CONTRIBUTED AND INVITED ABSTRACTS for Oral Presentations

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SESSION 1: The Science of Threats: Conservation not by the Seat of Our Pants

1.01 Recorded threats to rare Californian plants

Shannon Still1, Nick Jensen2, James André3 1Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, IL, USA, 2Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, CA, USA, 3University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA, sstill@chicagobotanic.org

The California Natural Diversity Database (CNDDB) records 45 threat categories for plants and animals in the state. These threat categories cover factors that may cause a species to be vulnerable. When element occurrence (EO) reports are submitted to the CNDDB, threats are recorded into one of these broad categories. Of the 36,309 plant EO records in CNDDB, 30,342 have a recorded threat and 77% of the species have at least one threat listed for more than 5% of the EOs for the species. The four most common reported threats for the rare Californian flora are road and trail construction and maintenance, grazing, development and the impact from non-native plants. While these categories help us understand the vulnerabilities to rare plants in the state, there is room for improvement in how we categorize and track threats. Of the 1,720 rare Californian taxa used in the study, 22% have no threats recorded. More importantly, 12% of species categorized as seriously threatened in California by California Native Plant Society have no reported threats. This presentation will outline the current threats to the rare Californian flora, highlight areas of strengths in current methods, and discuss some overlooked impacts.

1.02 How right are our threat ranks?: More accurately assessing the threats to California's rare plants

Nick Jensen1, Aaron E. Sims2, Shannon Still3 1Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, CA, USA, 2California Native Plant Society, Sacramento, CA, USA, 3Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, IL, USA, njensen@rsabg.org

Conservation and government agencies are tasked with managing information on threats to more than 2300 plants recognized as rare in the state of California. Primary challenges include accurately identifying specific threats to and maintaining overall threat level rankings for each taxon. The California Native Plant Society maintains a numerical threat ranking for each rare plant and lists information on specific threats in its Online Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants (CNPS Inventory). The California Natural Diversity Database (CNDDB) uses 45 specific codes to catalog reported threats to occurrences of the state's rare plants and animals. An analysis of these data enable us to compare threat levels and reported threats in the CNDDB with those reported in the CNPS Inventory. For each taxon, we review the percentage of threatened occurrences indicated by the CNPS Inventory threat rank and compare this to the data included in the CNDDB. This analysis allows us to determine if the rank reported in the CNPS Inventory is supported by data included in the CNDDB. We also identify the primary threat categories reported in the CNDDB and compare these with the threats listed in the CNPS Inventory. This analysis shows that data sharing between CNPS and CNDDB would result in more accurate and up-to-date threat data and rankings. We also provide a model for how these data may be presented in future versions of the CNPS Inventory.

1.03 Management of the cryptic threats of genetic erosion, inbreeding depression, and maladaptation

Deborah Rogers1,2 1Center for Natural Lands Management, Temecula, CA, USA, 2University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA, drogers@cnlm.org

Even when the primary objective of wildland ecosystems is protection and conservation of native species and ecological processes, it is challenging to maintain the components that comprise a natural system. Genetic diversity is one of those management challenges - cryptic, always changing, and often only signaling a problem when it has reached a critical point. Plant genomics promises to make more efficient the process of assessing adaptive genetic diversity but we still have large potentials in applying available conservation genetic principles. The objective is to provide illustrations of applying genetic principles to conservation and restoration and to review recent literature for specific examples. Principles will be revisited in the context of rapid climate change, where uncertainty remains of the rationale for moving plant materials in anticipation of specific climatic changes. As genetic study results amass for California native plants, it is clear that more genetic diversity and structuring remains than might be predicted for some rare or listed species. Further, variable ploidy within a species is a genetic feature that is rarely taken into account with restoration projects yet is quite common. Genetic diversity is more important than ever in its role of providing a means to adapt to changing conditions-whether they are natural or anthropogenic in origin. Whether we manage for and support that diversity, or undermine it by lack of consideration or inappropriate application of information or misguided assumptions, can have a substantial impact on the longevity of native plant species and resilience of our wildland ecosystems.

1.04 Phylogenetic diversity and phylogenetic endemism in the California flora

Brent Mishler, Bruce Baldwin, David Ackerly University and Jepson Herbaria, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, bmishler@berkeley.edu

Biodiversity is usually measured by examining changes in the number of species across a region to identify areas of particularly high species diversity and endemism. However, investigation of species distribution alone misses the full richness of analyses that can result from taking a phylogenetic approach. We are applying a novel suite of phylogenetic tools including two new metrics, Relative Phylogenetic Diversity and Relative Phylogenetic Endemism and a new method called Categorical Analysis of Neo- And Paleo-Endemism (CANAPE) that allows, for the first time, a clear, quantitative distinction between centers of recent and old endemism. Application of this approach to the exceptionally rich vascular flora of California is facilitated by the Consortium of California Herbaria database, the online Jepson eFlora for California, and the wealth of phylogenetic studies that have already been done. A comprehensive phylogeny for California plants is being built, using existing data from Genbank as well as fresh material gathered via an innovative collaboration with citizen scientists from the California Native Plant Society. Spatial analysis of phylogenetic diversity and phylogenetic endemism across the state will then be carried out using appropriate statistical tests. Understanding patterns of biodiversity on the landscape is important for conservation planning, given the need to prioritize efforts in the face of rapid habitat loss and human-induced climate change. These new phylogenetic methods allow assessment of protected lands that is not limited by reliance on species assessment alone and can identify complementary areas of biodiversity that have unique evolutionary histories in need of conservation.

1.05 Using experiments and demographic models to assess rare plant vulnerability to renewable energy development in the California Deserts

Kara Moore1, Karen Tanner3, James Andre5, Patrick McIntyre4, Bruce Pavlik2 1University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA, 2BMP Ecosciences, Oakland, CA, USA, 3University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA, 4California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Sacramento, CA, USA, 5University of California Natural Reserve System, Riverside, CA, USA, kmoore@ucdavis.edu

Pressing challenges for plant conservation in the California Deserts are the advance of solar energy development and incomplete understanding of basic plant biology and distributions. How can we rapidly collect the information necessary on species- and site-specific population dynamics to effectively design mitigation and conservation measures? We have developed an integrated approach to assessing the vulnerability of a suite of representative rare plant species in the region. We implemented a prioritized series of demographic and experimental studies over the past four years to identify the types of species, populations, and life stages most vulnerable to impact or prone to conservation efforts. We have found substantial variation in vegetative and sexual reproduction between study populations for several rare plants, including between populations that vary in putative impact by development. For a subset of species, we designed population viability analysis and applied them to identify sensitive vital rates and compare quasi-extinction probabilities under different climate and impact scenarios. By utilizing practical experiments to test for the effects of real or simulated impacts, we have found differences in vital rates between natural and disturbed populations adjacent to and within solar installations and significant negative effects of panel shade on rare plant communities.

1.06 Mechanisms underlying vegetation changes due to redistribution of surface water on a desert bajada

Darren Sandquist1, April Newlander1, Miguel Macias1, Aimee Roach1, David Bedford2, David Miller2 1California State University, Fullerton, Fullerton, CA, USA, 2U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA, USA, dsandquist@fullerton.edu

Small washes and channels occupy a limited spatial area on desert bajadas, but may be the most important geomorphic feature influencing vegetation properties and processes. We examined the functional influence of small channels on the vegetation of a Mojave Desert bajada by conducting a series of studies that contrast an undisturbed area versus an area influenced by a ~100 year old linear disturbance (railroad and parallel road). Below the disturbance, where flow has been either increased due to channel coalescence into culverts, or cut off due to diversion, plant community structure and cover has changed drastically relative to the undisturbed area. Simulated runoff experiments, conducted in active (undisturbed) and inactive (cut-off) channels, revealed that creosote bush (Larrea tridentata [Zyophyllaceae]) plants within three m of a channel, and white bursage (Ambrosia dumosa [Asteraceae]) plants within two m of the channel had access to water from the channel, however, access was more variable for plants adjacent to inactive channels than for those near active channels. These consistent differences, when compounded through time, likely contribute to broad-scale changes in vegetation. Our findings suggest that root patterns and functions associated with channels are altered when water flow is reduced or eliminated over extended periods of time, and indicate that disturbance of small desert washes can lead to vegetation shifts through time with consequences that span many scales. The spatial influence of small washed on adjacent plants, suggests that these modest geomorphic features may have a disproportionate impact on plant function and community properties in arid ecosystems.

1.07 Species composition, stand structure, and the legacy of long fire intervals in mixed jeffrey pine forests of southern California, USA and the Sierra San Pedro Mártir, Baja California, Mexico

Ann Bowers, Richard Minnich University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA, abowe002@ucr.edu

In mixed conifer forests (MCF) of the western United States, increasing stand density and a shift towards more flammable shade tolerant tree species has been an unintended consequence of fire suppression in the last century. The Sierra San Pedro Mártir (SSPM), in Baja California, Mexico, has not been subjected to programmatic fire suppression and is a potential proxy for MCF in Southern California and elsewhere to guide forest restoration efforts. This study compares the effects of long time intervals between fires in Southern California as a consequence of fire suppression with locations in the SSPM where intervals between fires were shorter in the absence of fire suppression. Non-metric multi-dimensional scaling (NMS) was used to ordinate and compare species and structural data from four locations in the SSPM to four locations in SoCal, where each had a documented history of fire events in the last century. Recent burns with long intervals of time between fires were found to have significantly higher stand density and abundance of shade tolerant trees in post-fire stands than recent burns with shorter intervals between fires, a condition that carries over the threat of stand-replacing fire into the next fire cycle. Older stands that burned only once early in the 20th century were statistically identical in species composition and density. These results provide evidence of the legacy of fire suppression and yield quantitative estimates of historical species abundance and stand density to guide ecological restoration and improve forest health by restoring the historical resilience of MCF to recurring fire.

1.08 Status of Tamarix (Tamaricaceae) biocontrol in the lower Colorado River Basin

Tom Dudley University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA, tdudley@msi.ucsb.edu

The program to develop biological control of invasive Tamarix spp. using the specialist tamarisk leaf beetle, Diorhabda carinulata (Chrysomelidae), has resulted in tens of thousands of hectares of tamarisk vegetation defoliated above ca. 37 N latitude, with early indication of some anticipated benefits for groundwater conservation, wildlife habitat and reduced wildfire risk. Evolution of improved developmental response by the beetle has allowed establishment southward through the Virgin River to Lake Mead and beyond, where there is both need for control and concern for nesting habitat of the endangered SW willow flycatcher. Repeat herbivory has led to target mortality in some areas, and there is indication that both edaphic conditions and plant genotype have an influence on plant responses. We are currently monitoring colonization, and conducting experimental trials in order to anticipate impacts once tamarisk biocontrol is established in the lower Colorado River region. Our team is also designing and implementing restoration programs for key locations to enhance recovery of native cottonwood-willow riparian woodlands.

1.09 California State Wildlife Action 2015 update, as a vision and a collaboration tool for California landscape conservation

Junko Hoshi California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Sacramento, CA, USA, junko.hoshi@wildlife.ca.gov

The US federal government requires each state to present the state's wildlife conservation priorities every decade in exchange for annual grant, a precious funding source for conserving at-risk wildlife species not necessarily being federally or stately listed. Under the State Wildlife Action Plan 2015 (SWAP2015), the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) leverages this requirement into creating conservation vision for the diverse state's ecosystems, providing a set of actionable strategies, with an expectation to ameliorate undesirable impacts to systems and to enhance their sustainability by implementing those strategies. Adapting a systematic planning process called Open Standard for the Practice of

Conservation, SWAP2015 was carefully designed so that the expected outcomes and the associated actions to become SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound), and that it is readily applicable for adaptive management process. If properly implemented, SWAP2015 would become a robust conservation tool for biodiversity and for many vegetation communities. A major outcome of the exercise is a deep realization that California landscape is a shared entity and CDFW's standalone capability to safeguard natural resources is too limited. Collaboration among diverse stakeholders is not only desirable but indispensable for adequately conserve natural treasures while being practical receiving public supports. This recognition resulted in a development of companion plans to provide "forums" for collaboration for focal topics including agriculture, transportation, energy development, and tribe lands. Individual companion plan highlights our shared action priorities among our partners for the next generation, in addition to those strategies identified under the main document.

1.10 A systems approach to conservation: Western Riverside County as a test case

Michael Allen University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA, michael.allen@ucr.edu

Biodiversity protection is largely based on the protection of individual species through minimizing “take” including habitat protection. Often this protection assumes that listed species provide an “umbrella” for protecting the broader biodiversity of a region. However, is this approach the only one upon which we should depend? My research focuses on the range of species that regulate ecosystem functioning. In many cases, this includes microorganisms, which with few exceptions, are excluded from listing. With microorganisms, we often do not have a good working definition of a species. Further, two populations of a single “species” are rarely genetically identical. I propose that biodiversity protection depends upon integrating habitat delineation for communities, integrating connectivity across landscapes and regions, and overlapping with sustainable ecosystem processes. The Western Riverside County Multiple Species Habitat Plan provides an example system. The planning process included a large number of animals and plants of concern. But within the habitats identified and linked exist fungal taxa critical to the functioning of those ecosystems. While many of the fungi could be identified to a “species”, sequencing shows that they are unique to this region. Integrating the complexity of approaches is critical to the future of biodiversity protection.

SESSION 2: Plant Science

2.01 Patterns of plant diversity and endemism in the California Floristic Province

Dylan Burge1, James Thorne2, Susan Harrison2, Bart O'Brien3, James Shevock1, Edward Alverson4, Linda Hardison4 1California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, USA, 2Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA, 3Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Berkeley, CA, USA, 4Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA, dylan.o.burge@gmail.com

The California Floristic Province (CFP) is a region of exceptional botanical diversity in western North America. The region spans several political units, including parts of California, Oregon, Nevada, and Baja California, Mexico. Consequently, assembling a complete list of plants from this region has proven difficult. In a collaborative effort, a complete list was assembled for the vascular plant species native to the CFP. It was found that a total of 4,815 species are native to the CFP, 40% of which are endemic to the region. Remarkably, more than 31% of the species found in the California portion of the CFP are shared with Baja California, underlining the intimate connection between the flora of the United States and Mexico. Understanding patterns of diversity in the CFP, including floristic connections across the United States-Mexico border, will improve understanding of the North American Flora, and lead to positive conservation outcomes for imperiled plant species found in both countries.

2.02 Molecular phylogeny and character evolution of Fritillaria subgenus Liliorhiza (Liliaceae)

Sean Ryan, Michael Simpson San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA, fritillariasean@gmail.com

Fritillaria (Liliaceae) is a genus of 130 species of geophytes distributed in the temperate northern hemisphere. Approximately 20-25 North American species have been placed into subgenus Liliorhiza based on bulb, leaf, and flower morphology. This group's taxonomy needs clarification because of synonymy and because many species are rare, threatened, or endangered. Fifty-seven samples of 25 taxa were sequenced for three genes: the nuclear ribosomal internal and external transcribed spacers (ITS and ETS); and the chloroplast ribosomal protein L16 intron (rpl16). These data were combined with those of a previous phylogenetic study and analyzed using maximum likelihood (ML), Bayesian inference (BI), and species tree estimation methods. Fritillaria subgenus Liliorhiza was found to be monophyletic and contains three clades corresponding to a previous morphology-based classification, with minor exceptions. Fritillaria affinis “tristulis”, a taxon considered illegitimate by recent taxonomists, was determined to be distinct based on a seven base pair indel discovered in the rpl16 intron, and by a Bayes factor comparison of species delimitation hypotheses. Fritillaria “ritteri”, a putative new taxon, formed a strongly supported clade separate from all other species in all analyses and was also determined to be distinct based on Bayes factor comparisons of species delimitation hypotheses. Character evolution analyses indicate that 1) whorled leaf arrangement is ancestral for the subgenus and has changed to alternate one to many times; 2) rice-grain bulblets are ancestral for the subgenus and have been subsequently lost in a single clade; and 3) style division is highly variable with little phylogenetic signal.

2.03 Patterns of rarity and endemism in California monkeyflowers (Phrymaceae).

Naomi Fraga Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, CA, USA, nfraga@rsabg.org

Plants placed in the genus Mimulus (Phrymaceae), as traditionally defined, are commonly known as monkeyflowers. These charismatic plants are exceedingly diverse in western North America with over 150 of the nearly 200 species worldwide occurring here. Nearly 60% (ca. 100) of the species native to western North American occur in California. However, Mimulus has recently undergone significant changes in taxonomy leaving the name Mimulus virtually absent from the California flora. I will briefly overview these changes and provide information on how to identify the three genera in Phrymaceae that are now recognized in California: Erythranthe, Diplacus and Mimetanthe and how these differ from Mimulus in the strict sense. I will also provide an analysis of rarity and endemism in California monkeyflowers with insight from recent studies investigating modes of speciation and biogeographic patterns. At least 66 species of Erythranthe and Diplacus or more than 40% of the western North American species are currently listed by U.S. government agencies and native plant societies as sensitive, rare, or endangered, making it a group of conservation concern. At least ten new species of Erythranthe native to California have been described in the past three years and many of these are rare species of conservation concern. An evaluation of improved knowledge of species delimitation and its implications for understanding range size, natural rarity, and conservation will be presented.

2.04 Names, specimens, characters: Revised taxonomy of Hydrophylloideae (Boraginaceae s.l.) in California

Genevieve Walden1,2 1Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, 2University and Jepson Herbaria, University of Berkeley, California, Berkeley, CA, USA, gkwalden@gmail.com

Boraginaceae is the fourth most species-rich plant family in the California flora (318 species, 4.84% TJM2; Asteraceae 923 spp., 14.04%; Poaceae 460 spp., 7.00%; Fabaceae 421 spp., 6.40%), and includes Hydrophylloideae, which alone would be the thirteenth most species-rich group (136 species, 2.06% TJM2). Hydrophylloideae (Boraginaceae s.l.) has fifteen genera with a distributional range

extending throughout North America, Central America, Caribbean, Hawaii, and temperate South America (ca. 320 spp. worldwide). Twelve genera naturally occur in the California Floristic Province; Tricardia occurs in the Desert/Great Basin region of California, Wigandia is naturalized in the California Southern Coast but native to subtropical Americas, and Ellisia occurs in the eastern United States. Molecular phylogenetic analyses (nucDNA and cpDNA markers) in combination with museum specimen collections are used to evaluate relationships within and between genera in Hydrophylloideae, compare classifications, consider drivers of diversification between diverse and less-diverse clades, and examine evolution of characters in the subfamily. Spatiotemporal patterns of species discovery, voucher collections, and specimen citations for common, endemic, and rare taxa of Hydrophylloideae in the California flora is presented with consideration of land use and technological change, legislative protection, and taxonomic bias. A revised taxonomy of the Hydrophylloideae is proposed with discussion of species identification and delimitation, updated range maps and biogeographical analyses, and a working key to taxa.

2.05 Ongoing changes in the taxonomy of the genus Monardella (Lamiaceae): New taxa and old names continue to be recognized in this complex genus

Mark Elvin1, Andrew Sanders2 1UCLA Herbarium, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 2UCR Herbarium, Riverside, CA, USA, mark_elvin@fws.gov

A considerable amount of research in Monardella (Lamiaceae) remains in order to gain a reasonable understanding of its taxonomy and diversity. Undescribed species remain, some hiding in plain sight, both in California and the remainder of its range throughout western North America. Since the publication of the 2012 Jepson Manual, within California, three new taxa have been described from southern California, an additional taxon has been recognized and realigned from the San Francisco Bay region, and the M. villosa complex has been partially revised. Outside of California, two new species, one from Arizona and another from Oregon and Idaho, have been described, and six additional taxa are currently in edit. Many of these new taxa are narrow or edaphic endemics that had been poorly represented in herbaria; however, surprisingly, some are well-represented with specimens dating back to the 1880s. Based on this sample from the genus, it is possible that there may be an additional 30 to 50 percent more taxa than were recognized with the publication of the Jepson Manual. Some of these taxa have already been described (e.g., M. neglecta), but others will be new to science. These taxonomic revisions and discoveries have been or will be based on additional fieldwork and collections, analyses of additional characters (e.g., trichome morphology), a genus-wide analysis that extends beyond a single physiographic area, and a continuing examination of morphological patterns.

2.06 Phylogenetic relatedness predicts ecological similarity: Evidence from a two-year field experiment

Brian Anacker, Sharon Strauss University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA, blanacker@ucdavis.edu

Close relatives are expected to have more similar niches than distant relatives, owing to their shared ancestry. To assess how phylogenetic relatedness influences the assembly of California native plant communities, we conducted a two-year field experiment at the Bodega Bay Marine Reserve, California. We placed 16 native plant species into the microsites of species that varied in their phylogenetic distance to the focal species to determine where the focal plant species does or does not thrive. This approach explores the relationship between phylogenetic relatedness and ecological similarity within the full dimensionality of the field niche. We also experimentally reduced the number of plant neighbors surrounding the focal species to examine how the strength of interactions with neighbors varies with the phylogenetic distance from that neighbor, and measured several plant traits relevant to species coexistence. We found that phylogenetic relatedness and ecological similarity were clearly linked: plant growth declined with phylogenetic distance, and focal species performance was better in conspecific than congeneric microsites, which was, in turn, better than in confamilial microsites. However, the favorability of close relative microsites was partially offset by higher competition in the same microsites. Remarkably,

our results were consistent across the two years of our study, which differed greatly in their rainfall, in the planting microsites used, as well as in having only partially overlapping sets of focal species. Finally, there was not a strong correlation between phylogenetic distance and plant traits, suggesting that phylogeny represents additional ecological information relevant to plant performance.

2.07 Physiological responses of Heteromeles arbutifolia (Rosaceae) to a naturally occurring spring and fall heatwave

Michal Shuldman1, Adam Roddy2, Kevin Simonin3, Todd Dawson2 1Las Positas College, Livermore, CA, USA, 2University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, 3San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA, mishuldman@berkeley.edu

Few studies have examined plant physiological responses in the field to naturally occurring heatwaves. The length, intensity and frequency of heatwaves are all expected to increase as a consequence of global climate change. We examined the responses of resprouting and mature individuals of Heteromeles arbutifolia to a naturally occurring spring and fall heatwave. During both heatwaves, plants were able to maintain their normal water status on a diurnal basis. During the spring heatwave stomatal conductance did not differ from pre-heatwave values; however, we saw that during the fall, when soil water availability was comparatively lower, stomatal conductance dropped during the heatwave. In water-limited conditions, such as the end of the dry season in a Mediterranean type climate, the restriction of water loss may be more critical than the transpirational cooling of leaves, assuming leaves stay below lethal temperatures. We found no evidence that either heatwave reduced carbon fixation or harmed the photosystem. One way that plants cope with high temperatures is by shifting the time when they are most active. During the fall heatwave, electron transport rate (ETR) was higher in the morning compared to a pre-heatwave day and lower at the end of the day. The resprouts in our study had higher conductance, transpiration, and ETR compared to mature shrubs; however, resprouts and shrubs did not respond differently to the heatwaves we studied. Heteromeles arbutifolia may be well adapted to cope with heatwaves of the magnitudes we examined.

