:12 PM
  > Subject: [APWG] Funding a 70-acre weed-back-to-native project with
  > donations
  >
  >
  > Dear All,
  >
  > 'Phase one of the Poppy Project is completed in Palo Alto, California,
  > with very good results, using the weed straw to kill the annual weed
  > seedlings within 60 days of the seedlings sprouting. It is so very nice
  > to be able to kill the weeds with their own straw.
  >
  > The whole 70 acre project is going to be done with donations, and I am
  > trying GoFundMe as one way to fund this weeds-back-to-native conversion
  > project,, as you can see at http://www.gofundme.com/3yiq8s.
  >
  > I have been waiting over four decades for the local government agencies
  > or public land managers to get the funding together to do a project like
  > this in my area, and since I will turn 60 in a few months, decided to
  > see if the public might support the project directly, so we can get
  > something going during my lifetime.
  >
  > As far as I know, this will be only the fourth project in California, to
  > take a 100% weed infested grassland ecosystem >10 acres, and try and
  > convert it back to the original local wildflowers and native grasses.
  > You can see photos of the potential of what California used to look like
  > 300 years ago, before we got 99.99% weed infested at
  > http://www.ecoseeds.com/wild.html.
  >
  > My project is right next to the parking lot at the Palo Alto Arastradero
  > Preserve, so anyone is welcome to come and watch as the project
  > progresses. All the native animals are coming to visit,, a coyote,
  > butterflies, hundreds of bumblebees in spring, two doves, gophers, a
  > rabbit and a couple of lizards, within a few months of establishing the
  > natives as a solid 99.99% weed-free stand.
  >
  > Sincerely, Craig Dremann (650) 325-7333
  >
  >
  >
  > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  >
  >
  >
  > _______________________________________________
  > PCA's Alien Plant Working Group mailing list
  > APWG at lists.plantconservation.org
  > http://lists.plantconservation.org/mailman/listinfo/apwg_lists.plantconservation.org
  >
  > Disclaimer
  > Any requests, advice or opinions posted to this list reflect ONLY the
  > opinion of the individual posting the message.
  > _______________________________________________
  > PCA's Alien Plant Working Group mailing list
  > APWG at lists.plantconservation.org
  > http://lists.plantconservation.org/mailman/listinfo/apwg_lists.plantconservation.org
  >
  > Disclaimer
  > Any requests, advice or opinions posted to this list reflect ONLY the
  > opinion of the individual posting the message.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  _______________________________________________
  PCA's Alien Plant Working Group mailing list
  APWG at lists.plantconservation.org
  http://lists.plantconservation.org/mailman/listinfo/apwg_lists.plantconservation.org

  Disclaimer
  Any requests, advice or opinions posted to this list reflect ONLY the opinion of the individual posting the message.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.plantconservation.org/pipermail/apwg_lists.plantconservation.org/attachments/20130827/25a82d1d/attachment.html>