[RWG] Grassland survey to determine that 98 percent of New Mexico grass species may go extinct in the next 100 years Re: 98% of NM native grass species may go extinct in next 100 years 100years

[Wayne Tyson]

Craig (anyone feel free to comment):

I'm going to approach this one issue at a time.

How did you determine that "a 100-plant transect" will, in all cases, 
provide an optimal/adequate sample? What size area will this single transect 
be valid for?

WT

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Craig Dremann - Redwood City Seed Company" <Craig at astreet.com>
To: <rwg at lists.plantconservation.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2012 3:18 PM
Subject: [RWG] 98% of NM native grass species may go extinct in next 100 
years 100years


> Dear Wayne and All,
>
> Thanks for your email.  What I am suggesting for New Mexico also goes for
> the arid western grasslands, including California, the Southwest and the
> Great Basin.  I am suggesting a survey to see if your grassland biome is
> reproducing or not.   It is very simple to conduct a 100-plant transect in
> a small area and measure basal diameter of plants, to see if the
> population is all plants that are not reproducing, or if you see some
> young ones around.  You can read details at
> http://www.ecoseeds.com/extinct.html.
>
> My 1997 Megatransect survey of the Great Basin from California to South
> Dakota and back, at http://www.ecoseeds.com/megatransect.html--except for
> Yellowstone NP, each state that I did the survey through had less than 50%
> of its native grass cover left.  California=<1%, Colorado=44%, South
> Dakota=43%, Wyoming=40%, Nevada=34%, Utah=32%, Idaho=6% for the areas
> surveyed.
>
> Also the native grass surveys that I have done on the East Coast, much
> less than 50% is left of forest understory of the native non-riparian
> grass species, maybe 1-5% overall.
>
> I see this dwindling native grass resource similar to the Passenger
> pigeons, as if we were living in the mid-1800s and someone reported that a
> State had done a survey and found that only 44% of the original Passenger
> pigeon population was left, compared to say 1790.
>
> If you find that your grasslands are dwindling in percentage cover, then
> on top of that not reproducing, then your biome is in very, very bad
> trouble for future survival.
>
> Part-two of the easy grassland method can then be used to see if it is a
> soil nutrient problem that is stopping reproduction.  You take some of the
> bare soil from around the old grass plants, where seedlings should be
> growing, and plant some of those same native grass seeds in two
> containers, and see what the soil needs by adding fertilizers to one and
> not the other, like you can see at
> http://www.ecoseeds.com/good.example.html.
>
> If public grassland grazing management agencies like BLM and the USFS that
> manage millions of acres and military bases that allow grazing, went out
> and checked their grasslands--at a minimum to check for reproduction--I
> believe there would be a huge surprise at what is going on in our public
> grasslands, and then what it will take to get them to reproduce again.
>
> I first did this basal-diameter survey method with BLM in the California
> deserts in Susanville and in Barstow over a decade ago, and am confident
> that surveys of our other public grasslands will show an interesting
> perspective on grassland management and help us see what the possibilities
> are for their survival into the future.
>
> Sincerely,  Craig Dremann (650) 325-7333
>
>
>
>
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