2.08 Local adaptation versus genetic rescue in the Threatened Tiburon mariposa lily, Calochortus tiburonensis (Liliaceae)

Sarah Swope Mills College, Oakland, CA, USA, sswope@mills.edu

Serpentine soils are stressful places for plants to live because they have low concentrations of nutrients and high concentrations of toxic heavy metals. Plants must adapt to tolerate these conditions, often resulting in locally adapted populations. An important question in evolutionary ecology is whether gene flow between patches enhances or restricts local adaptation: gene flow from other patches may interfere with local adaptation by introducing maladapted alleles or it might enhance local adaptation by introducing novel genetic material. I worked in two high density populations of the serpentine endemic Calochortus tiburonensis, one of which occurs on serpentine soils with lower levels of toxic heavy metals (“typical”) and the other occurs on patches with significantly higher heavy metal concentrations (“stressful”). I hand pollinated plants in each population with pollen from the same population or from the other population. Plants on the “stressful” patches produced 2.5 times more seeds when the donor was from the same population than when the pollen came from the other population, suggesting strong local adaptation. Plants on the “typical” patches produced 3 times more seed when they were pollinated by plants from the other population than when the donor was from their own population. In this case, the population may be suffering from a loss of genetic diversity and gene flow enhanced fitness. Artificial gene flow has been proposed as a tool for enhancing rare plant populations but these data suggest that whether this is advisable depends on local genetic structure which can vary over short distances.

2.09 Host relationships of the endangered plant palmate salty bird’s-beak, Chloropyron palmatum (Orobanchaceae)

Ellen Cypher2,1, Brian Cypher2 1California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Fresno, CA, USA, 2California State University-Stanislaus Endangered Species Recovery Program, Turlock, CA, USA, ecypher@bak.rr.com

The endangered, annual plant palmate salty bird’s-beak (Chloropyron palmatum) is a hemiparasite, meaning that it must obtain water and nutrients from the roots of other (i.e., host) plants even though it manufactures its own food through photosynthesis. However, host plants for this species have not been conclusively identified. We conducted a study at Alkali Sink Ecological Reserve, Fresno County, California, to determine whether any particular perennial plants were associated with palmate salty bird’s-beak, and whether they had a beneficial effect on its survival or reproduction. Although six perennial plant species grew within two meters of random sampling points, the association of each with palmate salty bird’s-beak was random. Survival of palmate salty bird’s-beak individuals from the seedling stage to seed-set was significantly higher in association with alkali heath (Frankenia salina [Frankeniaceae]) or rusty molly (Kochia californica [Chenopodiaceae]) than in their absence. Measures of reproductive performance also indicated that alkali heath and rusty molly were beneficial hosts. Another subshrub, bush seepweed (Suaeda nigra [Chenopodiaceae]), alone did not influence survival or reproduction of palmate salty bird’s-beak. However, the presence of all three subshrub species significantly improved survival and reproduction compared to the presence of only one or two species. Alkali sinks with abundant subshrubs would be the most appropriate habitat to attempt reintroduction of palmate salty bird’s-beak in the San Joaquin Valley, and management that favors potential host plants may be beneficial within palmate salty bird’s-beak populations.

2.10 Managing for the recovery of a poorly understood endangered wetland grass

Amelia Ryan, Lorraine Parsons Point Reyes National Seashore, Point Reyes Station, CA, USA, Amelia_Ryan@nps.gov

Once fairly common around Sonoma and Marin Counties, the Federally Endangered wetland grass Sonoma Alopecurus (Alopecurus aequalis var. sonomensis [Poaceae]) is now restricted to seven very small populations in Point Reyes National Seashore (PRNS), and one struggling population at Annadel State Park in Santa Rosa. Numerous historic populations have been lost, primarily due to the once widespread practice of draining or filling wetlands. In recent times, additional populations in rangelands were lost when they were fenced off from cattle, suggesting that is species benefits from grazing. In 2012, PRNS embarked on a multi-year project to improve the status of Sonoma Alopecurus, with the main goals of developing better management strategies for existing populations and to introducing new populations. In order to meet the first goal, PRNS conducted a study to examine the effects of grazing on this species and to determine the optimal grazing regime. Preliminary results suggest that grazing does indeed benefit this species, but that seasonal grazing exclosures may be optimal. Data on soil, hydrology and plant community of two existing populations were gathered to assist in identifying similar sites for potential introduction. However, analysis found these two existing populations differed from each-other more than from the sites identified for potential introduction. PRNS used this initial data to revise its introduction approach to better reflect both what was known, and what remains elusive about the requirements of this species.

2.11 Monitoring restoration success by collecting data on the presence of bees and other pollinators

Jessa Cruz1, Mace Vaughn1, Kelly Gill1, Rufus Isaacs2, Emily May2, Dan Cariveau4, Neal Williams3, Rachel Winfree4, Michael Roswell4 1The Xerces Society, Portland, OR, USA, 2Michigan State University, E Lansing, CA, USA, 3University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA, 4Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA, jessa@xerces.org

At least 75% of all plants need pollinators. Pollinators need plants. Declines in honey bee colonies and wild pollinator populations in North America are alerting us to the need for more flowering plants for bees. A key component to any restoration effort is assessing whether or not the methods used are effective so that ongoing efforts can be adapted and improved. The Xerces Society, in collaboration with the University of California Davis, Michigan State University and Rutgers University, have developed a streamlined monitoring procedure that requires minimal time commitment, yet provides a reliable estimate of the abundance and diversity of pollinators attracted to a restoration site. To develop this simplified protocol researcher partners collected data on the abundance and species diversity of wild and managed bees visiting wildflower restorations over a three-year period in three regions of North America. Researchers simultaneously collected simplified data at varying levels of intensity at each site, and then compared the information gained by streamlined assessments to the full data set to determine the minimum effort required to reflect the abundance and diversity of bees at a restoration site. Training on the monitoring procedure is available to citizen scientists and restoration groups. The training teaches participants how to distinguish bees from other flower-visiting insects, to identify various bee species, and to learn methods for collecting data on bees. The presentation will give a brief overview of monitoring protocol and training resources provided by Xerces and partnering agencies, such as, the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

2.12 Terrestrial arthropods as indicators of restoration success

Wendy Dunbarr, Dr. Paula Schiffman California State University, Northridge, Northridge, CA, USA, ldybg1023@gmail.com

Coastal sage scrub is the most endangered habitat type in the United States, occupying 10-15% of its pre-European range. In most cases, restorations are considered successful when the native vegetation persists without supplemental care. However, restoration of native vegetation does not ensure the return of native fauna and ecosystem functions. Among animals, arthropods occupy the widest diversity of microhabitats and niches, making their presence a reasonable indicator of the nutrient cycling and interspecific interactions taking place in an ecosystem. This study addresses the usefulness of terrestrial arthropod assemblages in evaluating restoration success in the coastal sage scrub community of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area by comparing their species richness and abundance among three site types (native, invaded, and restored). Terrestrial arthropods were collected from five replicate plots within the three site types at two coastal sage scrub communities in the Santa Monica Mountains N.R.A. Both canyons have similar disturbance histories of open field agriculture, including grazing and tilling. Restoration at Cheeseboro and Zuma Canyons was performed in 2004 and 2009, respectively, and included the removal of non-native annual grasses and establishment of native plants. Preliminary results from Cheeseboro Canyon show a significant difference in the number of individuals per order among the three site types (p=0.005). However, there is no significant difference in the number of species (p=0.028) or Shannon diversity index (p=0.7) among the three site types, indicating that this restoration is not successful. Terrestrial arthropod data should be included with other tools in evaluating restoration projects.

2.13 Effects of increasing Carpobrotus edulis (Aizoaceae) dominance and native plant re-vegetation on coastal dune arthropods

Denise Knapp1,2, Zachary Philips3, Carla D'Antonio1 1University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA, 2Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Santa Barbara, CA, USA, 3University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA, dknapp@sbbg.org

The abundance of a plant invader is assumed to be an important determinant of its impact on native communities, but few studies have investigated this relationship explicitly. In this experimental study, we manipulated native plant diversity and cover, and cover of the invasive succulent, Carpobrotus edulis in a coastal dune system and asked how arthropod abundance, richness, and composition respond to these manipulations. Arthropods were sampled in March and June of 2013 using both pan traps (which capture primarily aerial taxa) and sand sifting. They were identified to family, and sorted to recognizable taxonomic units. Arthropod abundance decreased between 40 and 88% by season and sampling method with increasing Carpobrotus and decreasing native cover. This decrease was exponential, with steepest decreases occurring as Carpobrotus cover increased from 0 to 30%. Arthropod richness followed a similar pattern. Pan-trapped detritivores and thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) were the only groups that benefitted significantly from the greatly increased plant cover and thick litter associated with Carpobrotus invasion. Pan-trapped herbivores (particularly specialists), omnivores, and parasitoids, as well as soil predators, were all negatively affected. We suggest that, along with a reduction in native plant taxonomic and structural diversity, two unique characteristics of Carpobrotus contribute to these patterns: its dense fibrous roots restrict the movement of burrowing insects, and the low phylogenetic relatedness (high taxonomic isolation) of Carpobrotus to any co-occurring native plant species restricts the number of insects that can utilize it as a host.

2.14 Native perennial grassland restoration may not confer increased wildlife diversity or habitat utilization

Kristina Wolf, Roger Baldwin, Ryan Bourbour University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA, kmwolf@ucdavis.edu

In California's Central Valley, 98% of native grasslands have been destroyed or degraded due to weed invasion, farming, development, and habitat fragmentation. Grassland restoration is often assumed to provide a host of ecosystem services, including improved wildlife habitat, and therefore should result in higher wildlife abundance and diversity relative to unrestored and invaded grasslands. We compared relative wildlife utilization at paired restored and unrestored (control) grasslands at four locations in Yolo and Sacramento counties using live and camera traps, snake boards, and observational surveys in the spring and summer of 2014. Restored sites were planted with native perennial grasses 10-20 years ago but are heavily invaded with Mediterranean annual grasses and forbs. Control sites contained similar non-native plant assemblages but did not have any native grass cover. In general, mouse, vole, and snake utilization was higher at control relative to restored sites in both spring and summer. Summer raptor surveys revealed greater species diversity, foraging time, and attack rates at control sites as well, likely in response to greater rodent abundance. Within sites, species-specific responses were related to vegetative cover and percent bare ground. For example, Peromyscus maniculatus (deer mouse, Cricetidae) was associated with high bare ground and low vertical cover, regardless of site type (control/restored). Results from continued seasonal monitoring through winter 2016 may aid in clarifying goals and methods of restoration, but these current results suggest that restoring native California grasslands may not increase wildlife utilization, suggesting a more nuanced approach is required for the restoration of biodiversity.

2.15 Vascular plant diversity along salt exposure and water availability gradients in coastal California

Eric Wrubel2,1, V. Thomas Parker1 1San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA, 2National Park Service, Sausalito, CA, USA, ecwrubel@gmail.com

Patterns of species diversity, vegetation composition, and structure vary markedly in response to steep environmental gradients across California’s coastal landscapes. To describe the relationship between environmental factors and coastal vegetation patterns, we sampled shrublands along coast-inland gradients in Central California. The vegetation samples clustered into four broad functional groups, segregated along gradients of salt exposure and water availability. Alpha, beta, and gamma diversity were all significantly higher on coastal bluffs than they were at inland locations. Coastal alpha and beta diversity were nearly two times greater than inland, and coastal gamma diversity was 3.5 times greater at the coast. We propose a model of salt aerosol deposition for coastal regions, based on distance to shoreline, elevation, and topographic exposure. Higher species diversity was positively related to salt exposure and negatively related to heat load, a proxy for water availability. These factors can be used to model plant diversity hotspots and rare habitats for conservation and restoration planning at local and regional scales.

2.16 Effective use of vegetation classification in the development of natural community conservation plans

Todd Keeler-Wolf California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Sacramento, CA, USA, todd.keeler-wolf@wildlife.ca.gov

The integration of natural communities into natural community conservation planning (NCCP) is much easier than it was 20 years ago due to the more precise quantitative definition of vegetation types, their accurate depiction through mapping, and the understanding of how they can fit into the NCCP structure using the national vegetation classification hierarchy. Despite this, vegetation communities have not been effectively treated under most of these plans due to a lack of their understanding by agencies responsible for their authorship and/or review. A thorough revamping of the treatment of communities in NCCPs should be undertaken. Positive and negative examples from recently completed plans are presented suggesting a more effective plan development and organizational structure. Initial first steps such as evaluation and if necessary, creation of standard vegetation classification and maps, should be undertaken. These and other NCCP documents should be structured around a vegetation hierarchy, which can be defensibly organized to treat broad to specific habitats and communities depending upon the species covered in the plan.

2.17 Using an ecological sites framework to prioritize conservation management of grasslands at Tejon Ranch, California

Michael White Tejon Ranch Conservancy, Frazier Park, CA, USA, mwhite@tejonconservancy.org

Managers of conservation areas are continually faced with resource allocation considerations when planning management activities to maintain and enhance conservation values. Because Tejon Ranch grasslands support important elements of native biodiversity and the Tejon Ranch Company retains the right to graze cattle in conserved lands, developing grazing strategies for enhancing native grassland biodiversity in these rangelands has been a priority for the Tejon Ranch Conservancy. However, with over 100,000 acres of grasslands on the Ranch, prioritizing areas with the highest native plant enhancement potential is essential for effectively allocating management resources. Ecological sites are being promoted by federal land management agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S.D.A. Natural Resources Conservation Service as a conceptual framework for describing plant community states, state transitions, and potential responses to management actions to

facilitate management of vegetation communities. The Tejon Ranch Conservancy, in partnership with the U.C. Berkeley Range Ecology Laboratory, has been developing ecological site descriptions and documenting spatial and temporal variations in grassland plant communities to inform grassland management at Tejon Ranch. We have identified eleven ecological sites supporting grassland vegetation communities at Tejon Ranch and specific elements of native plant biodiversity (e.g., annual, perennial, and special status species) appear to be associated with particular ecological sites. I will discuss the relationships of elements of native grassland biodiversity with specific ecological sites and how we have used these relationships to prioritize planning and execution of conservation management at Tejon Ranch.

2.18 Leading edges, disjuncts, and local rarity: Thoughts on conservation of unique flora of the East Bay

Lech Naumovich Golden Hour Restoration Institute, Alameda, CA, USA, lech@goldenhour.org

In 2013, an updated checklist of vascular plants of the East Bay (Alameda and Contra Costa counties) was published. Initially published in 1997, many more sources of information on plant locations and collections were available for the updated publication. Access to new information has helped more accurately report existence or absence of a particular taxon. A total of 1,837 vascular plants (excluding waifs) are currently reported to occur in the East Bay. Just over 12% (222) of those taxa are either endemic to the area, or have a edge of their distribution in the East Bay area. This makes the East Bay an exceptionally important area for conservation, especially in light of climate change. Plants whose northern range terminates in the East Bay (98), represent nearly half of the plants encountering a range limit. The East Bay also serves as the inland limit for many coast-hugging plants (45). Some of these plants are already presumed extinct. Notably, few of these plants are state or federally listed, yet they will likely face the greatest pressure of climate change since their retreat to habitat is limited by urbanization. We present several examples of flora whose leading distribution range occurs in the East Bay, including rarities like Dirca occidentalis (Thymelaeaceae) and Monolopia gracilens (Asteraceae) alongside more cosmopolitan taxa such as Salvia mellifera (Lamiaceae) and Amsinckia vernicosa (Boraginaceae).

2.19 Our floristic province's missing element

Glen Holstein California Native Plant Society, Davis, CA, USA, holstein@cal.net

Vast open areas lacking woody plants contribute significantly to the California Floristic Province's high floral diversity. The families Asteraceae, Boraginaceae, Fabaceae, Liliaceae, Malvaceae, Onagraceae, Orobanchaceae, Papaveraceae, and Themidaceae are especially diverse in such areas, which are Asteraceae's great Madiinae subtribe's diversity center. Poaceae, in contrast, is relatively depauperate in California's open areas and more diverse where woody plants dominate. Open area subareas include alkaline areas rich in chenopods and vernal pools with their own distinctive diversity. These open areas' initial name California Prairie reflected their location and distinctiveness as well as the non-grass contribution to their floristic diversity and historically dominant vegetation. Subsequent historical accidents, however, caused them to be called "grasslands", leading to their de facto exclusion from the California Floristic Province and misinterpretation of their unique ecology. Ultimately it also reduced their conservation protection by emphasizing their non-native weedy grasses and devaluing their native endemic forbs. Chaparral, oak woodland, and coastal scrub are recognized California Floristic Province elements, but because its open areas are called "grasslands" they have been traditionally lumped with midwestern grasslands having a completely different climate and flora. Consequently their numerous endemic species and intimate association with California's Mediterranean climate have been almost entirely ignored as has a unique species dominance shift each year when water delivered to their predominantly clay substrates by winter rains is progressively depleted during a long growing season.

2.20 Procedures for creating systematic, random, spatial sampling schemas

Fran Evanisko Bureau of Land Management, CA, USA, franevanisko@sbcglobal.net

Between about 2000 and 2007, I worked with John Willoughby, the BLM California Botanist, to create the sampling schemas necessary for monitoring effects of OHV use in the Alogdones Dunes on the Peirson's Milkvetch (Astragalus magdalenae var. peirsonii [Fabaceae]). This effort required constructing 12 systematic transect grids including a total of 135 transects, and 37,126 sample points spaced at 25 meter intervals along the transects. These sample points were used to monitor the occurrence of Peirson's Milkvetch over time. Additionally, we created 775 randomly distributed, 10 by 10 point grid cells that were used to quantify the occurrence of OHV tracks in the dunes over time. In writing the code to create these schemas, I developed a series of procedures (functions, and routines) that can be used effectively to construct any spatial sampling schema that may be required, using point, line and quadrat features. In this presentation I use the Algodones Dunes sample schemas to illustrate how these procedures were used to develop a large and successful sampling schema. I then use a preliminary toolbar, I have developed, to illustrate how these procedures may be presented to users. Finally, I show a list of procedures and their parameters, available in the current VB.NET project, so that interested individuals can see how this library could be used to develop a wide range of systematic, random spatial sampling schemas.

SESSION 3: Pathogens & Pests

3.01 Introduced plant pathogens in native ecosystems: Concepts and impacts

David Rizzo University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA, dmrizzo@ucdavis.edu

Human-associated movement of plant pathogens from one part of the world to another has occurred for millennia with important economic and ecological consequences. In particular, introduced plant pathogens have had devastating impacts in native forest communities where hosts and pathogens have not co-evolved. Classic examples include chestnut blight, white pine blister rust, and, more recently, sudden oak death. Historically, forest pathogen introductions have come through a number of pathways including movement of live plant material, plant products (e.g., lumber, packing material), soil, and vectors (e.g., insects). In recent decades, introductions of pathogens have increased dramatically due to worldwide trade. At population or ecosystem scales, introduced diseases have altered forest composition, structure, succession, and biodiversity at regional scales. Large scale tree death may also have significant impacts on nutrient cycling and fire. Management of introduced pathogens is very difficult and requires efforts at multiple spatial scales ranging from individual trees to landscapes. At the largest scales, regulations are critical to prevent long distant movement of pathogens.

3.02 Single or multiple introductions of exotic pathogens can both be successful

Matteo Garbelotto University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, matteog@berkeley.edu

Worldwide records of exotic water molds in the genus Phytophthora (Pythiaceae) have increased in the last decade more than those of any other groups of plant pathogens. Phytophthoras probably represent the best example of serious threats to the health of native ecosystems introduced by commercial commodities such as ornamental plants or production crops. I discuss here the history of two such species in California, namely P. lateralis and P. cinnamomi, both from the Asian continent, but characterized by a distinct history, biology, and impact on the State’s native flora. The first is a soil and water borne pathogen specialized to Port Orford cedar, putatively introduced a single time through infected seedlings and spreading in the wet Pacific Northwest. The second is a generalist pathogen which has been transported worldwide by a variety of commodities and that only recently has been reported in

California. I discuss evidence showing that in the case of P. cinnamomi: 1) commodities are often characterized by the presence of identical strains independent of world region, 2) different strains have escaped from different commodities in California natural ecosystems, 3) there is a significant pathogen-strain x host-species interaction. The Mediterranean climate of California facilitates its establishment with dire consequences for the most susceptible species. While genetic resistance and chemical treatments may provide mitigation options for the two diseases, curtailing the further spread of both pathogens is of paramount importance.

3.03 Microclimate matters: airborne fungal spore density in coastal ecosystems in California

Sharifa Crandall, Gregory Gilbert University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA, sgulamhu@ucsc.edu

Spores are important for fungal reproduction, dispersal and infection of plant shoots, yet few studies examine the spatio-temporal dynamics of airborne spores in natural systems. We measured aerospora abundance and local site microclimate at varying spatial and time scales in coastal California ecosystems. We asked: 1) is there a difference in total airborne spore concentration between habitat types, 2) when do we see peak spore counts, and 3) do spore densities correlate with microclimate conditions? Fungal spores were caught from the air with a volumetric vacuum air spore trap in mixed-evergreen forest and coastal prairie sites during a diel study-- intensive air sampling for one week in January 2013 and a seasonal study -- air samples collected once a week in the winters of 2013 and 2014. Initial results suggest that at least twice as many spores occur in mixed-evergreen forests than in coastal prairies sites. Temperature and to a lesser degree, relative humidity, were important microclimate predictors for high spore densities in both habitat types. These data are important for understanding when and under what weather conditions we can expect to see high levels of fungal spores in the air; this can be useful information for managers interested in treating plants with fungicides.

3.04 Host range of Fusarium (Nectriaceae) dieback and its vector polyphagous shot hole borer (Euwallacea sp.) (Coleoptera: Scolytinae, Xyleborini) an ambrosia beetle causing branch dieback and tree mortality on native host plants in California

Akif Eskalen1, Shannon Lynch1,4, Paul Rugman-Jones2, Richard Stouthamer2, Kim Corella3 1Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, University of California, Riverside,CA, USA, 2Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA, 3Cal Fire, Los Osos, CA, USA, 4Center for Conservation Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA, akif.eskalen@ucr.edu

The polyphagous shot hole borer (PSHB) (Euwallacea sp.) is an invasive ambrosia beetle that forms a symbiosis with Fusarium euwallaceae. Together, they cause fusarium dieback (FD), a pathogen/insect complex that affects trees in agriculture, ornamental landscapes, and native forests in California. PSHB was first reported on black locust in California in 2003 but there were no records of fungal damage until 2012, when Fusarium euwallaceae was recovered from the tissues of several backyard avocado trees infested with PSHB in Los Angeles County. Since early 2012, FD has been confirmed on more than 216 species of tree in landscape and urban forest in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego and Santa Cruz counties. The aim of this study was to determine the plant host range of the beetle–fungus complex in two heavily infested botanical gardens in Los Angeles County. Of the 431 tree species observed, 303 (70%), representing 64 plant families, showed signs and symptoms consistent with attack by PSHB. The F. euwallaceae was recovered from 54% of the plant species attacked by PSHB, indicated by the presence of the F. euwallaceae at least at the site of the entry hole. Trees attacked by PSHB included 12 species of California natives, 13 agriculturally important species, and many common street trees. Survey results also revealed 28 tree species that function as reproductive hosts for PSHB. These data suggest the beetle–disease complex potentially may establish in a variety of plant communities locally and worldwide.

