<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2180" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Craig et y'all: </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Naw, I'd say it was more like 4.4 (actually
4.39956) square feet--if I wanted to be ridiculously consistent. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>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? </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>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. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Maybe I'll get a chance to see this miracle one of
these days. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>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.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>WT</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>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. </FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=craig@astreet.com
href="mailto:craig@astreet.com">craig@astreet.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=apwg@lists.plantconservation.org
href="mailto:apwg@lists.plantconservation.org">apwg@lists.plantconservation.org</A>
; <A title=craig@ecoseeds.com
href="mailto:craig@ecoseeds.com">craig@ecoseeds.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, August 27, 2013 11:34
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [APWG] Funding a 70-acre
weed-back-to-native project with donations--99.99% natives</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<P>> What, exactly, does "99.99% weed-infested" mean?<BR>><BR>> What,
excatly, does "99.99% weed-free" mean?<BR>><BR>> WT</P>
<P>Dear Wayne,</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>This goes to the heart of my idea of spacial extinction of local native
plants. </P>
<P>We usually look at the term extinction to mean the death of an entire
species, like the Passenger pigeon, for example. </P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>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. </P>
<P>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.
</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>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. </P>
<P>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. </P>
<P>Sincerely, Craig Dremann (650) 325-7333</P>
<P>========================================</P>
<P>> ----- Original Message -----<BR>><BR>From:
craig@astreet.com<BR>> To: apwg@lists.plantconservation.org<BR>> Sent:
Saturday, August 24, 2013 8:12 PM<BR>> Subject: [APWG] Funding a 70-acre
weed-back-to-native project with<BR>> donations<BR>><BR>><BR>>
Dear All,<BR>><BR>> 'Phase one of the Poppy Project is completed in Palo
Alto, California,<BR>> with very good results, using the weed straw to kill
the annual weed<BR>> seedlings within 60 days of the seedlings sprouting.
It is so very nice<BR>> to be able to kill the weeds with their own
straw.<BR>><BR>> The whole 70 acre project is going to be done with
donations, and I am<BR>> trying GoFundMe as one way to fund this
weeds-back-to-native conversion<BR>> project,, as you can see at
http://www.gofundme.com/3yiq8s.<BR>><BR>> I have been waiting over four
decades for the local government agencies<BR>> or public land managers to
get the funding together to do a project like<BR>> this in my area, and
since I will turn 60 in a few months, decided to<BR>> see if the public
might support the project directly, so we can get<BR>> something going
during my lifetime.<BR>><BR>> As far as I know, this will be only the
fourth project in California, to<BR>> take a 100% weed infested grassland
ecosystem >10 acres, and try and<BR>> convert it back to the original
local wildflowers and native grasses.<BR>> You can see photos of the
potential of what California used to look like<BR>> 300 years ago, before
we got 99.99% weed infested at<BR>>
http://www.ecoseeds.com/wild.html.<BR>><BR>> My project is right next to
the parking lot at the Palo Alto Arastradero<BR>> Preserve, so anyone is
welcome to come and watch as the project<BR>> progresses. All the native
animals are coming to visit,, a coyote,<BR>> butterflies, hundreds of
bumblebees in spring, two doves, gophers, a<BR>> rabbit and a couple of
lizards, within a few months of establishing the<BR>> natives as a solid
99.99% weed-free stand.<BR>><BR>> Sincerely, Craig Dremann (650)
325-7333<BR>><BR>><BR>><BR>>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>><BR>><BR>><BR>>
_______________________________________________<BR>> PCA's Alien Plant
Working Group mailing list<BR>> APWG@lists.plantconservation.org<BR>>
http://lists.plantconservation.org/mailman/listinfo/apwg_lists.plantconservation.org<BR>><BR>>
Disclaimer<BR>> Any requests, advice or opinions posted to this list
reflect ONLY the<BR>> opinion of the individual posting the
message.<BR>> _______________________________________________<BR>> PCA's
Alien Plant Working Group mailing list<BR>>
APWG@lists.plantconservation.org<BR>>
http://lists.plantconservation.org/mailman/listinfo/apwg_lists.plantconservation.org<BR>><BR>>
Disclaimer<BR>> Any requests, advice or opinions posted to this list
reflect ONLY the<BR>> opinion of the individual posting the message.</P>
<P>
<HR>
<P></P><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>PCA's Alien
Plant Working Group mailing
list<BR>APWG@lists.plantconservation.org<BR>http://lists.plantconservation.org/mailman/listinfo/apwg_lists.plantconservation.org<BR><BR>Disclaimer<BR>Any
requests, advice or opinions posted to this list reflect ONLY the opinion of
the individual posting the message.</BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>