3.05 White pine blister in California: Ecology and conservation

Patricia Maloney University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA, pemaloney@ucdavis.edu

California has the greatest diversity of white pines in North America, with six of the ten species distributed across the state’s coastal and interior forests. All species are host to the non-native pathogen Cronartium ribicola (Cronartiaceae), cause of white pine blister rust. Cronartium ribicola has affected North American white pines (Pinus, Pinaceae) in the subgenus Strobus and their associated ecosystems for almost a century. Interactions between C. ribicola, fire suppression, historical logging, severe wildfires, climate-mediated beetle outbreaks, and climatic warming, have negatively affected these species and ecosystems. Interactions have resulted in negative population growth, as a result of infection and mortality of juvenile- and intermediate-sized trees, adverse effects on cone production, beetle-mediated mortality, and loss of genetic variation (a consequence of historical–logging). A major-gene-resistance exists in sugar pine and western white pine that confers immunity to C. ribicola. Much is known about the distribution of this major-gene in sugar pine but less so for western white pine. Identifying its distribution (western white pine) has important conservation and restoration implications on both public and private lands. Given the interaction of C. ribicola with multiple threats, conservation activities are warranted. Such activities include: cone/seed collections, seed-banking, disease resistance screening/evaluations, genetic, and common garden studies. Current conservation activities will be highlighted as well as knowledge gaps.

3.06 Pitch canker in California: Introduction and establishment of an invasive pathogen

Tom Gordon University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA, trgordon@ucdavis.edu

Pitch canker, caused by Fusarium circinatum (Nectriaceae), was first recognized in California in 1986. It was most likely introduced into the state on infested seed from the southeastern U.S., where pitch canker was already well established. Sowing of infested seed resulted in contamination of soil, which became a reservoir of inoculum. Monterey pines subsequently grown in soil where the pathogen was present became infected. Some infected seedlings remained symptomless and were transported to choose and cut Christmas tree farms, from which many were further distributed. Native insects, such as twig beetles, that colonized dying Christmas trees could move the pathogen to nearby landscape trees. The pathogen was further distributed by movement of firewood cut from dead and dying trees. The impact of pitch canker on susceptible pines was greatly enhanced by a protracted drought in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Thereafter, the disease continued to spread but the rate of disease development slowed in areas where pitch canker was well established. This was due to the inherent resistance of some trees, which developed few or no symptoms, and to the induction of resistance in trees that had been severely diseased. As a consequence of induced resistance, trees become less susceptible to disease following initial exposure to the pathogen. However, induced resistance may not occur in trees subject to multiple infections over a short period of time, and may also be constrained in trees that are stressed by a lack of moisture or excessive fertilization.

3.07 Challenges of large-scale restoration projects

Ellen Natesan1, Jessica Appel1, Carin Apperson1, Cheryl Blomquist5, Elizabeth Bernhardt6, Scott Chenue1, Ronnie Eaton4, Susan Frankel2, Matteo Garbelotto3, James Gorham7, Kathy Kosta5, Suzanne Latham5, Greg Lyman1, Joe Ortiz1, Debbie Peterson1, Dina Robertson8, Tedmund Swiecki6 1San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, San Francisco, CA, USA, 2US Forest Service, CA, USA, 3University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, 4Alameda County Department of Agriculture, CA, USA, 5California Department of Food and Agriculture, CA, USA, 6Phytosphere Research, CA, USA, 7CH2M Hill, CA, USA, 8URS, CA, USA, enatesan@sfwater.org

To help mitigate the impacts associated with recent capital improvement projects, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) planted over 100 acres of wetland and riparian habitat in Alameda, Santa Clara, and San Mateo Counties with over 500,000 nursery-grown plants. The SFPUC took numerous measures to protect watershed resources including the following requirements: plants and seeds were to be from a local genetic source; plant and seed collections were to be tracked to minimize impacts from collections to local source populations; plants were to be grown under sanitary conditions; plants were to be free of weeds, pathogens, and other invasive species; clothing, equipment, and imported materials (such as rootwads for creek restoration) were decontaminated to minimize the risk of introduction of invasive species. The SFPUC is one of the first to require these standards of contractors. Nevertheless several plant pathogens were introduced with nursery stock to watershed lands during these projects. The fact that pathogens were found in plants from multiple nurseries in spite of contractual nursery requirements that exceeded industry standards suggests that pathogen introductions during restoration may be much more common than previously understood. The SFPUC is now working on containment and control of the introduced pathogens, and future restoration projects will use only seeds and non-rooted cuttings until a source of clean container plants can be confirmed.

3.08 Efforts to clean up an infested nursery and establish a clean production system

Kathleen Kosta1, Karen Suslow2 1California Department of Food and Agriculture, Sacramento, CA, USA, 2Dominican University of California, San Rafael, CA, USA, kathy.kosta@cdfa.ca.gov

Recent events in California that have resulted in the introduction of plant pathogens to the native environment, have emphasized the need for implementation of production practices that result in healthy, pathogen free nursery stock. Additionally, nurseries which have been shown to produce infected or infested plants often have a monumental task to eliminate the resident pathogens. The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) in cooperation with the National Ornamental Research Site at Dominican University of California (NORSDUC) is working with native plant and restoration nurseries to identify potential problem areas in the production system (critical control points) and to guide growers in the development clean stock production systems. Steam has been shown to eradicate Phytophthora (Pythiaceae) in infested soils and used pots and has been successfully used by NORSDUC scientists and CDFA in commercial nurseries. In response to the introduction of a pathogen new to the United States, NORSDUC is completing studies to define the lethal time and temperature required to kill Phytophthora tentaculata and has begun studies on the range of host plants of this pathogen, focusing on species used in the restoration projects. Documenting the development of a focused clean stock production system in a California restoration nursery that is part of the CDFA program, including the steps and modifications that are required, will provide valuable information to the industry.

3.09 Limiting the destruction of Ione manzanita habitat caused by the exotic pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi (Pythiaceae)

Tedmund Swiecki1, Elizabeth Bernhardt1, Matteo Garbelotto2 1Phytosphere Research, Vacaville, CA, USA, 2Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, phytosphere@phytosphere.com

Ione manzanita, Arctostaphylos myrtifolia (Ericaceae), is a rare and threatened California endemic. It is limited to the highly acidic soils of the Ione formation in the central Sierra Nevada foothills. The introduced water mold Phytophthora cinnamomi causes a lethal root and crown rot of A. myrtifolia that has eliminated this plant from large patches of habitat north of Buena Vista, California. Phytophthora cinnamomi can persist for many years in soil and it is very difficult to eradicate. Soils that are infested with P. cinnamomi are unsuitable for A. myrtifolia survival, so the limited habitat that A. myrtifolia can occupy is depleted as infestations spread. Methods for limiting the spread of P. cinnamomi within A. myrtifolia habitat are critical for the conservation of this species. Management techniques involving soil modification or host removal are not appropriate for limiting P. cinnamomi spread in A. myrtifolia stands. We are investigating the use of potassium phosphite applications to slow or stop the spread of mortality centers within occupied habitat. Potassium phosphite is a systemic biopesticide with selective activity against Phytophthora species but very low toxicity to non-target organisms. Foliar applications of potassium phosphite to A. myrtifolia at the edge of P. cinnamomi mortality centers have significantly reduced the advance of disease into the stand. Because high doses of applied phosphite can cause phytotoxicity, application rates and timing must be carefully managed. Additional tests are in progress to investigate the use of ultra-low volume phosphite applications, which would provide better options for treating affected habitat.

3.10 Successful public engagement for sustainable California forests

Katie Palmieri1, Janice Alexander2 1University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, 2University of California Cooperative Extension, Marin County, Novato, CA, USA jalexander@ucanr.edu

California’s native flora is under increasing threat from invasive insects and diseases. Engaging professionals and the public in urban and wildland forest health issues is a constant challenge as these pests continue to enter and spread within the state. Through the efforts of the California Forest Pest Council, emerging and persistent forest pest issues are presented to all audiences via ongoing educational outreach. Successful educational collaborations and outreach campaigns have been conducted on invasive issues such as sudden oak death, the goldspotted oak borer, and firewood as a vector for pest dispersal. While dissemination of topic-specific information is critical, a fundamental shift toward a holistic approach that incorporates invasive species in the broader context of ecological health is necessary if we are to successfully engage the public in sustaining the native plants and landscapes of California.

SESSION 4: Restoration

4.01 Drought response strategies in California perennial grass species and ecotypes with applications for restoration

Jennifer Balachowski1, Pauline Bristiel3, Jeffrey Clary1, Florence Volaire2 1University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA, 2INRA-CEFE-CNRS, Montpellier, France, 3CEFE-CNRS, Montpellier, France, jbalachowski@ucdavis.edu

Global climate change is expected to cause an increase in the frequency and intensity of severe droughts. This issue is particularly important in California where severe drought already imposes substantial short-term limitations on restoration project establishment, and may further threaten the long-term persistence of restored populations. While plant responses to moderate water deficit are well

documented, we know very little about the mechanisms and strategies that perennial plants use to survive and recover from severe drought. Surprisingly, this is true even for California native grasses that are known by restoration practitioners to be extremely drought-tolerant. To address this knowledge gap, we used controlled-environment experiments to quantify patterns of seasonal growth and response to severe drought in seven California native perennial grasses commonly used in restoration, including four ecotypes and one subspecies of Elymus glaucus (blue wildrye, Poaceae) from a strong coast-to-inland climate gradient in Northern California. Specifically, we characterized each according to the extent to which it relied upon each of three drought survival strategies: summer dormancy, dehydration tolerance, and dehydration avoidance. We then linked these three strategies to seasonal patterns of growth, phenology, and reproductive output across the entire growing season. We will present species- and ecotype-specific results of our work, and their implications for restoration. In addition, we will present a synthesis of how drought survival strategies can be used to inform restoration project design in California, and directions for future research that can be undertaken in collaboration with restoration practitioners.

4.02 Is interannual variation in climate a useful window into the effects of climate change?

Truman Young University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA, tpyoung@ucdavis.edu

The question of how plant communities will respond to climate change is still largely in the realm of niched modeling, but I suggest that multi-year restoration plots can address this more directly. Systems with high inter-annual climate variability often have years that approximate future predicted means. I suggest that the primacy of conditions at the time of plant establishment may exceed climate effects at later life stages. If so, then examining establishment responses to short-term climatic event might provide a useful window into long-term population and community responses to climate change. In a California grassland restoration setting, I am testing the hypothesis that differences in climatic variables in the year of planting account for more of the variation in long-term population and community structure than these climatic site differences.

4.03 Is local better? Testing the efficacy of locally-sourced plant material for use in restoration

Jessica E Hammond, Karen D Holl, Michael E Loik University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA, jehammon@ucsc.edu

Guidelines for restoration practices traditionally recommend plant material be collected from local ecotypes under the assumption that they will be best adapted to site conditions. With rapid changes in climate projected, some ecologists question this practice because local populations may not be best suited for future climates. In California’s Central Valley model projections envision a hotter, dryer climate. In order to target restoration for resilience to these changes, restoration ecologists must ask ‘is local better?’ We tested the biological and physiological responses of two grass (Poaceae) species Elymus glaucus (blue wildrye) and Stipa pulchra (purple needle grass) under anticipated climate scenarios (including increased temperature and decreased soil water availability). We selected two commercially available ecotypes of each species that are commonly used in riparian restoration: one ecotype that experiences frequent floods and a second that does not experience regular flooding. Plants were established under common conditions and then assigned a treatment combination of current or future (+3° C) temperature and adequate or reduced soil moisture. Both ecotypes of S. pulchra showed more sensitivity to temperature than water treatments though low terrace ecotypes of E. glaucus had lower biomass and seed set when water availability was reduced. These results demonstrate that use of plant material adapted to projected climate conditions is worthy of consideration for designing resilient ‘Climate Smart’ restoration projects.

4.04 Using population genetics to guide restorations of endemic species: Case study in the federally listed Castilleja affinis subspecies neglecta (Orobanchaceae)

Laney Widener1,2, Jeremie Fant2,1, David Tank3 1Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA, 2The Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, IL, USA, 3University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, USA, lwidener@u.northwestern.edu

Population genetics analyses can serve as a useful component of any restoration plan. Maintaining genetic provenance, while ensuring sufficient genetic diversity, to avoid issues such as inbreeding or genetic swamping that can compromise populations are important aims of any restoration. Castilleja affinis ssp. neglecta is a federally listed serpentine soil endemic that is the focus of restoration efforts in the Bay area. We used microsatellite (SSR) markers to measure population genetic structure within the extant populations of this Californian endemic. This can provide population genetic level information on genetic diversity and divergence to guide source material for restoration efforts. Results have shown that the southern populations of C. affinis ssp. neglecta are similar to each other yet distinct from the northern populations, thus identifying potential zones that are safe to move plant materials while maintaining genetic integrity. Furthermore, within these transfer zones, we can identify which populations have sufficient genetic diversity to serve as source populations, or where inbreeding may be an issue, and identify which populations can be mixed to increase genetic diversity while maintaining genetic integrity. A combination of microsatellites, floral measurements and genomic sequencing, are also providing information on how divergent this species is from its sympatric congener, C. affinis ssp. affinis. Results show that C. affinis ssp. neglecta is reproductively isolated from its common congener but is not entirely diverged genetically. Studies like this can provide examples of evolution in action, while also being applicable to restoration and conservation of California’s endemic flora.

4.05 The Regional Parks Botanic Garden's role in rare plant restoration

Bart O'Brien Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Berkeley, CA, USA, bobrien@ebparks.org

The Regional Parks Botanic Garden (RPBG) has a comparatively long record of successfully reintroducing locally extirpated plants and populations from its living collection back into nearby or former native habitat. This presentation will focus on two case studies of reintroduction efforts. Oenothera deltoides subsp. howellii (Onagraceae) on Brannan Island State Recreation Area in Sacramento County is a prime example of expanding the range of a federally listed endangered species into completely new habitat. Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (A. leobreweri) (Ericaceae), Maianthemum dilatatum (Ruscaceae), and Tanacetum bipinnatum (T. douglasii) (Asteraceae) on San Bruno Mountain in San Mateo County provide examples of reintroduction efforts of locally extirpated plants from ex-situ living collections.

4.06 Restoring critical coastal dune habitat at Point Reyes for endangered plant species

Lorraine Parsons1, Sarah Minnick2, Amelia Ryan1 1Point Reyes National Seashore, Point Reyes Station, CA, USA, 2County of Marin Parks and Open Space, San Rafael, CA, USA, lspars@verizon.net

Point Reyes National Seashore preserves some of the highest quality coastal dune habitat remaining. However, dunes are threatened by encroachment of two invasive, non-native plant species, European beachgrass (Ammophila arenaria [Poaceae]) and iceplant (Carpobrotus [Aizoaceae]). By 1994, over 70% of the park's dunes were dominated by these species. Two federally endangered plant species occur in the dunes -- Tidestrom's lupine (Lupinus tidestromii [Fabaceae]) and beach layia (Layia carnosa [Asteraceae]). At least one of these is threatened with imminent extinction -- Tidestrom's lupine. Based on recent studies, lupines are not reproducing successfully due to heavy seed predation by native deer mice that live in higher-than-normal densities in beachgrass stands. The Seashore has been conducting dune restoration projects since 2000 in efforts to conserve and even help in recovery of these species. Two of these projects have the potential to greatly benefit Tidestrom's lupine - the Abbott's Lagoon Coastal Dune

Restoration Project and the B Ranch project. The first phase of the Abbott's project, which removed invasives mechanically, was very successful in eliminating invasives. However, low rainfall since 2011, coupled with high spring winds, has hampered establishment of native plants, with the exception of Tidestrom's lupine. Within the first year, approximately 15,884 lupine grew in 18 of the 80 acres restored. Predation rates within the existing Abbott's population dropped from between 38% and 94% pre-restoration to between 6% and 19% post-restoration. Invasives removal will not only conserve existing lupine populations, but also allow for habitat expansion.

4.07 Small mammals act as invasion filters in Southern Californian coastal sage scrub restoration

Sandra DeSimone, Mickie Tang Audubon Starr Ranch Sanctuary, Trabuco Canyon, CA, USA, sdesimone@audubon.org

A fundamental goal in restoration is to limit invasion by non-native species. Community assembly theory predicts that biotic filters such as herbivory and competition might limit the success of potential invaders. Our previous research elucidated the large role of small mammals in affecting vegetation pattern in natural coastal sage scrub (CSS) and led us to hypothesize that as shrub cover increases in CSS restoration sites over time, small mammals requiring food and shelter might disperse in and limit invasion through herbivory. To test this hypothesis we placed wire cages in a paired design to exclude vertebrate herbivores and also trapped small mammals in four restoration sites of increasing age. In 12 restoration sites of varying age (1-12 yrs) we recorded rabbit feces densities and vegetation parameters such as shrub density, cover, height. Shrub cover and height increased with site age while non-native herbaceous cover decreased. Non-native herbaceous species density was significantly higher in caged vs. control plots. Native herbaceous cover and density in natural Starr Ranch CSS are low and were also relatively low in our experiment (density/0.16m2: natives 2.70 ± 0.81 vs. non-natives 11.93 ± 3.50). Richness and abundance of native small mammals increased with restoration site age. There was strong evidence of rabbits in older restoration sites but no rabbit sign in early restoration sites (< 7 yrs). Our results indicate that, through herbivory, small mammals and rabbits act as biotic filters to play a role in exclusion of non-native species and thus confer resistance to invasion.

4.08 Optimizing establishment of native pollinator habitat in a large-scale levee improvement project

Kimiora Ward1, Jennifer W. Burt2 1University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, USA, 2AECOM Design and Planning, Sacramento, CA, USA, kiward@ucdavis.edu

Providing habitat for pollinators and other beneficial insects has become a conservation necessity to combat widespread pesticide use and habitat loss effects to insect populations. With greater recent acknowledgement of these problems, it has become increasingly more common for habitat restoration projects to include the provision of diverse floral resources as a primary objective. However, establishment of native forb plantings at a large-scale can be challenging, particularly where climate conditions are severe and where invasive broadleaf weeds provide significant competitive pressure. Planting native forbs in monocultures has been proposed as a potentially tractable option: monocultures could theoretically be more easily maintained with targeted timing of weed management practices, and diversity may be promoted by reduced competition among natives. Furthermore, pollinators may be more attracted to dense monocultures than to more dispersed floral resources. We tested the effects of planting a suite of early- and late-season native forbs as monocultures and mixtures within habitat restoration sites established as part of the Natomas Levee Improvement Project. The effects of monoculture versus mixture planting on native plant establishment, weed invasion, and pollinator usage throughout the blooming season were assessed at seven replicates throughout the 18-mile project area. Site success varied greatly due to variable soil conditions and weed pressure, but in general forbs planted as mixtures performed better than monocultures, both in terms of establishment and pollinator attraction. Lessons

learned in establishing beneficial insect habitat, and in conducting scientific research in the context of an ongoing habitat restoration project will also be presented.

4.09 Interactions among plant phenology, hydrochory and flow regime before floodplain re-connection on the Cosumnes River Oneto floodplain in California's Central Valley

Rachel Hutchinson1,2, Alex Fremier3, Kaya MacMillen2, Joshua Viers2,4 1South Yuba River Citizens League, Nevada City, CA, USA, 2University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA, 3Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA, 4University of California, Merced, Merced, CA, USA, rahutchinson@gmail.com

The transport and re-distribution of plant propagules by water, termed hydrochory, contributes to plant community composition on floodplains. Propagule transport is dependent upon the interaction of hydrological regime and surrounding plant phenology. Hydrochory varies seasonally and inter-annually, depending on climate variability and extant vegetation. The composition of transported material can significantly influence the success and trajectory of floodplain restoration efforts, yet we have minimal data on how flood timing and seed release impact floodplain species recruitment. Over two seasons, we collected and propagated in-stream organic material in the greenhouse to quantify seasonal patterns of hydrochorous composition in anticipation of a process-based restoration on the Cosumnes River Oneto floodplain. We compared the nativity and composition of in-stream hydrochorous species collected throughout the flood season with extant vegetation and the seed bank to investigate how flood inundation, seasonality and flow discharge influence seedling recruitment. We hypothesized that mid- to late- season floods would be composed of more native riparian species with a higher overall diversity because of the timing of seed release from parent plants. Preliminary results of pre-restoration conditions indicate high non-native propagule pressure, but consistent native tree and herbaceous species through the mid-winter and spring, with successful establishment on the floodplain. Analysis of hydrochory material indicates that the timing of flood inundation and surrounding vegetation significantly impacts floodplain plant community composition. Further quantifying the relationship between flow, phenology and recruitment will improve design and implementation of restoration strategies aimed at achieving ecosystem sustainability of river-riparian systems.

4.10 An ecohydrological approach to guiding riparian restoration on the lower Virgin River

Bruce Orr1, Tom Dudley2, Liz Bickmore3, Adam Lambert2, Glen Leverich1 1Stillwater Sciences, Berkeley, CA, USA, 2Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA, 3Clark County Desert Conservation Program, Las Vegas, NV, USA, bruce@stillwatersci.com

Biological control of tamarisk (Tamarix, Tamaricaceae) is expected to yield long-term benefits for wildlife and ecosystem services in the Southwest, although there is currently elevated concern over the need for riparian restoration measures to mitigate possible short-term negative impacts of biocontrol, particularly on nesting habitat for the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher. Thus, there is a crucial need for immediate, yet strategic riparian restoration along the Virgin River-the first location where the tamarisk leaf beetle and southwestern willow flycatcher coincided. Building on our prior river-scale assessment of ecological and hydrological factors influencing restoration opportunities and constraints along a 210-km river corridor, we developed a restoration plan for a high priority site along the lower Virgin River, Nevada. We began with synthesis of key biophysical factors—flood-scour, depth-to-groundwater, vegetation, and soils—to identify discrete restoration management units. We then developed potential planting zones and target plant species for each unit, along with recommendations for management of weeds and trespass cattle—two significant threats to the long-term success of the restoration effort. A key focus is establishing small patches of native vegetation within the existing tamarisk matrix to (1) expand existing flycatcher habitat, and (2) serve as "propagule islands" to provide a local source of seeds for natural recolonization by native willows and cottonwoods as tamarisk declines in abundance due to continuing defoliation by the tamarisk leaf beetle. This planning approach can serve as a useful model for science-based, cost-effective restoration planning in complex riverine systems in California and the Arid West.

4.11 Revealing an unseen enemy: Detecting Phytophthora (Pythiaceae) species in native plant nurseries and restoration sites

Tedmund Swiecki1, Elizabeth Bernhardt1, Suzanne Rooney Latham2, Cheryl Blomquist2, Ellen Natesan3, Susan Frankel4 1Phytosphere Research, Vacaville, CA, USA, 2California Department of Food and Agriculture, Sacramento, CA, USA, 3San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, San Francisco, CA, USA, 4USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Albany, CA, USA, phytosphere@phytosphere.com

Many wildland restoration projects utilize plant material that has been propagated in nurseries. Unless specifically managed to produce pathogen-free planting stock, nurseries provide an ideal environment for root-rotting Phytophthora species. Planting infested stock can introduce these exotic pathogens into restoration sites and surrounding plant communities, with negative consequences. Phytophthora species can be detected in root systems using several techniques, each of which has limitations relative to sensitivity and cost. Due to these limitations, it is difficult to reliably determine whether large lots of plants are infected with Phytophthora species. Testing generally underestimates infection incidence and may not detect all of the Phytophthora species present. Even with these limitations, multiple Phytophthora species have been routinely detected in plants from multiple native plant nurseries. In sampling conducted for a recent restoration project, plants from four separate native plant nurseries tested positive for one or more species of Phytophthora. Some detected species, including P. tentaculata, P. quercetorum, P. inundata, and P. plurivora, are relatively uncommon or not previously documented in California. Others, including P. cactorum, P. cambivora, P. cryptogea, and P. megasperma have been associated with death and decline of cultivated plants in California for many years. Phytophthora species were recovered by baiting or direct isolation from symptomatic or asymptomatic roots of at least 11 plant species, including several monocots not considered to be Phytophthora hosts.

4.12 Management for perennial lupines and Presidio clarkia offers insights into restoration ecology

Lech Naumovich Golden Hour Restoration Institute, Alameda, CA, USA, lech@goldenhour.org

Restoration ecology principles typically ask that a successful project recovers a "self-sustaining" ecosystem absent of regular human input beyond the initial restoration process. This paradigm can be unreasonable in a world of more intense, regular, and global anthropogenic impacts. Our experience indicates that regular human stewardship, directing ecological processes, is a necessary and permanent part of the restoration process in specific instances. Two long-term grassland restoration projects located in the Bay Area of California are presented: mission blue butterfly habitat stewardship in San Francisco and Presidio clarkia grassland restoration in Oakland. In Oakland, stewardship effort has increased the endangered annual forb (Clarkia franciscana [Onagraceae]) distribution, as well as helped build up the seed bank. In San Francisco, an intensive volunteer program has allowed for increases in host plant numbers and distribution (Lupinus spp. [Fabaceae]) by restoring historic grasslands now invaded by coastal scrub. In both cases, regular stewardship has allowed for a quicker adaptive management response, leading to better results. Regular stewardship provides more tools for maintaining the long term viability of critical ecological resources while offering unique opportunities for initiating long-term management strategies.

4.13 Less is more: Habitat restoration at Edgewood County Park & Natural Preserve through exotics removal utilizing techniques honed by ongoing citizen science

Drew Shell Santa Clara Valley Chapter, CNPS, California, USA, dshell@friendsofedgewood.org

Edgewood County Park in San Mateo County is a 467 acre site with diverse habitats, significant serpentine communities, over 375 native plant species, and 10 CNPS rank 1b species, including 3 listed

under the Federal Endangered Species Act. The Santa Clara Valley Chapter of CNPS has been involved at Edgewood since the mid-1970s, helping protect it from development and, since 1988, leading a volunteer program to protect and restore habitat through control of non-native species. With over 50,000 field hours, this program has shown great progress, but just as important as quantity of hours has been development and refinement of effective treatment techniques. While formal, rigorous science is very powerful, and is utilized when possible, it can be expensive, resource intensive, and often beyond the means of a volunteer program. An alternate yet still effective approach has been use of less formal, more qualitative "citizen science", including: careful field observations of target ecology; a variety of qualitative experiments for specific targets, such as variations in treatment timing, technique, and prioritization; and more general experiments treating suites of targets in parallel, including NoNon experiments where all non-native plant species are removed to understand how both natives and non-natives respond. These qualitative efforts have resulted in deeper understandings of life cycle and ecology for a broad array of targets, resulting in significantly more effective treatment techniques and greatly enhancing the efficiency of the program and the quality of restoration achieved.

4.14 Establishment of natives and non-natives in coastal sage scrub communities seeded with different combinations of native functional groups

Michael Bell1, Sarah Kimball1, Megan Lulow2, Travis Huxman1 1University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA, 2Irvine Ranch Conservancy, Irvine, CA, USA, bellmd@uci.edu

Restoring areas with a long history of invasion to a native community can be difficult due to persistent effects of disturbance and a dramatic depletion of the native seed bank. The composition of native species added to the landscape during restoration can affect the establishment and survival of the native community and its future invasibility. We seeded a coastal sage scrub restoration site with a mix of annual forbs ("forb"), perennial natives ("shrub"), or a mixture of the two ("mixed"), to determine which native species community composition would create persistent cover of native vegetation and limit the growth and establishment of non-native species. We combined these seeding treatments with a maintenance experiment, where non-natives were treated with herbicide annually or left undisturbed. The "mixed" plots had reduced establishment of native shrubs relative to the "shrub" plots in year one and had slower relative shrub growth in year two, suggesting that native annuals acted similar to non-native species in limiting perennial establishment and growth. This led to "shrub" plots having the highest native cover after four years. The herbicide treatment reduced Brassica nigra (Brassicaceae) germination after the third year. After four years, the abundance of B. nigra was significantly negatively correlated with shrub cover in treated plots, suggesting shrubs limited its establishment after the seed bank was reduced. These results highlight the importance of considering competitive interactions within the seed mix among both desirable and non-desirable species and the temporal dynamics associated with plant growth following establishment when planning a restoration sequence.

4.15 Bridging the gap between science and management: Two decades of experimental restoration for rare annual plant habitat in the Presidio of San Francisco

Lewis Stringer Presidio Trust, San Francisco, CA, USA, lstringer@presidiotrust.gov

Results from three experiments to increase populations of two threatened and endangered serpentine grassland species (Presidio clarkia and Marin dwarf flax), as well as 11 locally significant plants, have resulted in significant management changes. Our first study compared eight treatments plus control in a randomized block design with 243 square-meter plots. Fall treatments of scraping, tarping, and flaming were most effective at establishing clarkia and reducing nonnative cover. Two follow-up experiments examined the successful treatments effects on Marin dwarf flax and 11 locally significant species. A combination of scraping and tarping is now conducted annually, several weeks after annual grass germination on several patches throughout the 15 acre grassland. Black 6mm plastic sheeting is left down for a minimum of four weeks, until annual grass seedlings are dead. Desirable seed is then

broadcast into the treated area. Over 40 acres of Presidio dune habitat have been restored and or managed since 1995 with the goal of increasing populations of rare dune annuals including the endangered San Francisco lessingia. We conducted a seeding experiment to increase germination rates of 14 species by broadcasting seed directly onto six ¼ m plots of sand with and without 2mm of sand cover. A significant increase in germinates was observed in six species covered in sand. Two species had significantly higher germination without cover, and the remaining species had no difference. As in other fragmented urban wild lands, management of these species will require active manipulations where ecological processes and habitat have been lost.

SESSION 5: Plant & Wildlife Relationships

5.01 The role of seed predators in the divergence in seed bank dynamics between Arctostaphylos (Ericaceae) and Ceanothus (Rhamnaceae)

V. Thomas Parker, Bernhard Warzecha San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA, parker@sfsu.edu

Seed bank densities between Arctostaphylos and Ceanothus species differ considerably, with the former having substantially larger seed banks. This result is somewhat surprising, given that seed bank theory suggests smaller seeds should have larger seed banks, which implies the smaller seeded Ceanothus would have the larger seed banks. We propose that the principal difference lies in the seed predator communities. Seed offerings observed with trail cameras, as well as seed rain and seed bank studies were combined to test this idea. Arctostaphylos is mainly dispersed by scatter-hoarding rodents. Ceanothus is consumed directly by rodents and by birds. Birds were particularly effective in consuming Ceanothus seed, both in experiments and from natural seed rain. The difference in animal seed predator communities appears to account for the divergence in seed bank densities. From a conservation perspective, maintaining associated animal communities may be critical for seed bank development and burial, regardless of the ultimate densities. Given the substantial number of rare species in both genera, the linkages between plant and animal communities seems significant.

5.02 What's bugging the native grasses? Survey results of arthropod fauna in native and non-native grassland assemblages of California.

Kirsten Hill University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, kirsten.hill@gmail.com

Over the last 250 years, California's native perennial bunch grasses and forbs have been displaced by invasive annual grasses and forbs, dramatically altering the habitat for grassland invertebrates. I hypothesized (1) native perennial grass assemblages would sustain cooler microhabitats than non-native annual assemblages during mid and late summer and support more predators, like spiders, and more potential prey for spiders, particularly leafhoppers and (2) native perennial grass assemblages would sustain a greater abundance of sap-feeding insects, flower-feeding insects, and juvenile arthropods than non-native annual assemblages. I analyzed arthropod populations using observations and pitfall traps in transects that extended from the forest meadow boundary to the meadow interior (30m) and in sweep-net surveys of centrally located grassland patches dominated by either native or non-native grasses. In general, all sap-feeding insects, predatory arthropods, and some species of flower-feeding insects had a higher abundance in native dominated plant assemblages. Overall arthropod diversity (including native and non-native arthropods) increased with native plant diversity. Spider abundance was higher in plant assemblages dominated by native grasses. Leafhopper abundance and native plant diversity were the best predictors of hatchling and juvenile spider abundance in meadow patches. These results suggest that native perennial grasses support the bulk of invertebrate activity during the driest months of the year. Furthermore, native perennial grasses may act as incubators for fledgling spiders and as such support the grassland predator community that can facilitate trophic interactions and native plant diversity. Invertebrate grassland habitat may be shrinking as non-native annual grass cover expands.

5.03 The effect of giant reed (Arundo donax [Poaceae]) on the southern California riparian bird community.

David Kisner1, Barbara Kus2,1, James Diffendorfer1, Douglas Deutschman1, John O'Leary1 1San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA, 2USGS Western Ecological Research Center, San Diego, CA, USA, david.kisner@gmail.com

The giant reed, Arundo donax, is an invasive exotic plant dominant in many of California's riparian areas, and is thought to offer little feeding or nesting habitats for birds. I investigated the relationship between A. donax and riparian bird richness and abundance within three drainages in San Diego County, California during four seasons (winter, spring, and early and late breeding) in 2001. We used aerial photographs and a stratified random block design to select 16 points per drainage with varying A. donax cover. Point counts were used to survey birds and photoplots were used to quantify A. donax cover at each point in each season. We hypothesized that the relationship between A. donax and bird richness and abundance would be negative and would vary by season, and cover of other vegetation. Overall bird species richness and abundance decreased significantly as cover of A. donax increased during all seasons and at all drainages. Species richness decreased by 16% to 25% as A. donax cover increased from 0-50%. An analysis of vegetative and physical factors showed that season and A. donax accounted for 52.5% of the variation in bird species richness. Willow was not a biologically significant factor in a general linear model. The results of this study suggest that removing A. donax from southern California riparian areas would benefit richness and abundance of birds.

5.04 Dominant shrubs indirectly determine the habitat of the endangered blunt-nosed leopard lizard, Gambelia sila (Crotaphytidae), by reducing abundance of invasive grasses

Alejandro Filazzola1, Amanda Liczner1, Michael Westphal2, Christopher Lortie1 1York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2US Bureau of Land Management, Hollister, CA, USA, mwestpha@blm.gov

Dominant shrubs in arid landscapes are known to define annual composition through a suite of competitive and facilitative mechanisms. Shrubs are thought to provide direct habitat benefits to the endangered blunt-nosed leopard lizard, Gambelia sila, but these dominant perennials could also act to reduce invasive grass cover, thereby indirectly mediating habitat quality for the lizard population. We examined these indirect interactions between shrubs on leopard lizards by modifying annual cover in the Panoche Hills of western Fresno County at a long-term study site we refer to as the Panoche Plateau. In 2013, 700 Ephedra californica (Ephedraceae) were surveyed and geo-tagged in leopard lizard habitat on the Plateau. We also conducted a fine-scale survey (1000 samples on a 10m x 10m grid along a linear transect ~ 90m wide and 1500m long) of residual dry matter (RDM). Subsequently, these shrub and adjacent open areas were surveyed over two years via scat-detecting dogs to determine an association of lizard to shrub- and landscape-level characteristics. Annual RDM abundance was found to be inversely correlated both to shrub density and lizard scat. We also found an increasing spatial association of lizards in select pockets of low annual cover. However, no shrub characteristics were found to have a direct relationship to scat abundance. Our data supports the hypothesis that lizards prefer low annual cover and that shrubs may act to competitively reduce invasive grasses. With the current degradation of arid environments, native shrubs may have indirect positive effects on biodiversity.

5.05 The value of using both native and non-native plants to attract diverse bees in an urban landscape

Jaime Pawelek1, Gordon Frankie1, Sara Leon-Guerrero1, Robbin Thorp2 1University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, 2University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA, jaimeclaire23@yahoo.com

When selecting ornamental flowering plants for a garden or backyard landscape, homeowners may choose to select natives, non-natives, or a combination of both. As awareness for the importance for

conserving local pollinators, especially bees, increases, many are constructing or modifying existing gardens to provide forage and habitat for these important pollinators. The Urban Bee Lab at the University of California, Berkeley has been monitoring native bees in urban habitats throughout the state for over 10 years and currently, 15 cities have been monitored. Both California natives and non-native ornamentals have been studied as to their attractiveness to native bees, through frequency counts and collections. Gardens within each city are visited monthly during the main growing season and many relationships between bees and their preferred flowers have emerged. This study specifically looks at the native (n=15) and non-native flowering plants (n=19) that occur in five or more cities, and the bees that visit them. A higher percentage of non-native plants were sampled from, as they are more common in gardens, but the most attractive plant for bees was the native tansy leafed phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia, Boraginaceae), which has attracted 60 species of bees. Evidence has emerged that many non-native ornamentals are attractive to bees and provide them with needed resources, but native plants and native bees evolved together and often rely on each other. Thus, native plants should be utilized more in urban landscapes, especially as these areas are contributing to native bee conservation.

SESSION 6: Emerging Tools in Conservation Science

6.01 Using LIDAR to model vernal pool watershed complexes for the South Sacramento Habitat Conservation Plan

Tyler Friesen1, Richard Radmacher2 1Dudek, Encinitas, CA, USA, 2County of Sacramento, Sacramento, CA, USA, tfriesen@dudek.com

Dudek GIS staff created an automated process to model the individual watersheds of approximately 7,000 vernal pools covering more than 40,000 acres for the South Sacramento Habitat Conservation Plan (SSHCP). The purpose of this analysis was to identify areas of indirect effects to vernal pools and to aid in preserve design to better protect aquatic resources. The automated process leveraged LIDAR data to model surface flow in order to determine the contributing area for each of the vernal pools and then generated a heat map to identify those watersheds of greatest value (e.g., those watersheds which contributed to the greatest number of pools).

6.02 Mapping habitat suitability for restoration and at-risk plant reintroduction

Erin Questad1,3, James Kellner2,4, Susan Cordell3, Kealoha Kinney2,4, Gregory Asner4, Samuel Brooks3, Amanda Uowolo3 1California Polytechnic State University, Pomona, Pomona, CA, USA, 2Brown University, Providence, RI, USA, 3USDA Forest Service Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, Hilo, HI, USA, 4Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA, USA, ejquestad@csupomona.edu

Finding suitable habitats in fragmented and degraded landscapes is a major challenge to restoration and reintroduction programs for plant species at risk of extinction. Desiccation and water stress are significant barriers to survival for over 40% of at-risk plant species that occur in dry or rocky habitats. We examine how microtopographic features that reduce water stress and increase resource availability can be modeled for landscape planning that can increase the success of restoration efforts in drylands. We developed a topographic habitat suitability model (HSM) from airborne Light Detecting and Ranging (LiDAR) data as a tool to enhance landscape planning for at-risk plant species reintroduction for a dryland landscape in Hawaii. We are currently developing a similar model for our first site outside of Hawaii: Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California. The HSM identifies topographic depressions that are protected from prevailing winds (high suitability sites) and contrasts them with ridges and other exposed areas (low suitability sites). In our field tests of the HSM microclimatic conditions and plant-response traits indicated better growing conditions in high suitability sites compared to low suitability sites. The locations of six at-risk plant species showed associations with high suitability areas, and the survival of planted individuals of Dodonaea viscosa (Sapindaceae) was less variable among high suitability plots. These results suggest that the HSM can improve plant establishment and survival,

reduce the cost of restoration and reintroduction programs through targeted management activities in high suitability areas, and expand landscape-scale restoration planning capabilities.

6.03 Seed longevity of the California flora

Evan Meyer Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, CA, USA, emeyer@rsabg.org

Under the right conditions, plant seeds can survive for many years before a noticeable drop in viability occurs. Just how long this period of optimal survival lasts is not well known for many plant species. Seed banks play a crucial role in answering this question. In addition to housing and distributing genetic diversity, they comprise a grand, ongoing experiment in the longevity of seeds. Drawing on more than 60 years of collaborative research and combining multiple data sets, including thousands of viability tests conducted at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden and USDA seed banks, this talk will describe our current knowledge of seed longevity of the wild plants of California. These results will have implications for our understanding of the in situ biology of these plants, as well as their ex situ management.

6.04 BGCI’s PlantSearch database: Existing and future applications

Abby Hird1,2 1Botanic Gardens Conservation International U.S., Claremont, CA, USA, 2Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, CA, USA, abby.hird@bgci.org

BGCI’s PlantSearch database is the only global database of plants, seeds, and tissues in living collections. BGCI works with collection managers to update their collection information and in the process, PlantSearch provides collection holders with valuable information such as global threat status, a names check, the number of collections reported worldwide, and Crop Wild Relative identification. Through its blind email request function, PlantSearch connects hundreds of researchers, conservationists, educators, curators, and students with nearly 1,000 living collections worldwide each year. Over the past four years, BGCI has worked to increase PlantSearch data quantity, quality, and accessibility. Recent developments include the incorporation of synonymy, dynamic links to conservation data, a data sharing agreement, and improved user access to PlantSearch data. Past, present, and future database functionality will be discussed, along with examples of current and future data applications that can guide conservation efforts at the regional and global.

6.05 Such glandular, many nutlet, wow: Botany and social media

Ken-ichi Ueda California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, USA, kenichi.ueda@gmail.com

Photography is central to the practice of many botanists, particularly amateurs, but what to do with all those photos? I'll try to provide an overview of the numerous online venues where sharing and discussing photos can help you learn more about plants and help spread your knowledge to others. I also argue that this kind of sharing is vital to conservation and the future of organismal biology.

SESSION 7: Lightning Talks

7.01 Origins of vascular plant diversity in the California Floristic Province

Bruce Baldwin University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, bbaldwin@berkeley.edu

Recent biogeographic and evolutionary studies have led to improved understanding of the origins of vascular plant diversity in the California Floristic Province (CA-FP). Spatial analyses of Californian diversity and endemism have reinforced the importance of geographically isolated areas of high

topographic and edaphic complexity as floristic hotspots, where the relative influence of factors promoting evolutionary divergence and buffering of lineages against extinction has gained increased attention. Molecular phylogenetic studies spanning the flora have corroborated and refined conclusions of Raven & Axelrod concerning geographic sources of CA-FP lineages. Immediate sources of CA-FP lineages bearing endemic species diversity have been mostly within North America, especially within the west and southwest. That conclusion holds even for groups of north temperate affinity, notwithstanding important counterexamples, such as paleoendemic disjuncts between the CA-FP and Eurasia. The CA-FP also has been a limited source area for floras elsewhere, within and beyond North America. Available evidence from calibrated phylogenies indicates that most diversification within extant CA-FP clades has occurred since mid-Miocene, after the summer-drying transition began. Process-focused studies continue to implicate environmental heterogeneity at different geographic scales in evolutionary divergence within the CA-FP, often associated with ecological shifts in habitat, reproductive system, or life history, and sometimes hybridization. The above patterns indicate the importance to conservation of preserving high integrity areas of complex topography, geology, and climate within the CA-FP and more widely within North America, where much of the endemic diversity of the CA-FP originally stemmed and where close relatives of diverse ecologies often remain.

7.02 Mobilizing community efforts to improve our knowledge of the systematics and evolution of California plants

Brent Mishler University and Jepson Herbaria, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, bmishler@berkeley.edu

California plants are under threat like never before, given impacts of development, invasive organisms, and climate change. Conservation is thus more urgent than ever, but in order to conserve, we need to know what we are conserving and how to set priorities. The "what" question is plant systematics—modern approaches focus not just on naming species but rather understanding how taxa at all levels are justified and how they relate to each other. Phylogenetic trees are essential to modern systematics as well as to the question of setting priorities. Biodiversity is the whole tree of life and is thus best measured phylogenetically. Species are not equal in the amount of phylogenetic diversity they represent; some have many close relatives while others have no living close relatives. Improving our knowledge of phylogenetic systematics of California plants requires effort across the whole community of botanists. Community based initiatives such as the Consortium of California Herbaria and the online Jepson eFlora have provided important resources to help us apply recently developed phylogenetic methods to conservation, but it will also be necessary to have a phylogeny for California plants, which will require further efforts from the botanical community. With support from the National Science Foundation, we have developed the California Plant Phylogeny Working Group with CNPS—a novel collaboration between academics and citizen scientists working together to gather plant specimens representing key taxa that will contribute to the phylogeny of California plants (details being presented elsewhere in this conference).

7.03 Advances in our knowledge of the California Floristic Province in Baja California

Sula Vanderplank1,2, Lucinda McDade3 1Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Fort Worth, TX, USA, 2San Diego Natural History Museum, San Diego, CA, USA, 3Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, CA, USA, sula.vanderplank@gmail.com

Ten percent of California Floristic Province (CFP) endemic plants are found in Northwest Baja California. Recent on-going work documents about 1,800 native vascular plant species in CFP Baja California, of which almost half are rare, threatened, or locally endemic. About one-tenth of those are strictly endemic to the region, and an additional sixty-seven are near endemics. Nearly 200 more of the plants listed by CNPS as rare, threatened or endangered are also found in CFP Baja California. Recent advances in our knowledge of the region, combined with new efforts to database specimens from Baja California in the Consortium of California Herbaria (CCH) are advancing our understanding of this global biodiversity

hotspot. Acknowledging that plants do not know political boundaries, the CCH now includes data from Baja California. These data will also be shared with the Mexican national databases at CONABIO and the Baja California floristic resources at Bajaflora.org. The recent formation of the Baja California Native Plant Society and the first rare plant treasure hunts in this region are identifying new conservation targets and linking science to conservation on the ground. Long term plans include the development of a database that provides population level rare plant data and link to existing resources to provide a rich resource for conservation and management.

7.04 California Rare Plant Rescue: An initiative to advance ex-situ conservation of California's rare plants

Naomi Fraga1, Mary Burke7, Holly Forbes5, Dan Gluesenkamp2, Denise Knapp3, Evan Meyer1, Bart O'Brien6, Lesley Randall7 1Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, CA, USA, 2California Native Plant Society, Sacramento, CA, USA, 3Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Santa Barbara, CA, USA, 4San Diego Botanic Garden, Encinitas, CA, USA, 5University of California Botanical Garden, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, 6Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Berkeley, CA, USA, 7University of California, Davis Arboretum, Davis, CA, USA, nfraga@rsabg.org

In addition to the protection and management of native plants and habitats, preservation of biodiversity in ex-situ storage facilities is an important component of plant conservation. An analysis of current seed accession holdings of rare taxa native to California shows significant progress in meeting global goals for ex-situ conservation, however there is still much work to be done. To date 167 (59% of the total) taxa with legal protection under the Federal Endangered Species Act or the California Endangered Species Act have been deposited at regional or national seed banks. In comparison, seeds of only 17% of taxa that are considered rare, but do not have formal legal status, have been banked. California Rare Plant Rescue is a collaboration and partnership to secure the future of California's native flora by collecting seeds of special status plants for long term preservation in established and secure regional seed banks (ex-situ conservation), and to record information from wild populations to further monitoring and inform land management efforts (in-situ conservation). This project is being launched between long standing partners including California's Center for Plant Conservation botanic gardens and the California Native Plant Society, to work in concert with federal, state, and local government agencies, non-governmental organizations, land owners, and other interested parties to accomplish the long-term conservation of the most genetically diverse and representative populations of these plants.

7.05 A Field Guide to California Lichens

Stephen Sharnoff University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, lichen@idiom.com

A new guidebook to the lichens of California, called A Field Guide to California Lichens, has been written and illustrated by Stephen Sharnoff and published by Yale University Press. In addition to most of the species of macrolichens in California, the book includes approximately 230 crustose species, many of them from central and southern California and many not covered in Lichens of North America. Descriptions of genera and species include morphological features, habitat, range and chemical spot test information. An Introduction describes the general biology of lichens and key anatomical features, and briefly discusses lichens' ecological roles including nitrogen fixation, contributions to nutrient cycling, soil stability, and importance to wildlife as food, camouflage and nesting material. A glossary of lichen terminology is included, and two appendices provide a description of chemical tests important to identification, and a list of recent name changes.

7.06 Conserving appropriate fire regimes as well as natural ecosystems

V. Thomas Parker San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA, parker@sfsu.edu

Fire is an important ecological and evolutionary agent in California. With lower predicted rainfall and higher temperatures, fire may increase in frequency in many parts of California, especially as people encroach into habitat characterized by fire. Current approaches to managing vegetation do not always benefit the ecosystem nor is conservation a goal when ‘fuel’ is being managed. In this brief lightning talk, an outline of ecological and evolutionary benefits will be presented as well as management approaches that may be compatible with conservation.

7.07 Effective and efficient restoration by using systematic weed control

Arne Johanson California Native Plant Society, San Diego, CA, USA, arne_kj@yahoo.com

Lusardi Creek Burned in May 2014. Two weeks later CNPS - San Diego began restoration efforts on the three mile riparian corridor. Our approach is to remove invasive plants from around native vegetation, allowing the natives to spread and flourish (Bradley Method). Early results suggest that it will take two years to finish a first pass. The rest of the total 1,500 acres will take longer. We have a dozen volunteers in our group and about half are active. In any given month we can expect three to five people to actually be available to work. We go out in pairs and work about three hours a day. We work three to six days a week. Experience has ahown this approach to be very effective, and efficient. Blue Sky Ecological Reserve is 790 acres, with a two mile riparian corridor that burned completely in 2003. That same fire also burned Artesian Creek, another open space area of about 500 acres with a two mile creek. We have restored both to vibrant habitat on a budget of no more than $2,000 per year. Not only has the native vegetation returned but so has the wildlife. It takes three to five years to get any work area to recover. We can work 300 acres or more in any year with some 100 acres being completed at about $15 per acre per year. This can work in many places; patience, persistence, partners and knowledge are the basic requirements.

7.08 Rare plant conservation in the shadow of renewable energy development in the California deserts

Kara Moore University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA, kmoore@ucdavis.edu

Renewable energy development in the California Desert Region is advancing at a rapid pace. This region is home to diverse and idiosyncratic rare plants that have poorly documented biology and distributions. There is a pressing need for biological information on rare species to guide regional conservation and mitigation of numerous rare species. How can we rapidly collect the information necessary on species- and site-specific population dynamics to design effective conservation and mitigation measures? Practical experiments to test for the effects of real or simulated impacts have shown differences in vital rates between natural and disturbed populations adjacent to and within solar installations and significant negative effects of panel shade on rare plant communities. Rare plant conservation in this ecological and anthropogenic landscape requires ongoing integration of demographic and experimental studies, rigorous monitoring, and adaptive management.

7.09 Snapshots and specimens: A volunteer botanical bioblitz on Mt. Tamalpais

Andrea Williams1, Alison Young2, Suzanne Whelan1, Janet Klein1, Terrence Gosliner2 1Marin Municipal Water District, Corte Madera, CA, USA, 2California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, USA, awilliams@marinwater.org

Mt. Tamalpais in Marin County is a well-botanized site with a legacy of hundreds of specimens since the mid-1800's. The Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) has stewarded most of the land in the Mt. Tamalpais Watershed over the past 100 years. To mark its centennial anniversary in 2012, MMWD partnered with the California Academy of Sciences on a series of bioblitzes to document the flora of the Mt. Tamalpais Watershed using teams of citizen science volunteers and professionals. Over the course of three years and 16 collection events more than 170 individual volunteers contributed over 3,000 hours doing field work and data upload. Their observations represent over 500 taxa, including 30 new to MMWD's species list; they are supported by nearly 600 specimens now curated in the California Academy of Science's herbarium, by hundreds of records in iNaturalist and thousands of exquisite photographs. Observations made serve as a snapshot in time of the flora of the mountain, and combine centuries-old herbarium specimen collection and preparation with modern-day GPS camera and website data upload. Records from this effort can be used to compare against historic records, and as a benchmark against which future change may be measured. Through thoughtful team formation-pairing expert with novice, repeat with newcomer, assigning tasks and tapping into existing skills, everyone was able to learn, teach, and produce useful information.

7.10 Publish your data!

Eric Peterson Resident, Weaverville, CA, USA, eric@crustose.net

Publishing of papers in scientific journals has long been the gold standard in science. But how long does a typical paper continue to be of much interest? Citations of most papers drop off within a few years and the papers fade off into history. But DATA...! Ah, there is something that can easily live on! Ecology is discovering that times change, so data collected within the couple years duration of most studies is just a tiny window in time. Research that collects old data to compare to newer data has become commonplace. Unfortunately, most original data is lost in some dusty filing cabinet, or worse, so datasets must be reconstructed from old graphs or tables. But we have the power to change this for future research! Well organized and documented datasets have the potential to live on for decades or even centuries. Properly completed and made publicly available, they are as easily cited as papers. Let your work live on! Extend the life of your citations! "Publish" your data!

7.11 A year in the native garden

Helen Popper Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA, USA, hpopper@scu.edu

There is a rhythm to native gardening in California, a rhythm that reflects the state’s wilder surroundings. That rhythm differs from the traditional gardening calendar, and each month and each season has its characteristic chores and delights. In fall, Californians anticipate leaving the dry season behind, and they prepare for their own green ‘spring.’ Many native gardeners sow seeds in wet winters and prune evergreens in the slowness of summer. Distinctive patterns of rainfall and temperature have shaped the state’s native plants, and they shape sustainable gardening practices as well.

7.12 Certification program for native California landscape professionals

Hei-ock Kim California Native Plant Society, Sacramento, CA, USA, director@gardennative.org

California's extreme drought has brought native landscaping directly into the limelight, in both the public and private sectors. However, improving our landscaping culture in an enduring way is a challenge. Common practices derived from cultivating exotics have led to the pervasive misconception that native plants are difficult to work with. Frequent perpetuators of this myth are landscape professionals themselves, who are untrained in proper native-plant installation and maintenance. The CNPS Certification Program is a structured, comprehensive training program specifically designed to provide this demographic with the formal education necessary to assure that native landscapes not only survive but thrive.

7.13 Native bee outreach in California botanic gardens

Gordon Frankie, Jaime Pawelek, Sara Leon Guerrero, Mary Schindler University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, gwfrankie@berkeley.edu

Brilliant colors, shapes, scents, and medicinal properties are just some of the characteristics of flowers that inspire us to dig up our yards, join community gardens, and visit parks and botanic gardens. But there is more to love. The relationships of flowering plants and their bees is a love story extraordinaire. In California, an estimated 90% of flowering plants depend on bee pollination. Co-evolving to efficiently exchange services, the fates of bees and plants are inextricably bound: without one, the other simply cannot exist. Partnering with several botanic gardens across the state, the UC Berkeley Urban Bee Lab has developed a targeted outreach program that reaches key new audiences with this compelling and urgent love story. In collaboration with garden staff, we are using our research findings to educate staff, docents, volunteers and visitors and inspire them to support native bee and flower conservation. The outreach program mostly involves the development of large, colorful, informative signs that are placed in strategic places in native plant garden areas. These signs can now be seen at The Living Desert, Palm Desert; UC Santa Cruz Arboretum, and the Leaning Pine Arboretum, Cal Poly, SLO. Planning is underway for new signs at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Gateway Museum, Chico, and the Tilden Park Botanic Garden, Berkeley Hills. Sign message is tailored for audiences at each site, and is the result of collaboration among garden staff, UC Berkeley Urban Bee Lab personnel, and an artist from Santa Cruz.

7.14 Native plants in urban environments

Ellen Mackey1,2 1Council for Watershed Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 2Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA, emackey@mwdh2o.com

As the California drought worsens, the use of native plants in landscaping is increasing especially in urban areas. However, these environments are challenging for all organisms including native plants. This talk is an invitation to focus research on issues unique to urban landscapes, such as, brownfields, heat island effect, environmental injustice, toxic/depleted soil, limited and fragmented landscape areas (ex. medians, freeway ramps), reclaimed water use, Low Impact Development ordinances, and stormwater infiltration facilities to name a few. Proposed projects are moving forward and answers are few. Our goal is to have a session at the 2018 conference on horticultural challenges in Urban Native Plant Landscapes to provide guidance to decision makers on these issues.

7.15 Back to the Beginning: The California Native Plant Society (CNPS) and the Regional Parks Botanic Garden (RPBG), shared history, purpose, and anniversaries

Bart O'Brien Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Berkeley, CA, USA, bobrien@ebparks.org

CNPS and RPBG celebrate important anniversaries in 2015: CNPS turns 50 and RPBG is 75 years old. 1965 was a pivotal year for both, with the birth of CNPS as a direct consequence of "saving" the Botanic Garden. A necessarily brief overview of the who, how, and why this history changing confluence occurred will be presented.

SESSION 8: Current Research (Student presentations)

8.01 Vascular flora of the upper Rock Creek watershed, eastern Sierra Nevada, California

Joy England Claremont Graduate University, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, CA, USA, joy.england@cgu.edu

The upper watershed of Rock Creek comprises ca. 30 sq. miles of the Inyo National Forest in Mono and Inyo counties, California. My current research involves cataloguing the vascular plant diversity of upper Rock Creek in order to enrich our understanding of its flora from a biogeographical perspective and in context of rapid climate change. Voucher-based documentation of the Rock Creek flora has progressed in an intermittent fashion over the past century by various workers, notably Peirson and Howell. However, significant areas of the watershed had been neglected until my study, including four alpine mountain peaks above 11,000 ft. altitude for which (as of June 2014) there were no herbarium specimen records listed in the Consortium of California Herbaria specimen database. My surveys from these high peaks and throughout the study area from 2012-2014 resulted in numerous additions to the species inventory along with new occurrence data for several rare taxa listed in the CNPS Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants. These timely documentations are serving as a valuable source of species data for the Inyo National Forest, which is currently in process of revising its forest management plan. A contemporary catalogue of vascular plant taxa in upper Rock Creek will synthesize for the first time historical data from over 1500 records from earlier explorations along with my current research, providing a robust baseline dataset against which future change in the Rock Creek flora can be measured, enabling researchers to track the impacts of climate change.

8.02 A vascular flora of the Kiavah Wilderness in the Scodie Mountains, southern Sierra Nevada, Kern County, California

Erika Gardner Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, CA, USA, egardner@rsabg.org

For my master’s thesis I am conducting a floristic study of the Kiavah Wilderness in the Scodie Mountains (Kern County) of the southern Sierra Nevada. The Kiavah Wilderness is of ecological importance because it lies in a transition zone between the Mojave Desert and the Sierra Nevada floristic regions. The highest point, Scodie Peak, is 7,294 ft and the lower elevations are around 4000 feet. The Wilderness encompasses a total of 139 square miles and is managed by the Bureau of Land Management and Sequoia National Forest. This area has regionally unusual geologic formations and habitats undergoing post-fire succession. The Kiavah Wilderness has received little attention from botanists and is considered a botanical “black hole.” The study objectives are to (1) collect and document the vascular flora of the Kiavah Wilderness, including under-collected areas, locations with interesting geologic formations and post-fire succession sites, (2) publish a voucher-based vascular plant checklist of the Wilderness and (3) map and assess the status of rare plant taxa via GIS analysis. Specimen data collected from 2012-2014 will be evaluated and compared to data collected in the 1980s from the Wilderness. New populations of rare plants were located during this study as well as taxa not yet

documented from the Wilderness. This project began in 2012 and will conclude in 2015. Documenting the flora of an area provides valuable baseline data for scientific research, informs land management, and is important to the public at large.

8.03 What can the flora of Tejon Ranch tell us about the flora of California?

Nick Jensen, J. Mark Porter Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, CA, USA, njensen@rsabg.org

At approximately 270,000 acres Tejon Ranch is California's largest contiguous piece of private land. Located primarily in the Tehachapi Mountains of Kern County, Tejon Ranch occupies one of the most interesting and complex areas of ecological convergence in the state: the junction of the San Joaquin Valley, Sierra Nevada, Western Transverse Ranges, and Mojave Desert. Prior to 2008, when 90 percent of the ranch was placed under conservation agreements, Tejon Ranch was closed to scientific research. Recent botanical collecting and herbarium-based research associated with progress toward a flora of Tejon Ranch has identified many range extensions, and the possible discovery of numerous species new to science. We present current findings from this research and an analysis of the flora of Tejon Ranch in relation to adjacent ecological regions. Preliminary results using geospatial analysis indicate that the flora of the Tehachapi Mountains is more closely related to the Western Transverse Ranges and Mojave Desert than other adjacent regions. This analysis provides a framework for understanding the evolution of the flora of the Tehachapi Mountains and adjacent regions.

8.04 A floristic study of the South Fork Tule River Watershed, southern Sierra Nevada, Tulare County, California

Jessica Orozco Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, CA, USA, jessica.orozco@cgu.edu

For my master’s thesis, I am conducting a floristic study of the South Fork Tule River (SFTR) watershed, located in Tulare County, California. The SFTR originates near Slate Mountain, in Sequoia National Forest, and drains west through the Tule River Indian Reservation (TRIR) into Lake Success. The watershed is ca. 100 sq. miles in area and has a 900–9,302 elevation range. The objectives of my study are: 1) Document all vascular plant taxa that occur within the watershed. 2) Create an annotated, vouchered checklist of the flora. 3) Assess the status of rare plant taxa. Another goal is to create a reference herbarium for the TRIR. I began this project in spring 2013, and have spent 35 days in the field, and anticipate a completion date sometime in 2015. Given past exploitation of the tribe, access to the land by scientists had been previously limited. Prior to my project, 298 collections had been made from SFTR watershed total and only 57 from the reservation. Poorly documented plant diversity on tribal trust lands, including the TRIR, speaks to the need for more collaboration between Native American communities and botanists. Thus far I have collected 691 specimens, and 411 have been identified to species representing 198 genera, with Fabaceae being the most represented family with 28 different species. Both botanists and tribal community members can benefit from the information generated from this study as we work together towards an improved understanding of the California flora.

8.05 How are rare species maintained near common and widespread relatives?

Natalie Rossington, Jenn Yost, Matt Ritter California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA, natalie.rossington@gmail.com

Rare plants are able to secure habitat despite fierce resource competition from surrounding species, and are also able to maintain reproductive isolation even though interspecific fertility may exist. Layia jonesii (Asteraceae), a rare San Luis Obispo serpentine endemic, and L. platyglossa grow parapatrically and are interfertile, but do not produce observable hybrids. We studied this system to investigate possible mechanisms contributing to the maintenance of this rare species. We hypothesized edaphic adaptation along with resource competition maintain the spatial distribution and flowering time differences

contributing to reproductive isolation. To investigate the spatial distribution between L. jonesii and L. platyglossa, we reciprocally transplanted both species into the center of each species distribution. We also conducted a competition experiment to determine if L. jonesii is sensitive to resource competition beyond its natural distribution. To investigate reproductive barriers, we tracked flowering time of both wild and reciprocally transplanted populations. Results from the reciprocal transplant are inconclusive about differential edaphic adaptation. Results from the competition experiment suggests L. jonesii is sensitive to resource competition and this may contribute to the maintenance of the spatial distribution. We also observed stark differences in flowering time between the species which acts as a strong barrier to reproduction by reducing interspecific gene flow. These results contribute to our understanding of how rare plants preserve genetic integrity and ensure habitat availability when growing near closely related taxa.

8.06 Cryptic species in North American Cercis (Fabaceae)?

Camille Nowell1,2, Peter Fritsch2, Boni Cruz2, Lila Leatherman3 1San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA, 2California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, USA, 3Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH, USA, cnowell@calacademy.org

Cercis comprises nine species of deciduous woody legumes which are distributed among the warm-temperate regions in the Northern Hemisphere. North American Cercis appears to be monophyletic, with the traditional taxonomic treatment comprising the eastern species C. canadensis, composed of three vaguely defined varieties, and the western species C. occidentalis. Alternative classifications have been proposed, and regional morphometric studies of the group suggest that variation across geographic space is complex and continuously variable. To test these classifications, we conducted a comprehensive morphometric study of Cercis from throughout North America and a molecular phylogenetic analysis of the group based on four genic regions. Morphometric analyses corroborated the continuous character variation throughout North America suggested in previous studies. In contrast, the results from the molecular phylogenetic analysis recovered three distinct groups, each with strong statistical support. Of the three groups, a clade from the Colorado River drainage is sister to one from eastern North America including Mexico; this clade is in turn sister to a clade inhabiting California. A relaxed clock divergence time analysis yielded an age of between 16 and 8.6 million years among the three groups, much longer than the average genetic divergence time among many plant species. This long period of geographic and presumably genetic isolation among the three groups suggests that they may best be considered distinct species, despite overlapping character variation. This apparent cryptic speciation in Cercis invites questions about cryptic speciation in multiple other North American disjunct genera such as Liquidambar (Altingiaceae), Prunus (Rosaceae), and Platanus (Platanaceae).

8.07 Geneious! Simplified genome skimming methods for phylogenetic systematic studies: a case study in subtribe Amsinckiinae and Oreocarya (Boraginaceae)

Lee Ripma1,2, C. Matt Guilliams3,4, Kristen Hasenstab-Lehman5, Makenzie Mabry2, Michael G. Simpson2 1Rocks Biological Consulting, San Diego, CA, USA, 2San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA, 3Baldwin Lab and UC/JEPS Herbaria, Berkeley, CA, USA, 4Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Santa Barbara, CA, USA, 5Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, CA, USA, lee@rocksbio.com

As systematists grapple with how to best harness the power of NGS, a deluge of review papers, methods, and analytical tools makes choosing the right method difficult. Amsinckiinae is a subtribe of Boraginaceae with more than 280 taxa worldwide, and includes the genera Amsinckia, Cryptantha s.s., Eremocarya, Greeneocharis, Harpagonella, Johnstonella, Oreocarya, Pectocarya, and Plagiobothrys. Past PCR+Sanger molecular phylogenies of these taxa lack both backbone and species-level resolution. NGS genome skimming targets the high copy fraction of genomic DNA and data processing with Geneious allows easy data processing for even the least tech-savvy systematists. A combination of de novo and reference-guided assemblies were used to process 100 bp single-end Illumina HiSeq 2000 reads. A subset of Amsinckiinae and Oreocraya were used to test the suitability of genome skimming for future systematic studies. The nuclear ribosomal cistron, partial plastome, and 12 mitochondrial genes were

recovered from all sampled taxa. All sequence assemblies, data processing, and phylogenomic analyses were performed in Geneious. Genome skimming represents a much-improved primary data collection over PCR+Sanger when cpDNA, nrDNA, and mtDNA are the target sequences. Furthermore, these data can be used to identify known low-copy nuclear genes and design hyb-seq probes for downstream applications. This study details methods that plant systematists can employ to study their own taxa of interest and discusses resolution of the preliminary relationships within Amsinckiinae and Oreocarya. We conclude that genome skimming and sequence assembly with Geneious constitute a viable way to continue systematic studies within the Amsinckiinae.

8.08 Investigating multiple subspeciation events in Navarretia intertexta (Polemoniaceae): A molecular approach

Haley Smith Henderson1, Robert Patterson1, Leigh Johnson2 1San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA, 2Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA, haley.mo.smith@gmail.com

This project resolves the unique relationship between Navarretia intertexta and N. propinqua in Shasta County. The intent is an understanding of the genetic lineages and evolutionary significance of observed variation. Phylogenetic data suggests that hybridization leading to allopolyploidization in this lineage may have occurred multiple times, possibly with N. intertexta serving as the paternal parent in some cases and the maternal parent in other cases—but the second parent is uncertain and may actually differ between allopolyploidization events. Sequencing of nuclear and chloroplast DNA from plants gathered in the Four Corners area (Shasta County, California, near the intersection of highway 89 and highway 299) shows an unexpected pattern that appears confined to this region. Navarretia intertexta displays chloroplast sequence characteristic of N. propinqua and vice a versa. By understanding the genetic lineages and evolutionary significance of this observed variation we can better understand the role of multiple hybridization and allopolyploidization events in species formation.

8.09 The distinct lineages of red flowered Silene (Caryophyllaceae) in California, convergence and confusion.

Scott Simono1,2 1San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA, 2University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, foodtalk@gmail.com

In the current circumscription for Silene (Caryophyllaceae), there are two species of red flowered Silene in California, S. laciniata and the newly recognized S. serpentinicola. The former S. californica is accounted for partly as a subspecies in the circumscription of S. laciniata, and partly as S. serpentinicola. The former S. laciniata subsp. major of southwestern California is now synonymous with S. laciniata subsp. laciniata, with a type locality near México City. My research revealed that populations throughout California of red flowered Silene formerly known as S. californica matched the characters used to define S. serpentinicola, and were inconsistently accounted for and not described by any current account based on the recent taxonomy. My research based on molecular and morphological data shows that there are at least four phylogenetically distinct lineages of red flowered Silene endemic to the California Floristic Province and that these four are unrelated to S. laciniata.

8.10 Conservation genetics of Calystegia stebbinsii (Convolvulaceae), a rare edaphic endemic of the northern Sierra Nevada foothills

Sandra Namoff Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, CA, USA, snamoff@gmail.com

Genetic monitoring can be used to understand how populations of rare species are responding to habitat threats and environmental variation. Specifically, the genetic diversity within a population can be understood as a proxy of a species’ adaptive potential. In the foothills along the western slope of the

Northern Sierra Nevada is an intrusion of gabbroic-volcanic rock called the Pine Hill complex that hosts a suite of six rare species. Among them is Calystegia stebbinsii, a fire adapted herbaceous perennial afforded legal protection by federal and state governments. The greatest threats to this species are human activities associated with urban development including land conversion and changes to fire frequency, as well as ecological factors including competition from invasive exotics. In this study microsatellite data is used to understand inbreeding, genetic structure and population size of Calystegia stebbinsii. Population genetic data will guide management of the species, and assist in the design of conservation actions to preserve the current genetic diversity for this rare species and thus maximize its evolutionary potential for the future.

8.11 How do restoration site characteristics, plant caging, and parental source affect native Pacific cordgrass, Spartina foliosa (Poaceae), establishment?

Whitney Thornton1,2, Katharyn Boyer1 1San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA, 2Coastal Conservancy Invasive Spartina Project, Oakland, CA, USA, whitneythornton@spartina.org

Pacific cordgrass (Spartina foliosa) forms the foundation of native low tidal saltmarsh in San Francisco Estuary (SFE) and provides critical habitat to marsh fauna including the endangered California clapper rail. In some SFE marshes, Spartina foliosa has been extirpated an invasive hybrid cordgrass (S. alterniflora x foliosa). Reintroduction of S. foliosa follows successful control efforts, but has been complicated by a paucity of S. foliosa populations available for transplant, altered marsh characteristics following hybrid invasion and removal, and Canada goose herbivory. Six large scale experiments were conducted from 2010-2013 to examine how restoration site characteristics, outplanting methods (i.e. caging), and parental source of transplants affect establishment rates of native cordgrass. Throughout all experiments, outplanting location (including geographic location, substrate, and elevation) and caging were strong predictors of planting success. Establishment rate of native cordgrass was highest on uniform mudflats and wide channel banks (62%) with lower establishment rates occurring in 2nd order channels and bayfront habitat (15%). Cage effects varied with marsh, but strong effects of caging were seen in sites with nesting Canada goose (7% survivorship versus 87% survivorship). Within a restoration site, parental source was found to strongly influence cordgrass culm number, lateral expansion, and flower production. However, sources varied in performance between restoration sites. Our research suggests that both biotic (grazing) and abiotic (hydrology) can strongly influence restoration success of native cordgrass. Restoration designs should be adapted at the site level. Research also suggests the importance of using a diversity of transplant sources.

8.12 Impacts of precipitation change on Bromus tectorum (Poaceae) and native vegetation in a sagebrush steppe ecosystem

Catherine Wade, Michael Loik University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA, cwade@ucsc.edu

Sagebrush steppe, one of the most widespread ecosystems in the western U.S., is highly vulnerable to ecosystem conversion because of positive feedbacks between the non-native species Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass) and fire. Ubiquitous throughout the Intermountain West, B. tectorum colonizes bare ground amid native vegetation, completes an unusually early phenological cycle, and poses serious fire hazards. Its recent spread to higher elevations may be exacerbated by climate change--particularly altered precipitation regimes. This study compared impacts of precipitation change on B. tectorum and native species at 2,175 m elevation over three years, using snow fences to increase and decrease snowpack and irrigation to simulate increased frequency and magnitude of spring and summer precipitation. Bromus tectorum phenology was advanced in the decreased relative to increased snowpack treatments in 2013. Snowpack treatments did not affect species richness, percent cover, or B. tectorum density within any year, but interannual differences in snowpack significantly impacted these variables, including a dramatic reduction in B. tectorum density following the driest winter. Photosynthetic responses to rainfall simulations were species-specific and varied seasonally and annually; B. tectorum responses were more

pronounced than those of native species in spring 2013, while the magnitude of responses was more uniform in spring 2014. In summer 2012, some native species responded to watering, but not in summer 2013. Bromus tectorum seems more sensitive than native vegetation to precipitation change. Uncertain precipitation projections and the small window of opportunity to manage invasions necessitate close monitoring of high-elevation areas at risk of B. tectorum encroachment.

8.13 Modeling environmental drivers of distribution for a river ecosystem engineer, Carex nudata (Cyperaceae)

Matthew Goslin University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA, goslin@uoregon.edu

Carex nudata (torrent sedge) occurs in rivers throughout northern California and Oregon, and where prominent appears to function as an ecosystem engineer capable of altering river morphology. Carex nudata appears to enhance channel complexity, a key goal of river restoration. Previous studies have also found that C. nudata may indirectly facilitate the presence of other species, enhancing diversity. While the species appears to play a key role in river ecosystems, relatively little is known about the drivers of the species’ distribution. Using herbaria data and a species distribution model designed for presence-only data (Maxent), I constructed a range-wide distribution model. In addition to climate variables, the Maxent model incorporated hydrological variables such as discharge, velocity, slope and stream power derived from the National Hydrographic Dataset Plus (NHDPlus). The model found that the explanatory power of hydrological variables dwarfed those of climate. A key hypothesis is that stream power sets upper and lower limits on the distribution of C. nudata within basins. I have used this initial predictive model to develop systematic sampling schemes for C. nudata in several river basins: the John Day and Santiam in Oregon, and the Smith and Eel in California (partially funded by CNPS). Systematic sampling will facilitate a more robust model of the environmental drivers of C. nudata distribution, contributing to better management of environmental flows toward the goal of conserving key riparian species such as C. nudata.

8.14 The distribution and post-fire recovery of biological soil crusts in the Great Basin: Promoters of site resistance

Lea Condon1, David Pyke2 1Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA, 2U.S. Geological Survey, Forest & Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Corvallis, OR, USA, Lea.Condon@science.oregonstate.edu

Across the Great Basin, fires are burning at larger extents and with increased frequency due to more continuous fuel loads created by invasive annual grasses. These grasses irreversibly alter hydrologic and nutrient cycles that promote native plant recovery after fire. Biological soil crusts (BSCs) refer to mosses and lichens that live on the soil surface. BSCs maintain natural patterns of soil moisture and nutrient cycling and hinder annual grass invasion. We examined distributions of BSCs across the Great Basin in relation to environmental factors, livestock grazing and fire using a chronosequence approach and non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMS) ordinations. We also examined functional traits related to energy acquisition, water regulation, and dispersal capability to compare post-fire recovery and the potential for BSCs to increase site resistance. Preliminary NMS ordinations with three significant axes (p<0.05) demonstrated that species composition of BSCs varied along gradients of disturbance. A gradient of grazing intensity was apparent although the effect of time since fire was variable by site. Moss species were a dominant component of BSCs at heavily grazed sites where as lichens increased in dominance with reduced grazing intensity. The use of functional traits allowed for stronger relationships between BSCs and disturbance gradients. Results indicated that BSCs incorporated into monitoring protocols may aid in estimating site resistance to invasion following fire in the Great Basin. The use of functional traits is informative, can be readily applied by managers, and will allow for future comparisons between the Great Basin and global steppe communities.

8.15 Demographic patterns across the range of a xeric-adapted alpine plant

Meagan Oldfather University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, meagan_oldfather@berkeley.edu

Investigation of demographic differences between populations across a species’ range will inform our mechanistic understanding of potential range shifts. In 2013 and 2014, I surveyed populations of a long-lived alpine perennial (Ivesia lycopodioides var. scandularis, Rosaceae) across the entirety of its arid altitudinal range in the White Mountains, California. In the last two decades there has been a significant increase in temperature and decrease in precipitation in the White Mountains, and it is suggested that this species is vulnerable to extensive range contraction. Examining 17 populations across the lower, upper, and central regions of this species range, I ask how size-structure and demographic rates vary depending on microclimatic growing-season soil moisture and temperature. My results suggest a complex interaction between environmental conditions and population dynamics across the range of Ivesia lycopodioides var. scandularis. There is significant increase in plant size in the upper region (p=0.001), and a decrease in population density in sites with lower summer soil moisture, regardless of region (p=0.015). Average number of flowering stalks per individual is greater for same-sized individuals in the central region (p<0.0001). These relationships indicate increased vigor and fecundity in the more central part of the species range. Future work includes a range-wide Life Table Response Experiment (LTRE) in which I will quantify and compare population sensitivity to augmented precipitation and temperature across this species’ range. This work will allow a novel inference of the probability of range shifts in a warmer, drier future in eastern California.

8.16 High N, dry: Effects of nitrogen deposition on drought response of Artemisia californica (Asteraceae) seedlings

Justin Valliere, Edith Allen University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA, jvall007@ucr.edu

Nitrogen deposition and changes in precipitation patterns are two major components of global change that pose a significant threat to native ecosystems worldwide. In southern California, nitrogen deposition and drought have both been implicated in the widespread conversion of coastal sage scrub to exotic annual grasslands. We asked how nitrogen deposition influences drought response of seedlings of a native shrub, Artemisia californica. In a full-factorial greenhouse experiment, we investigated the effects of nitrogen availability, nitrogen-impacted soil microbial communities, and drought stress on seedlings. We hypothesized that seedlings inoculated with soil from a site receiving high levels of nitrogen deposition would result in decreased plant growth relative to seedlings inoculated with soil from an unpolluted site, and that this would be especially true under high nitrogen availability and drought stress. Contrary to our hypothesis, we found that seedlings inoculated with low nitrogen deposition inoculum had reduced growth relative to those grown in high deposition inoculum or sterile soil, and that seedlings inoculated with high nitrogen deposition inoculum had a positive response to increased nitrogen. However, seedlings inoculated with low deposition inoculum exhibited increased root to shoot ratios relative to other treatments, even under elevated nitrogen, which may allow seedlings to better cope with drought stress. We propose that reduced root to shoot ratios in seedlings subject to high nitrogen deposition may increase susceptibility to short- and long-term drought and decrease seedling establishment, and that this may be one potential mechanism for the widespread loss of coastal sage scrub in the region.

8.17 Importance of vegetation on soil inorganic carbon dynamics in California desert ecosystems

Amanda C. Swanson, Mark E. DeGuzman, G. Darrel Jenerette, Louis S. Santiago, Edith B. Allen, Michael F. Allen University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA, aswan005@ucr.edu

Renewable energy developments are projected to be deployed over desert wildland areas with deep soil inorganic carbon (SIC) deposits which often involves elimination of deep-rooted vegetation, especially wide-spread Larrea tridentata (Zygophyllaceae) scrub. Removal of native vegetation may systemically alter SIC pools because respired CO2 is the carbon source during SIC formation. We sought to understand how creosote bush scrub affects inorganic carbon (C) cycling through modeling and stable isotope techniques. We hypothesized that SIC formation and degradation is more dynamic than previously recognized and that vegetation plays a significant role in maintaining SIC pools. To test these hypotheses, we collected empirical data on soil CO2, temperature, and moisture in the Mojave Desert, California, and incorporated these into an existing process-based model. Additionally, we analyzed vegetation and soil 13C and 18O to further investigate carbon dynamics of SIC. Our results suggest that SIC has a much shorter turnover time than previously estimated. Model outputs indicate that SIC can go in and out of solution on a daily time scale, especially after rain events; soil moisture increases with soil CO2 concentrations reaching up to 10,000ppm due to increased root and microbial respiration. δ13C isotope values of SIC were higher than expected suggesting that C may readily exchange between the atmosphere and SIC, especially at shallow soil depths. As desert ecosystems undergo major land use changes, disturbances to the vegetation may lead to the exposure of deep, protected SIC layers to the atmosphere, causing them to become susceptible to erosion and carbon loss.

8.18 Leaf function under extreme nutrient deficiency: Possible implications for pygmy forest community structure

Katharine Cary, Jarmila Pittermann University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA, kcary@ucsc.edu

Plant response to soil conditions can drive community formation, ecological functioning, and speciation; however, the basic physiology of edaphically stressed plants is poorly studied. An ideal natural experiment for studying the effects of nutrient deficiency on plant structure and function is found in Mendocino County, California, where fertile soils are found adjacent to highly leached, nutrient deficient soils, which are populated by stunted (pygmy) 1-2 meter tall conifers and shrubs. Chlorophyll content, Fv/m ratios, maximum photosynthetic rate, and carbon and nitrogen content were measured in both newly matured leaves and older leaves of pygmy and nonpygmy plants of eight species. Unexpectedly, these four physiological measures were lower only in the older leaves of the pygmy plants, but were similar in the newly matured leaves of pygmy and nonpygmy plants of seven of the species. These results suggest that the pygmy plants are nutrient cycling—moving nutrients from older leaves to support newer leaves—thereby maintaining higher photosynthetic rates in newer leaves. Nutrient cycling may be helping to maintain the pygmy forest community: older leaves appear to be highly depleted in nutrients by the time they senesce, limiting the amount of nutrients that reach the soil and potentially creating a positive feedback loop that reinforces the nutrient deprivation and preserves the pygmy forest. Unique plant communities like the Mendocino pygmy forest have the potential to reveal important ecological and physiological principles, making conservation of these fragile systems imperative.

8.19 Effects of water availability, nitrogen deposition, and invasive grasses on Acmispon glaber (Fabaceae) in southern California coastal sage scrub

Scot Parker1, Rachel Danielson2, Michael Goulden1 1University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA, 2Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA, sparker@uci.edu

California’s coastal sage scrub ecosystem has decreased dramatically in extent due to climate change and human activities. Once covering California’s coastal foothills from Baja California to the San Francisco Bay, coastal sage scrub is now mostly limited to cismontane southern California. Acmispon glaber is an early fire successor and the dominant nitrogen fixer in coastal sage scrub, and is being threatened with displacement by exotic Eurasian grasses. In this study, we examined the factors that favor this displacement. We analyzed the response of coastal sage scrub to a five-year precipitation and nitrogen manipulation experiment, paying particular attention to A. glaber’s role in fire succession. We measured the fractional cover of A. glaber along a nitrogen deposition gradient spanning Orange County, California. We grew A. glaber in a greenhouse to test its response to factorial combinations of three important disturbances that are occurring in many coastal sage scrub habitats, specifically the presence of exotic grasses and forbs, decreased water availability, and increased nitrogen availability,. We found that increased nitrogen and decreased water both favor invasive grasses over A. glaber. Increased cover of invasive grasses is correlated with decreased A. glaber cover, particularly in regions with abundant nitrogen deposition or limited water availability. Climate models project increased aridity and precipitation variability in southern California over the next century. This study indicates that this projected precipitation pattern in conjunction with continued nitrogen deposition will continue to favor invasive grasses over native coastal sage scrub, posing a challenge to future conservation.

SESSION 9: Translocation, Transplantation, and Assisted Migration

9.01 Dam the luck! How the Anderson Dam seismic retrofit has led to new insights into the ecology, evolution, and conservation of the coyote ceanothus, Ceanothus ferrisiae (Rhamnaceae)

Janell Hillman1, Rodney Honeycutt2, Michael Vasey3, Alison Berry4, Daniel Potter4, Kai Battenberg4, Florence Gardipee5, Tedmund Swiecki6, Elizabeth Bernhardt6 1Santa Clara Valley Water District, San Jose, CA, USA, 2Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA, USA, 3San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA, 4University of California, Davis, CA, USA, 5U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Sacramento, CA, USA, 6Phytosphere Research, Vacaville, CA, USA, jhillman@valleywater.org

The endangered coyote ceanothus (Ceanothus ferrisiae), a serpentine chaparral endemic, is known from only three populations in Santa Clara County, CA, USA. In order to mitigate impacts to the largest population of coyote ceanothus from a planned seismic retrofit of Anderson Dam, a new population must be created proactively. A potential mitigation site has been selected on Coyote Ridge, north of the reservoir. A series of collaborative research studies on the genetics, soil relationships, and water availability needs of known populations of coyote ceanothus were conducted to determine site feasibility and methods to create a successful, functioning population. Results of the plastid DNA and microsatellite work indicate that there are three putative populations and genetic variation is correlated with geographic location and distance among populations, with an east and west race. Levels of genetic diversity differed among populations but were considerably low. The late dry season water availability and microclimate suitability study indicates the introduction site is within the maritime climate envelope of existing populations. Analysis of native soils in existing populations indicates that Frankia, an nitrogen-fixing soil actinomycete associated with Ceanothus, is an important component of an introduction effort for a new population. Considering these data along with extensive field observations, we conclude that the candidate introduction site appears suitable; however, test plots of coyote ceanothus nursery-grown seedlings installed in early 2014 tested positive for Phytophthora cactorum, an exotic root pathogen

common in nurseries. The site will need to be remediated prior to proceeding with a full-scale planting effort.

9.02 Can they live without each other? The strength of the association between Ceanothus ferrisiae (Rhamnaceae), an endangered California native plant, and Frankia, the nitrogen-fixing microbial symbiont

Kai Battenberg1, Jinna Wren1, Liujing Huang1, Janell Hillman2, Alison Berry1 1Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA, 2Santa Clara Valley Water District, San Jose, CA, USA, kbattenberg@ucdavis.edu

Ceanothus ferrisiae is an endangered shrub endemic to serpentine soil with only three extant populations, near Anderson Reservoir in Morgan Hill, California. The largest of these populations will be impacted by an earthquake retrofitting of the dam nearby. A mitigation project is in progress to establish a new population in an environmentally comparable site nearby. Ceanothus establish nitrogen-fixing symbioses with members of the actinobacterial genus Frankia, forming root nodules. Frankia within the nodules supplies nitrogen, an essential nutrient, thereby facilitating Ceanothus survival in otherwise nutrient-poor habitats. The purpose of our contribution to the mitigation project was to determine the symbiotic state of C. ferrisiae with Frankia in its native site, and the presence/absence of Ceanothus-compatible Frankia in the native soil and in the proposed mitigation site. Frankia was identified by detecting Frankia-specific DNA sequence in soil, and the symbiotic state of C. ferrisiae was determined based on the characteristic stable nitrogen isotope ratio within leaf tissue indicative of nitrogen fixation. Results show a tight correlation between presence of C. ferrisiae and Frankia in the soil, and the absence of Frankia in the proposed mitigation site. This indicates that transfer of native soil at planting and/or use of nursery stock with the native Frankia is necessary for mitigation to achieve the highest likelihood of success. The study is currently being replicated at McLaughlin Natural Reserve, on serpentine and non-serpentine soil, to test if this tight relationship is a general pattern or is unique either to the site or C. ferrisiae.

9.03 Seeding and transplanting trials of a federally endangered perennial Cirsium fontinale var. fontinale (Asteraceae)

Christal Niederer, Stuart Weiss Creekside Center for Earth Observation, Menlo Park, CA, USA, christal@creeksidescience.com

Fountain thistle (Cirsium fontinale var. fontinale) is a serpentine endemic found only in perennially moist areas in San Mateo County. It is threatened by habitat loss, fragmentation, invasive species, scrub encroachment, and hydrological instability. Other likely threats are climate change and loss of ant dispersers. Presented here are results from two years of fountain thistle seeding/transplanting trials within existing fountain thistle subpopulations on San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) watershed lands. Site selection was the most important factor in establishing fountain thistle, with sufficient moisture being the key to increasing survivorship. This was especially important in the older cohort, as plots in their second year thrived in wetter plots and declined in drier plots. Transplanting was the most successful treatment. Using larger transplants resulted in the highest survivorship (55-75%) and the most flowering plants. Smaller transplants were also successful (26-45% survivorship), and this treatment was easier to implement. Seeding treatments did not result in significantly more fountain thistle than the control treatment. Fountain thistle subpopulations may expand and contract with wet and dry years. Because we conducted this experiment in two dry seasons, our results may indicate a conservative estimate of seeding/transplanting success. In addition to weed/scrub management, we propose long-term irrigation of existing subpopulations as a potentially useful management tool because (a) sufficient soil moisture increased long-term survivorship, (b) the current hydrology at existing subpopulations does not appear stable/natural, and (c) the subpopulations' proximity to reservoirs means that irrigation would not likely cause measurable water losses for the SFPUC.

9.04 The population biology of mitigation: impacts of habitat creation on the endangered vernal pool plant species Sebastopol meadowfoam, Limnanthes vinculans (Limnanthaceae)

Michelle Halbur1,4, Christina Sloop2, Michael Zanis3, Nancy Emery4 1Pepperwood Preserve, Santa Rosa, CA, USA, 2Blue Earth Consultants, Oakland, CA, USA, 3Seattle University, Seattle, WA, USA, 4Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA, mhalbur@pepperwoodpreserve.org

Conservation practitioners widely agree that optimal conservation strategies will maximize the amount of genetic variation preserved in target taxa, but there is ongoing debate about how that variation should be distributed through restoration and mitigation activities. We evaluated the impacts of ~10 years of mitigation on Limnanthes vinculans, a federally-listed endangered plant species restricted to vernal pool wetlands in the Santa Rosa Plain of California. Using microsatellite loci, we found that created pools support similar levels of molecular variation in L. vinculans as natural pools. Habitat creation and seed translocation have not disrupted the largest-scale patterns of population genetic structure across the species range, but a concentration of mitigation activity towards the range center has reduced the extent of isolation-by-distance operating in this region and shifted the location of at least one genetic boundary. On average, L. vinculans in created pools exhibit less cover and more restricted local distributions than those in remnant pools, but these patterns were driven by two particularly productive natural sites rather than consistent differences between natural and created sites. We conclude that mitigation activities have changed the historical patterns of gene flow within the species range to a moderate degree, that these changes will likely impact remnant pools through gene flow, and that current created sites provide less heterogeneous habitat for L. vinculans than do natural pools. This study provides a retrospective analysis of the outcome of managing an endangered plant species through intensive mitigation, and yields several insights to inform future conservation strategies.

9.05 Habitat restoration and enhancement for two rare clay endemic plants

Mark Dodero, Anna Bennett RECON Environmental Inc., San Diego, CA, USA, mdodero@reconenvironmental.com

Otay tarplant (Deinandra conjugens [Asteraceae]) and San Diego thornmint (Acanthomintha ilicifolia [Lamiaceae]) are federally listed threatened and state listed endangered annual species. Both species are clay soil endemics with a limited range in San Diego County and northern Baja California. Populations of both species are declining throughout San Diego County due to urban development, habitat disturbance, and invasion of non-native species. Our goals for this grant funded restoration and enhancement project, located in the City of Chula Vista include: intensive control of non-native annuals and perennial weeds that are invading the native grassland and clay lens habitat, planting native grasses in areas of low native cover, collecting and distributing seeds of the target species to increase the size of Otay tarplant and San Diego thornmint populations and other sensitive plants species. Restoration methods for the project include the use of weed whips to cut and then remove dried weedy thatch and follow up herbicide spraying during the growing season to reduce the dominance of non-natives. Our monitoring program includes annual relevé vegetation sampling to assess changes in non-native and native cover, detailed mapping and conducting population estimates of tarplant and thornmint and photographing potential pollinators. Populations of Otay tarplant and San Diego thornmint increased over the baseline condition in the first two years of the project. Severe drought in 2014 limited the population numbers in the third year. Control of non-native plants has benefitted the rare plant populations due to reduced competition for water and light.

SESSION 10: NW Baja California: Intact landscapes, new energy

10.01 Environmental empowerment in northwestern Mexico, the creation of the Baja California chapter of the California Native Plant Society

Cesar Garcia Valderrama2,1 1Nativ@s de las Californias A.C., Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, 2Sociedad de Plantas Nativas de Baja California, Baja California, Mexico, cesargarcia@nativosac.org

In late 2011, a group of native plant lovers from both sides of the border started talking with regards to the importance of creating an organization like CNPS but pertaining to the Baja California region. After an impresive field trip to the Vizcaino desert with the likes of regional experts Jon Rebman and Sula Vanderplank among others, an ambitious interest ensued by many in this core group, the chapter envisioned, a subsequent submission to CNPS was issued and by summer 2013, the Baja California chapter was approved as the 34th chapter. While focusing on opinion leaders and general public, the chapter has started to make a mark in Baja California, especially on the importance of conservation advocacy and other key tools to detonate a native plant culture. With the creation of the chapter also known in México as the Sociedad de Plantas Nativas de Baja California, the process has begun to influence public opinion by developing talks and workshops to the general public, working for conservation by submitting eight new species to the federal Mexican protected species list, the creation of a public media campaign to conserve the native vegetation in Valle de Guadalupe, a Native Plant Treasure Hunt with a new occurrence and field trips with 70+ attendees. We are confident that as more people come to know the importance and beauty of our native plants we shall inevitably be able to influence public policies to better conserve our rich biological heritage.

10.02 Evaluations of extinction risk (MERs) for the inclusion of new species in the Mexican list of federally endangered species NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010

Gabriela Corona1, Sula Vanderplank2, C. Matt Guilliams3 1Universidad Autónoma de baja California, Baja California, Mexico, 2Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Texas, USA, 3University of California Berkeley, California, USA, gcorona21@gmail.com

The California Floristic Province (CFP) portion of NW Baja California is a hotspot of plant diversity endemism, with recent work has identified 1,092 species that are rare or threatened in this region, yet only 31 species from the region are included on the NOM 059. Mexico's endangered species list. To include a new species in the NOM 059 it is necessary to conduct an ‘Evaluation of Risk of Extinction' (Método de Evaluacion de Riesgo de Extinción or MER), where the species are evaluated through two indices: rarity and anthropogenic impact. Values are assigned to various criteria to determine under which category of risk species should be listed in danger of extinction, threatened, or subject to special protection. In 2014 we consulted local botanical experts that work in the region and prepared proposals for the inclusion of eight species: Adenothamnus validus (Asteraceae),a rare paleo-endemic species, the San Martín Island goosefoot (Chenopodium flabellifolium [Chepodiaceae] ); several species of liveforever (Dudleya anthonyi, Dudleya anomala, Dudleya formosa, Dudleya campanulata [Crassulaceae]) and three vernal pool species: the San Diego button celery, spikeweed, and Moran's navarretia (Eryngium aristulatum var. parishii [Apiaceae], Navarretia fossalis [Polemociaceae] and Centromadia perennis [Asteraceae]). We identified as weaknesses the little information available at the population level for many species and the lack of taxonomic descriptions in Spanish. Due to the theoretical and practical relevance of systematically completing the MER's this experience serves to identify research needs in the coming years to effectively conserve those species that urgently need protection.

10.03 A US-México partnership in Mediterranean-zone resource and fire management

Hugh Safford1,2, Hiram Rivera Huerta3, Gonzalo de Leon-Giron4, Mila Dunbar-Irwin2, Carlos Ramirez1 1USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region, Vallejo, CA, USA, 2University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA, 3Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, Ensenada, BC, Mexico, 4Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas, Ensenada, BC, Mexico, hughsafford@fs.fed.us

The USDA Forest Service has a long history of close collaboration with Mexican resource and fire management agencies. Most of Alta California (USA) and the northern part of Baja California (México) belong to the North American Mediterranean-climate zone, and fundamental similarities in ecosystems and threats to those ecosystems led to the development of a partnership between the USFS Pacific Southwest Region, CONAFOR (National Forest Commission) and CONANP (National Park Commission), nongovernmental organizations, and academic institutions. The purpose of the partnership is to support sustainable ecosystem management in the North American Mediterranean-climate zone on both sides of the US-México border by cultivating increased coordination, two-way information sharing, and technical assistance. Accomplishments of the collaboration to this point include: development of vegetation maps for two National Parks in Baja California; assessment of fire severity trends in and around the parks since 1984; training in grazing and meadow management; installation of forest and meadow inventory plots in both parks; training of Mexican personnel and students in mapping and modeling technologies; a joint US-México symposium at the 2011 MEDECOS meetings; and various visits of Mexican and US personnel to conservation units on both sides of the border. Current cooperative initiatives include a LiDAR flight of the Baja California conifer forests; an additional grazing and meadow management workshop; development of fire management plans for the Baja National Parks; and better integration of ecosystem reference conditions from the Baja California forests into restoration of very similar but more disturbed Alta California forests.

10.04 Images from Huamalgua: A wild island at California's floristic edge

Michael Uhler East Bay Regional Park District, Berkeley, CA, USA, m_uhler@sbcglobal.net

For thousands of years the island was known to its inhabitants as Huamalgua or Island of Fogs. Today, the island is referred to as Isla de Cedros. Isla de Cedros is by far the largest of the California's Pacific Islands and has an incredibly intact and diverse assemblage of plant taxa. Incredibly, Monterey Pine Forest, Chaparral and Coastal Sage Scrub from the California Floristic Province exist on this desert island at the southern-most extent of their range. Enjoy this brief photographic exploration of a remote and enchanting southern outpost of our state's flora that is deeply indebted to the fog.

10.05 Native plant awareness efforts in northern Baja California

Paula Pijoan Sociedad de Plantas Nativas de Baja California / California Native Plant Society Baja California Chapter, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, paulapijoan@gmail.com

Baja California´s native vegetation is mostly an absolute mystery for the majority of the population. An astounding lack of common names for all but the most ubiquitous plants is just one example of the detachment of society to the vegetation that covers the wild lands. This results in a general disregard and even rejection to most vegetation, with its peak expression in the extended practice of clearing or "cleaning" the land as soon as property is acquired, whether or not the property is to be developed in any given way. In an effort to counter this tendency, a group of individuals now united under the CNPS Baja California Chapter, have taken diverse actions to promote awareness and basic recognition of the area´s native flora. Different grass roots strategies such as field trips, informational talks, horticulture classes, social media outreach and more, have proven successful in reaching out to a public that seems thirsty to know more about the subject. The results have been encouraging: great turnouts in the field trips and talks, viral sharing in social media, interest and inquiries from government officials and land developers;

all signs that in less than two years of action, a growing culture of native plant interest has started to emerge. Amidst strong development pressure along the coast and in the wine valleys, where healthy chaparral and coastal sage scrub still occurs, these awareness efforts are more important than ever and will hopefully contribute to lessening the loss of our cherished native vegetation.

10.06 Assessment of historical loss of vernal pool landscapes in Baja California, México

C. Matt Guilliams1,4, Kristen Hasenstab-Lehman2, José Delgadillo3, Bruce G. Baldwin1 1University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, 2Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, CA, USA, 3Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, 4Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Santa Barbara, CA, USA, matt_g@berkeley.edu

The vernal pool ecosystems of western North America harbor tremendous endemic plant and animal biodiversity. Despite their biological value, a large percentage of vernal pools in the United States have been destroyed during the conversion of native habitat to other land uses, e.g., to agriculture in the Central Valley of California. A similar loss of vernal pools has occurred in Baja California as well, although no published estimate of loss of vernal pool landscapes in México exists. Here we present updated results from a long-term project to map and assess the vernal pools of Baja California. Our earliest preliminary estimate of vernal pool loss in Baja California was 92%. Through additional fieldwork in the last three years, we are able to revise our estimate of vernal pool loss upward to approximately 96%. This estimate is among the highest reported for vernal pool loss in western North America, with only a few California counties (e.g., San Diego, Yolo) reporting a greater percent loss. The rapid pace of loss in northwestern Baja California has prompted the formation of a bi-national team of biologists and conservationists to learn more about the remaining pools so that they can be better understood and protected. Our efforts have resulted in a pending floristic treatment of the vernal pools of the region, sampling of vernal pool vegetation communities, rare plant mapping, discovery of a potential new plant species, fairy shrimp genetics work, and proposed listing for three vernal pool endemic plants under Mexico's endangered species laws.

10.07 An intact landscape is essential to our ability to understand important biological problems: Investigating reproductive character displacement in Dudleya brittonii (Crassulaceae) in northwestern Baja California, Mexico over the last 40 years

Thomas W Mulroy Leidos, Inc., Carpinteria, CA, USA, mulroyt@leidos.com

An intact landscape contains indispensable biological information. In 1974, while collaborating on a flora of Punta Banda in northwestern Baja California, Mexico, I recognized an unusual pattern in flowering time of two forms of Dudleya brittonii, a plant species endemic to coastal northwestern Baja California. The more widespread non-glaucous form appeared to have a strikingly delayed flowering time where it was intermingled with the more narrowly distributed glaucous form, compared to its flowering time elsewhere. Because the habitat was relatively intact, I was able to create a sampling design that enabled separating abiotic from biotic factors in the apparent shift. In 1979, I systematically documented the flowering time shift and showed that the shift occurred between localities as near as one kilometer from one another. The ability to sample these sites enabled documentation of reproductive character displacement over very short distances, a phenomenon that had not been previously documented to such a degree under natural circumstances. Subsequently, rapid coastal development and population growth destroyed or degraded many of the sample sites and made others inaccessible. This growth and development obscured the flowering time pattern in addition to causing the loss of unique genetic types. During 2013 and 2014, I revisited the remaining sample sites and was able to verify that the originally documented pattern still exists. This underscores from yet another perspective the importance of maintaining intact habitat in this biologically diverse zone.

10.08 Las Californias Binational Conservation Initiative 2004-2014: Patterns of environmental change along the US-Mexico border and strategies for conservation in a global biodiversity hotspot

Jerre Ann Stallcup1, John Randall2, Trish Smith2, Brian Cohen2, Scott Morrison2 1Conservation Biology Institute, Encinitas, CA, USA, 2The Nature Conservancy, San Francisco, CA, USA, jastallcup@consbio.org

The Las Californias Binational Conservation Initiative (LCBCI) report was released in September 2004 as the result of an unprecedented partnership between conservation organizations in California and Baja California. Since that time, there have been new analyses, new conservation, new development, new threats, and new conservation opportunities on both sides of the border. Upon its initial launch in 2004, LCBCI engaged government stakeholders, resulted in the acquisition of conservation priorities in San Diego County, attracted the interest of ejidos looking for sustainable land uses on their properties, inspired a cross-border tracking program for the Peninsular bighorn sheep, and sparked conservation studies and proposals in both eastern San Diego County and Baja California for the Tijuana River and Sierra de Juarez and their watersheds. The past decade has also seen increased border security and infrastructure, rapid growth of renewable energy projects, expansion of development and agriculture, increased growth of population and tourism, construction of major highways in Baja California and San Diego County, development of a new Otay Mesa cross-border plan, completion of a new general plan in San Diego County, and a new NCCP plan in east San Diego County. Ten years later, this new study emphasizes the conservation values in the face of new threats and existing conservation investments, reassesses conservation priorities and strategies, identifies potential new partnerships and opportunities, and provides guidance for implementing existing land use policies and land management.

10.09 The California Floristic Province (CFP) in Baja California, Mexico: Two key projects

Bart O'Brien1,9, José Delgadillo-Rodríguez2, Steven Junak3, Thomas Oberbauer4, Jon Rebman5, Hugo Riemann6, Sula Vanderplank7,8 1Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Berkeley, CA, USA, 2Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, 3Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Santa Barbara, CA, USA, 4AECOM, San Diego, CA, USA, 5San Diego Museum of Natural History, San Diego, CA, USA, 6El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, 7Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Fort Worth, TX, USA, 8Terra Peninsular, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, 9Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, CA, USA, bobrien@ebparks.org

Documented knowledge of the southern portion of the California Floristic Province (CFP) in the state of Baja California, México, has been a stumbling block for plant conservation for decades as there has not been an accurate assessment of the flora of this region. This presentation will focus on two recently completed complementary projects: The rare, endangered, and endemic plants of CFP Baja, and an annotated checklist of the plants of CFP Baja. There are 1,729 native plant taxa found in CFP Baja of which 173 are wholly endemic to CFP Baja, 67 taxa are nearly endemic to CFP Baja, 17 taxa are extinct or extirpated, and 260 taxa are listed as equivalents to CNPS's List 1B.

10.10 Priority areas for conservation in the California Floristic Province of Baja California

Sula Vanderplank1,2, Jon Rebman2 1Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Fort Worth, TX, USA, 2San Diego Natural History Museum, San Diego, CA, USA, sula.vanderplank@gmail.com

Using published checklists, working checklists and historical plant specimens from Baja California, we here present a comparison of six priority areas for conservation in the California Floristic Province of Baja California. The coastal floras of Punta Banda (415 taxa), Colonet (719 taxa), San Quintín (690 taxa), and Valle Tranquilo (426 taxa) show considerable species turnover, and despite the small size of some of these regions, each has between 40 (Punta Banda) and 72 (San Quintín) regionally endemic taxa. The

two mountain floras of the Sierra de Juarez (796 taxa) and the Sierra San Pedro Martir (907 taxa) are species rich but dissimilar, with the lowest number of regionally endemic taxa found in the Sierra de Juarez and the greatest number of protected species (12) found in the high elevation Sierra San Pedro Martir. Only the mountain regions have any formal protection from the Mexican government, yet the analysis shows very similar levels of endemism and numbers of protected species on the Mexican endangered species act (NOM 059) in all the coastal floras. Local land trust Terra Peninsular has established Natural Reserves in two of the coastal regions, yet the number of restricted species in other areas along the coast calls for increased protection of coastal lands in this extremely biodiverse and heavily threatened region, where the human footprint is the highest in the state.

SESSION 11: Negotiating Conservation of Rare Plants

11.01 Negotiating conservation of native plants

James Nelson Nelson Facilitation LLC, Redding, CA, USA, nelsonfacilitation@gmail.com

The conservation of native plants is the intended outcome of many existing laws, regulations, and agency policies. These societal mechanisms constitute important tools for the protection of our native flora. Yet the implementation of these tools remains in the purview of people or organizations. The decisions to offer protection to plants are made by people. To be effective at conservation, we must be effective working with people. Beyond the legal structures used to implement protection of native species, are the countless cooperative and collaborative efforts to conserve native species and their habitats. Botanists are frequently called upon to negotiate to find ways to protect our resources. The ways in which two or more parties work to develop mutually acceptable solutions greatly affects the ultimate outcome of the effort. The use of recognized negotiation strategies can provide lasting protection for plants. The process of negotiation includes detailed preparation, good interaction and persuasion skills, the ability to direct a productive negotiation process, and crafting agreements that will withstand future scrutiny. We present examples of the negotiation processes illustrated by a variety of successful negotiations. The author advocates for the use of negotiation skills for better conservation outcomes.

11.02 The San Bruno Mountain HCP: A 32-year retrospective

David Nelson1, Douglas Allshouse2 1Resident, San Francisco, CA, USA, 2Technical Advisory Committee, San Bruno Mountain Habitat Conservation Plan, San Mateo County, CA, USA, nelsondl@pacbell.net

The San Bruno Mountain habitat conservation plan (lower case) was an agreement between local landowners and developers on the one hand and environmentalists and government entities on the other. It was a novel experiment in balancing property rights and species preservation. It morphed into the Habitat Conservation Plan (upper case) in 1982, the first HCP written in the US and a model for national legislation. It was so novel that it was illegal and did not have legal standing until 1983, when Congress amended the Endangered Species Act. This presentation examines this landmark agreement from a perspective of 32 years.

11.03 How to protect native plant communities from misconceptions, politics, and indifference.

Richard Halsey California Chaparral Institute, Escondido, CA, USA, rwh@californiachaparral.org

Protecting native plant communities requires determination and hope, qualities that are continually challenged by forces determined to replace nature with development, "managed" landscapes, or as isolated islands of compromised habitat. However, providing a voice for the native plants and animals that cannot speak for themselves can be incredibly successful and rewarding. We will share the lessons learned over the past decade in our efforts to protect both forest and shrubland habitat in California from

ill-conceived projects conducted under the name of fire protection and habitat "restoration." Learn to become a Chaparralian from our experiences in fighting to protect the native plant communities we love.

11.04 The luxury of a rare abundance: A conservation plan for Monotropa uniflora (Ericaceae), alternatively known as ghost pipe, Indian-pipe, or corpse plant, on private commercial timberlands in northwest California

Cheri Sanville1, Bianca Hayashi2 1California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Eureka, CA, USA, 2Green Diamond Resource Company, Korbel, CA, USA, cheri.sanville@wildlife.ca.gov

In the far northwestern corner of California, the charismatic mycoheterotroph Monotropa uniflora, occurs in relative abundance for a sensitive plant species otherwise unknown beyond the north coast. The statewide stronghold for this California Rare Plant Rank 2B.2 species is largely on one private timberland ownership. Monotropa uniflora occurs in all but eight states, Canada and temperate regions of northern South America and Asia. Green Diamond Resource Company (GDRCo) is committed to managing sensitive plant species on a landscape level and is utilizing over ten years of inventory and monitoring data to develop a species-focused conservation plan for the area where M. uniflora occurs. Presently, GDRCo relies on a property-wide consultation with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to guide management of this species. Part of the mission of CDFW is to conserve native plants and their habitat and as trustee agency under the California Environmental Quality Act and a review team member pursuant to the California Forest Practice Rules, CDFW works with foresters and timberland owners to ensure sensitive plants are not significantly impacted by timber harvest activities. The specific measures employed to protect M. uniflora populations have evolved through adaptive management. Initial protection measures were often less successful due to a lack of consideration of the complex tripartite relationship between the plant, ectomycorrhizal fungi and host trees. This is the story of the challenge to protect a forest dependent species that is extremely susceptible to edge effects within the matrix of a commercial timberland that primarily utilizes even-aged management.

11.05 Lemon lily: How an entire town is bringing back a species

Kathryn Kramer1, Dave Stith2 1SoCal Biology, Temecula, CA, USA, 2Resident, Idyllwild, CA, USA, socalbiolgoy@gmail.com

Lemon lily, Lilium parryi (Liliaceae), is a rare lily of the Southern California mountains. It is a large yellow fragrant lily in bloom and was once common in montane riparian areas throughout the San Gabriel, San Bernardino and San Jacinto mountains. In the first published botanical survey of the San Jacinto Mountains, Harvey Monroe Hall noted large numbers of bulbs being removed from the mountain streams in 1902. Over-collection of bulbs, flower picking and multiple drought years have contributed to its decline over the past 100 years. To bring attention to this “charismatic megaflora” species, the community of Idyllwild came together to hold a Lemon Lily Festival. Idyllwild is a small town in the San Jacinto Mountains above Palm Springs of artists and musicians, with a pleasant downtown shopping district. The Festival has been held for five years in early July to coincide with the flowering of the few existing plants in town. The local merchants have been happy to support this event. Funds raised from the Festival go towards replanting the lily in areas visible to the public. The local nature center has been the focal point for lemon lily propagation by members of the garden club and local naturalists. As a result of this collective interest and concern, Lilium parryi is being conserved and restored in the San Jacinto Mountains.

SESSION 12: California’s Changing Climate: Conservation in an age of uncertainty

12.01 Recent and future climate change in California: Implications for plants and vegetation

Mark Schwartz University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA, mwschwartz@ucdavis.edu

Changing climate has the strong potential to reduce plant diversity in California and drastically change how resource managers go about protecting California's plant diversity. Over the past century, climate patterns in California have changed in terms of increasing minimum night time temperatures (0 to 1oC), mean temperature (up to 0.5oC), and no major trends on precipitation. Together, these changes result in increasing climate water deficit, an integrated measure of water stress in the environment that constrains plant primary production. Projections of the future, likewise, generally point toward increasing temperatures (3-5oC during the 21st century). Most models predict increasing precipitation in the north, decreasing in the south. All models predict increasing variability and it is likely that California will receive its precipitation in fewer, more intense rainfall events. These predictions, however, do not incorporate local factors such as the California current and the degree to which it drives ocean upwelling and onshore flow of cool air. Synoptic climate change predictions provide the capacity to predict outcomes on the viability and distribution of individual species, and the potential dominance of different plant communities and ecosystems. Disturbance plays a large role in driving vegetation change, and climate change predictions have also been used to project changing fire probabilities. Uncertainties in both the models and the modeled response of plants to climate suggest caution in the interpretation of these future projections. Nonetheless, a suite of climate smart vulnerability assessments are beginning to emerge that appropriately evaluate risks to the flora of California.

12.02 Climate change impacts to natural communities of the Bay Area: Questions and challenges for the future of conservation

David Ackerly University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, dackerly@berkeley.edu

Protection of open space is a central strategy of biodiversity conservation, maintaining natural communities and their ecological processes. In the face of rapid climate change, open space protection faces a fundamental challenge, as the species and communities that currently occupy a location are expected to shift over the coming decades and centuries. Species-based conservation efforts focus on potential range shifts, and where species will move in the future. Land-based conservation must also ask the question of what species will be arriving - what habitats and species will occupy parks and reserves in the future, and where are they coming from? Models of Bay Area vegetation suggest that habitats currently occurring in hotter, interior regions (blue oak woodlands, chaparral, and/or grassland) are likely to expand and cover large areas in the future. Can (and should) these changes be resisted, encouraged or passively permitted to take their own course? Will the disruptions and disturbances accompanying vegetation change promote more invasive species? How will ecosystems services and the amenities provided by open space reserves be impacted as these changes unfold? As managers and scientists, we need to address these questions, and prepare for the changing goals and tools of conservation in a rapidly changing world.

12.03 Plant species persistence under climate change in the context of multiple threats

Alexandra D. Syphard1, Janet Franklin2, Helen Regan3 1Conservation Biology Institute, La Mesa, CA, USA, 2Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA, 3University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA, asyphard@yahoo.com

Climate change threatens the persistence of native plants across California, and strategies are needed to facilitate resilience and conserve the most vulnerable species. Conserving species under climate change is complicated, however, because the state's native flora is threatened by other global changes, including altered disturbance regimes, land use change, and invasive species. We developed an integrated modeling framework to assess the relative impacts of multiple threats, and to rank management responses, for five endemic plant species in southern California. The modeling framework integrates land use change projections with projected species' distribution shifts under climate change, which are subsequently linked to a stochastic population model. The population model predicts plant species persistence under alternative habitat change scenarios in addition to different fire regime and management scenarios. Overall, climate change was projected to produce large changes in species' suitable habitat, although these changes varied by species and climate change scenario. Despite projections of large habitat shifts under climate change, too-frequent fire was the top-ranked threat for most species. Urban development often exacerbated habitat loss under climate change, but the relative impact on species' persistence was largely a function of where the species is located on the landscape. In conclusion, if climate change impacts on species can be implied through altered distribution patterns, large changes can be expected in southern California. However, management strategies to address these habitat shifts would most likely not be effective unless other threats, particularly increased fire frequency, are not accounted for.

12.04 Past, present and future in the forests of California's Sierra Nevada: Variability in forest response to environmental change, and the role of management in promoting ecosystem resilience

Hugh Safford1,2 1USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region, Vallejo, CA, USA, 2University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA, hughsafford@fs.fed.us

California forests face major changes over the next century, but the extent, intensity, and type of change will vary among different ecosystems. Variability in response will be driven by factors like the ecological tolerances of component species, site histories, the rate and nature of future environmental change, and management policies. In the Sierra Nevada, a major ecotone occurs between lower and upper montane forests, at approximately the altitude of deepest winter snowpack and the average freezing elevation in winter storms. Below this line, the Sierra Nevada is dominated by yellow pine and mixed conifer forests, mostly moisture-limited systems historically dominated by highly frequent fire; above this line the range is dominated by red fir and subalpine forests, mostly energy-limited systems dominated historically by relatively infrequent fire. Additionally, below this line most of the Sierra Nevada is comprised of "working forest", while above it much of the range is included in roadless and wilderness areas and National Parks. I contrast these two different environments with respect to their historical, current, and likely future conditions, focusing on impacts of three classes of environmental stressors: climate change, wildfire, invasive species. Vulnerabilities to these stressors differ appreciably between lower and upper montane forests, but climate warming and human population growth, among other things, will likely introduce many lower montane afflictions to the upper montane zone in the not-too-distant future. I discuss what sorts of management actions, both active and passive, might be employed in these different environments to increase ecosystem resilience to future change.

12.05 Phenological responses to climatic variation among California native plants: inter-annual and spatial patterns detected by the California Phenology Project

Susan Mazer1, Katharine Gerst2, Elizabeth Matthews3 1University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA, 2USA National Phenology Network, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA, 3National Capital Region Network, National Park Service, Washington, DC, USA, mazer@lifesci.ucsb.edu

The California Phenology Project (CPP: www.usanpn.org/cpp) is the first statewide effort to assess the effects of climate change on the California flora by regularly monitoring the phenological status of hundreds of mapped plants in >30 species over multiple years. Established in 2010, the CPP is a collaboration among seven national parks, the Californian Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, the University of California (Santa Barbara), and the USA-National Phenology Network. Chaparral, oak woodlands, and forests are represented by Santa Monica Mountains NRA, Golden Gate NRA, John Muir National Historic Site, and Redwood National and State Parks. Montane communities are represented by Lassen Volcanic National Park (NP) and Sequoia & Kings Canyon NP. Deserts are represented by Joshua Tree NP. CPP participants contribute data to USA-NPN’s database using standardized protocols. To date, 7,570 onset dates of budbreak, leaf expansion, flowering, and fruiting phenophases with a precision of <8 days have been recorded from >800 individuals. In several species, monitoring plants 2X/week has been sufficient to detect variation in the onset dates of flowering or fruiting associated with variation in climate between parks or years. The relationship between the timing of phenological events and climate among parks and years permits preliminary predictions regarding how different species will respond to future increases in seasonal temperatures or precipitation.

12.06 Elevation, substrate, and climate effects on alpine and sub-alpine plant distribution in California and Nevada's high mountains: Preliminary data from the California and Nevada GLORIA project

Adelia Barber1, Connie Millar2, Jim Bishop1, Catie Ann Bishop1, Jan Nachlinger1, Chris Kopp3, Colin Maher4, Ann Dennis1, Angela Evenden5 1GLORIA California, Los Gatos, CA, USA, 2Pacific SW Research Station USDA Forest Service, Albany, CA, USA, 3Section of Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA, 4College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA, 5NPS Californian Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit, Berkeley, CA, USA, adelia@gloriacalifornia.org

Documenting plant response to global climate change in sensitive zones, such as the alpine, is a major goal for global change biology. Basic information on alpine plant distribution by elevation and substrate provides a basis for anticipating which species may decline in a warming climate. The Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA) is a worldwide effort to document vegetation changes over time in alpine settings using permanent multi-summit plots. The California/Nevada group currently monitors seven permanent GLORIA target regions, composed of 29 summits in alpine and subalpine zones. Summits range in elevations from 2918m to 4325m on substrates including dolomite, granite, quartzite, and volcanics. High-resolution plant occurrence and cover data from the upper 10 meters of each summit are presented. Plants from our target regions can be divided into three groups: summit specialists found only on the highest peaks, alpine species found predominantly within the alpine zone, and broadly distributed species found in the alpine zone and below. Rock substrate and microsite soil development have a strong influence on plant communities and species richness. We present the first set of five-year resurvey and temperature data from 18 summits. We have documented some annual variation in species presence/absence at almost all sites, but no dramatic changes in total diversity. Consistent with the expectation of rising global temperatures, our soil temperature loggers have documented temperature increases at most of our sites. These data are a baseline for assessing bioclimatic shifts and future plant composition in California and Nevada’s alpine zone.

12.07 Climate change effects on treeline community dynamics in Basin and Range mountains

Brian Smithers1, Malcolm North1,2, Constance Millar3 1University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA, 2USDA Forest Service, Davis, CA, USA, 3USDA Forest Service, Albany, CA, USA, bsmithers@ucdavis.edu

Treeline advance is an expected sensitive indicator of climate change effects on species distributions. However, little evidence of treeline advance has been shown due to past disturbance or geomorphological limitations. The Basin and Range Mountains of Nevada and eastern California have seen minimal human impact and have been free of major glaciation, making these mountains an ideal location to test for climate change impacts on treeline. Great Basin treelines are dominated by bristlecone pine but recent observations show that usually downslope-growing limber pine appears to be pushing treeline upslope. In this study, we used modified belt transects at above and below adult treeline and at stand mid-elevation to compare species regeneration with adult, cone-bearing tree basal area. Our results show that limber pine regeneration surpasses bristlecone pine regeneration at treeline in terms of raw numbers of individuals. When adult basal area is taken into consideration, it appears that the very few adult limber pines have far more regeneration success at treeline than the bristlecone pine adults. This may have long-term ramifications on community composition of bristlecone pine forests, as these long-lived individuals largely exclude one another once established and can live for thousands of years. Limber pine appears to be far better adapted to take advantage of rapid climate change. Even if bristlecone pine is ultimately better adapted to treeline in the long-term and this “changing of the guard” at treeline is temporary, due to their long lifespan, this effect could last thousands of years.

12.08 Climate change, climatic water deficit, and the future of California vegetation

Stuart Weiss Creekside Center for Earth Observation, Menlo Park, CA, USA, stu@creeksidescience.com

California vegetation physiognomy reflects site water balance, determined by precipitation inputs, soil storage capacity, and evapotranspiration. The Basin Characterization Model generates a 270 m grid of monthly water balance, including soil storage, actual evapotranspiration (AET), runoff, and groundwater recharge. "Climatic Water Deficit" (CWD) effectively characterizes annual drought stress, and is calculated as the cumulative difference between AET and potential evapotranspiration (PET). AET is a first-order estimate of productivity. The combination of CWD and AET strongly predicts potential vegetation, with fairly hard limits on maximum CWD for each vegetation type. The innumerable combinations of precipitation, temperature, solar radiation, and soils create a rich fine-scale mosaic of CWD/AET, hence the fine-grained mosaics of vegetation characteristic of California. Climate change will increase CWD (even with higher winter precipitation) because a warmer atmosphere evaporates more water over the dry season, leading to a general aridification of the landscape. Vegetation will shift to more arid types; for example, chamise chaparral may replace montane hardwoods as fire and drought kill off existing vegetation. This presentation reviews the concepts of modeling vegetation response to climate change, and shows examples of leading and trailing edges at scales that are useful for land managers. The large local and regional climate gradients in California, especially near the coast, provide landscape-level resiliency; species do not have to move far to track climate change over the medium term.

12.09 Effectiveness of a reserve network in protecting California's rare endemic plants under climate change

Erin Riordan University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, eriordan@gmail.com

Climate change will dramatically impact the conservation value of California's protected areas this century, including their capacity to support key species and habitats. We evaluate the effectiveness of an important protected area network, the University of California Natural Reserve System (NRS), in maintaining suitable habitat for California's rare endemic plant taxa under projected climate change. We modeled current habitat suitability for 159 endemic California Rare Plant Rank taxa occurring within or nearby six of the largest NRS reserves and forecast future suitability under a high emission scenario and eight general circulation models for 2100. We assigned plant taxa to different risk categories based on the percent loss in currently suitable habitat (no dispersal scenario), and net percent change in suitable habitat (gain - loss; unlimited dispersal scenario). For each species, we also calculated projected habitat loss, gain, and stability within individual reserves. Under a high-emission future, approximately 15-22% of the plant taxa ranked in the highest risk category (>80% projected habitat loss) while just over 25% were ranked as relatively stable (≥90% current habitat retained). Individual reserves provided future habitat stability (refugia) for 22-71% of the rare plant taxa having current suitable habitat within reserve borders, most of which were stable or low risk. Reserves showed a lower capacity in buffering climate-driven habitat losses for severe risk taxa, with most severe-risk taxa showing complete losses from the focal reserves. These results can inform reserve management plans for rare plants and prioritize species and reserves for monitoring and further research.

12.10 Guidelines for managing & monitoring rare plants for resilience under climate change: A first draft

John Randall, Trish Smith, Sophie Parker The Nature Conservancy, San Francisco, CA, USA, jrandall@tnc.org

We held a series of workshops in 2014 in Southern California to obtain recommendations of conservation land managers and researchers on how to manage rare plants with limited distributions in the face of climate change. Each workshop focused on a single species and involved up to fifteen participants with expertise in the ecology, genetics, distribution, management and monitoring of that species. We compared the recommendations and the thought processes revealed during the workshop discussions to glean recommendations that may have wide applicability. Consistent first steps were a summary of projected effects of climate change within the species range, followed by assessments of how the projected changes could exacerbate current threats and generate new threats. Care in specifying the timeline(s) under consideration was necessary; in our workshops periods of 10-50 years and 75-100 years were commonly selected. In most cases, participants expected the greatest damage would be due to climate change exacerbating existing threats (e.g., further increasing fire frequency, favoring competing non-native species, etc.). Strategies for increasing resilience of rare species gave priority to addressing these heightened threats, followed by research on spatial distribution of genetic variation of the species, then efforts to restore extirpated occurrences and bolster abundance at occupied sites. Except for restoring previously extirpated populations, low priority was assigned to translocating populations to sites outside the species current range, at least for 5-10 years when the effects of redoubled efforts to abate threats aggravated by climate change and restore extant populations can be assessed.

SESSION 13: Horticulture: Part of Conservation is Growing

13.01 From concept to fruition: Native plant landscape design in urbanized and residential settings

Lia Webb GHD Inc., Eureka, CA, USA, lia.webb@ghd.com

This presentation will focus on ecological landscape design principals, with a focus on use of native plants in gardening, landscaping, stormwater and Low Impact Development (LID), and restoration projects. The presentation will provide an introduction to basic landscape design principles to provide context for the use of native plants in gardens and landscaping as one component within a broader ecological design umbrella. The presentation will include discussion of the Surfrider Foundation's Ocean Friendly Gardening (OFG) program, Slow the Flow design principles, and how these concepts are applicable to a range of settings, including various climates, urban and rural locations, coast and mountain regions. Several urban case studies will highlight how ecological design principals, LID, and native plants can be incorporated into confined site development and restoration projects, including challenges such as funding, public perception, and maintenance. The case studies will include a city gateway project, small street cityscapes, and office building redevelopment project.

13.02 A landscape maintenance company’s view of native plants in HOAs and large commercial complexes

Steve Economou Rainscape Environmental Management, San Diego, CA, USA, steve@rainscape.com

California native plants are increasingly popular garden choices. The challenges of bringing this aesthetic to larger projects like HOAs and corporate campuses are myriad: working with the governing boards and owners, convincing architects, sourcing plants and materials, pricing, irrigation changes, long-term support, retraining staff and new techniques. Rainscape Environmental Management (in business since 1982) has now been installing native plant landscapes in commercial settings for the past four years - and we are here to talk about our challenges, methodology, and our successes. This presentation will address the business issues that matter to HOA boards (including financial justification); our experiences at removing turf; what approaches have worked well in the field and the ongoing challenges of sourcing, staffing and maintenance. We'll show before and after photos of the installations over time, as well as water savings and client feedback. Our results show that organizations that maintain large turf areas, when approached in a rigorous and proven way, will convert these areas to native plant landscapes.

13.03 Adult education: Look, Ma, no lawn!

Lili Singer Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants, Sun Valley, CA, USA, lili@theodorepayne.org

In the last decade, adult education programs at the Theodore Payne Foundation (TPF) have expanded and diversified to provide lay gardeners and landscape professionals with the sound information they desire and require for creating and maintaining successful native plant gardens. TPF's adult education goals are to dispel myths about gardening with natives, promote the beauty and values of native flora, and inspire action and further study. Classes, lectures and workshops are held year round and taught by staff and guest instructors. The curriculum includes courses in horticulture, garden design, maintenance, propagation, basic botany, lawn replacement, native fauna, and container gardening. Classes are publicized through local media, word of mouth, and our website and print and electronic newsletters. TPF members receive discounts on classes, most of which sell out. Owing to the success of these programs, TPF is constructing larger educational facilities that will allow us to serve more members of the community and expand the curriculum for professionals (from gardeners to landscape architects),

educators and citizen scientists -- ensuring a promising future for the conservation and use of native plants.

13.04 The growing case for California native plants in public and private landscapes: Articulating the essential role of native plant species in supporting ecosystem health and how exurban and urban landscapes play a critical role in preserving biodiversity.

Frederique Lavoipierre Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Santa Barbara, CA, USA, flavoipierre@sbbg.org

The case for growing California native plants in private and public gardens is often bolstered with arguments that when critically scrutinized, may apply equally well to plants from other regions. For example, while native plants are widely touted as drought tolerant, many drought tolerant plant species promoted in nurseries are from other Mediterranean zones. Native plants are often said to be low maintenance, easy to grow, with lower requirements for fertilizer, pruning, and pesticides; characteristics that may easily apply to exotic ornamental plant species – and not always to native plants. While many native plant species are attractive to bees and other pollinators, some exotic plant species can also be highly effective in attracting pollinators, especially honey bees – another exotic species. One irrefutable argument is that only native plants evoke the ‘sense of place’ that provides continuity to the landscape, however, an argument based on aesthetic values may be of little interest to those choosing a landscape design based on style. It is essential to provide the public with compelling support for the use of native plants, and for the critical role of exurban and urban gardens in preserving biodiversity. By drawing on the work of Douglas Tallamy, Bruce Pavlik, E.O. Wilson, and other noted scholars, a powerful case is made for including native plants in public and private gardens, and a novel approach is provided to answering the question: Why grow native plants?

13.05 Local Source Initiative: How locally sourced garden plants contribute to native plant conservation

Madena Asbell, Genevieve Arnold Theodore Payne Foundation, Sun Valley, CA, USA, genny@theodorepayne.org

The Theodore Payne Foundation’s Local Source Initiative (LSI) is a collaboration between the seed and nursery programs that provides Los Angeles-area residents with native plants sourced from local populations. While the conversation surrounding the definition of a locally-sourced plant is ongoing in restoration and horticulture circles, within the context of the LSI program "local source" indicates that the plant is parented within a specific watershed and local mountain range. This program is an effort to protect biodiversity, to provide gardeners with plants adapted to local environments, and to raise interest in the preservation of local habitat. The LSI aims to preserve biodiversity by increasing the number of plants from local genetic sources in urban, suburban and wild-land interface landscapes, thereby supporting biological relationships based on genetic adaptations specific to plant and pollinator populations. Locally-sourced plants may be well-adapted to the garden conditions in which they are placed, potentially increasing chances for viable horticultural performance. The public response to this program has been positive and has raised interest in the topic of appreciating and preserving our local habitat. These collections are made exclusively under permit or Memorandum of Understanding and are conducted using ethical protocols. LSI plants are legally and conscientiously obtained, serving to protect wild populations from illegal and uneducated harvesting.

13.06 Planting success: Timing, training, and a little finesse

Mike Evans Tree of Life Nursery, San Juan Capistrano, CA, USA, mikeevans@treeoflifenursery.com

Success in using container plants for native plant landscaping and ecological restoration projects depends on several factors, the most important of which is timing. We examine a 2013-2014 case history at Reata Park in San Juan Capistrano. The plantings include six acres of 100% native gardens on a seventeen acre historic park. Proper site preparation, planting, early establishment and plant care through the first summer, with special emphasis on effective irrigation methods brought very high levels of success. Over 240 native species and approximately 20,000 individual plants were installed during the driest year on record. The garden is a rich botanical resource. The unique methods employed to plan and build Reata Park serve as models and examples for the appropriate use of specialized horticultural techniques, assuring success in California native plantings.

13.07 Native plant landscape protocols: How emulating natural ecology differs from ornamental horticulture and dramatically improves mortality in landscape situations

Greg Rubin California's Own Native Landscape Design, Inc., Escondido, CA, USA, Greg@calowndesign.com

Native plant landscaping is often associated with high mortality rates and dormant appearance late in the season. While accepted as "normal" by most native plant enthusiasts, this outcome is one of the primary reasons that natives are eschewed in most residential and commercial landscapes, in favor of so-called "drought-tolerant", non-native plants. Much of the blame can be placed on classic ornamental horticultural protocols being applied to a very specialized plant community-based ecology. While resilient in the face of heat and drought, upland, drought-tolerant native species are less forgiving of non-ecological approaches, including saturation irrigation, amended soils, fertilization, poor plant selection, and low-quality or inappropriate mulches. I will discuss mortality rates experienced in the early part of my career based on ornamental horticultural approaches (>40% on average after one year), how ecologically based protocols have significantly improved outcomes (<10% losses, on average after one year), detail the specific differences between these two paradigms and the justification for each revised tactic.

13.08 Site-specific maintenance manuals for public and private native plant landscapes

Ellen Mackey1,2, Nancy Steele1 1Council for Watershed Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 2Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA, emackey@mwdh2o.com

Native plant landscapes provide exciting opportunities for public and private landowners to enjoy beautiful spaces and conserve water while enhancing habitat for native wildlife. The current drought is driving a greater need for climate-resilient landscapes. However, maintenance becomes problematic as the plants native to our Southern California Mediterranean climate do not tolerate commonly installed year round irrigation systems. Maintenance crews are challenged by the ecological tolerances of these "unusual" plants. As a result a number of public installations have failed. In spite of the native plant maintenance information available on the web and in print, there remains a critical need for site-specific maintenance manuals and training to support these new landscapes to ensure a higher probability for success and expansion especially for public spaces. The Council for Watershed Health has pioneered these site-specific maintenance manuals as well as a month by month maintenance checklist to assist landscape crews with all necessary tasks. We will present our existing manuals and checklist and show examples for each.

13.09 Managing root rots in nursery grown California natives

Tim Becker Theodore Payne Foundation, Sun Valley, CA, USA, tim@theodorepayne.org

California’s native flora, especially that of Southern California, is adapted to drought conditions and nutrient poor soils. Nursery conditions such as overhead irrigation, moisture retentive media, and nutrient rich soils create the ideal environment for soil based fungal pathogens. Particularly concerning are the Pythium and Phytophthora (Pythiaceae) which can result in significant plant loss. There are a host of effective cultural practices, propagation techniques and IPM strategies that can reduce the prevalence of root rots. Managing irrigation is the most effective cultural practice leading to plant survival. Training staff to recognize symptoms of over-watering and apply irrigation water in a timely manner can effectively mitigate the disease. Proper sanitation from propagation to production is key in controlling outbreaks before they begin. Part of this process is having plants from propagation/liner stage on tables to increase airflow and reduce splashing. Vectors of the disease such as fungus gnats are problematic during summer months when overhead irrigation of organic soils occurs at higher frequency. Mass trapping of these vectors is one of many practices that can aid in the spread of Pythium. Fungal inoculants have also shown, anecdotally, increased propagation and production survival rates. The nature of growing California native plants is an idiosyncratic horticultural enterprise requiring an understanding of the competing factors of ‘wild’ plants and commercial scale nursery production. Keeping these factors in check through preemptive and rigorous management of cultural practices, IPM, and propagation help to maintain a healthy and efficient system.

13.10 Native plant landscape of Apricot Lane Farms

David Magney David Magney Environmental Consulting, Ojai, CA, USA, david@magney.org

David Magney Environmental Consulting (DMEC) installed the largest native plant landscape to date in Ventura County at Apricot Lane Farms (ALF) using only locally indigenous species. The landscape project included the total restoration of an old agricultural pond measuring 1.5 acres, in the center of the landscaping project. The client wanted to provide valuable habitat for native wildlife and an aesthetically pleasing landscape on his biodynamic and organic farm. DMEC's team included a landscape architect and grading contractor, as well as materials suppliers, including local nurseries. The pond was drained, several feet of muck removed, synthetic liner removed, pond regraded, locally obtained clay laid down as new natural liner, and topsoil replaced. Some of the original pond plants were salvaged. Plant zones were established and an extensive plant palette developed. Plants and seeds were ordered. A landscape contractor was hired and an irrigation system was installed and plants planted. The total area planted occupies approximately three acres. No herbicides or non-organic materials were used to be in keeping with biodynamic and organic farming practices.

13.11 From parking lot to pollinator garden: A wild garden in the heart of the city

Carol Bornstein Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, USA, cbornste@nhm.org

Reclaimed from hardscape, the Nature Gardens at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County are a series of urban wildlife gardens in the heart of downtown LA. These 3.5-acre gardens, planted with regionally appropriate native and non-native species, were built to provide wildlife habitat for educational and scientific study. The gardens are used as a training ground for myriad citizen science projects and as the home of a long-term urban biodiversity study conducted by the Museum's research staff. The California native pollinator garden is the most visually dynamic section, changing dramatically throughout the year. The goal of maximizing habitat value across all seasons informed the design, installation, and ongoing maintenance of this naturalistic garden. Striking a balance between habitat value and aesthetics

has engendered lively discussions among the horticulture and research staff and is expected to continue as the garden matures.

13.12 The found landscape

Suzanne Schettler Greening Associates, Ben Lomond, CA, USA, greeningassoc@cruzio.com

When planning a house site, a rural-residential property owner may clear existing wild vegetation in order to create a landscaped setting for the home. Sometimes this accidentally removes aesthetic values that are available for free in the form of native plants already present on the site. A beautiful landscape design might be waiting to be discovered.

13.13 Putting California on your plate: Is a low-water diet in our future, and will any of these foods be California natives?

Antonio Sanchez, Naomi Fraga Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, CA, USA, asanchez@rsabg.org

It takes 40-50 gallons of water to produce a 16 ounce basket of local blueberries in California. What if a local, drought-adapted blueberry-relative was just as tasty and even more nutritious, but needed much less water and was easier to grow in our Mediterranean climate? Would you find a place for it in your fridge and home garden? What if one of the most nutritious leafy green vegetables and highest sources of Omega-3 fatty acids in the world was native to California? Would you be willing to grow it and include it in your diet? What if, among the more than 6,000 plants native to California, hundreds were not only edible, easy to use and delicious, but extremely low-water as well? This presentation discusses the exciting field of native foods and their cultivation, how to further their use in local diets, and the steps Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden is taking to lead the way in the thoughtful utilization of native plants as foods. Native food plants discussed include : Native Goji Berries (Lycium spp., Solanaceae), Low-water salad greens, and native grains such as Saltbush (Atriplex spp., Chenopodiaceae) and Tepary Beans (Phaseolus spp., Fabaceae). Tastings of native sage pesto made with Salvia clevelandii (Cleveland sage, Lamiaceae) and Allium unifolium (single-leaf onion, Alliaceae) and samples of barberry jam will be available for all native food fans to try.

13.14 Native plant public projects: One spectacular failure and two subsequent successes

Lisa Novick Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants, Sun Valley, CA, USA, lisa@theodorepayne.org

The Theodore Payne Foundation (TPF) has designed and led the installation of three dozen native plant landscapes in public spaces in Los Angeles County. These landscapes were implemented through partnerships between TPF, other non-profits, local government agencies and businesses. The sites were chosen to increase visibility of native plants, educate people about their local natural heritage, serve as a practical experience of how to install/maintain native plants, provide a source of native plant material for the local community, and contribute to green infrastructure and community empowerment. The landscapes are permanent sites for on-going education through workshops, outreach programs, information booths and garden signage. The installations and subsequent workshops provide a way for people to learn how to avoid common mistakes and gain horticultural experience under the tutelage of native plant professionals. The landscapes also offer lessons to practitioners in adaptive management and effective outreach and engagement strategies. Three case studies are examined: the spectacular failure of the MacArthur Park Nature Play Garden, and the successes of the Topanga Los Angeles Police Department Station and the Los Feliz Post Office.

13.15 Increasing native milkweed seed availability for monarch butterfly conservation

Brianna Borders1, Eric Lee-Mäder1, John Anderson2, Mace Vaughan1, Scott Hoffman Black1 1The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Portland, OR, USA, 2Hedgerow Farms, Inc., Winters, CA, USA, brianna@xerces.org

Milkweeds (Asclepias spp. [Apocynaceae]) are the required caterpillar host plants of the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus [Nymphalidae]). Monarchs are present in California year-round, and milkweed availability during spring, summer and early fall is necessary to ensure their breeding success. The loss of milkweed from the monarch's western breeding range is considered a significant factor contributing to declining monarch numbers recorded at overwintering sites on the California coast in recent years. To offset the loss and degradation of monarch breeding habitat, monarch conservationists recommend planting regionally appropriate native milkweed species. Until recently, sources of California native milkweed seed had been scarce and opportunities to include milkweeds in habitat restoration efforts were limited. Through a national USDA-NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant, the Xerces Society partnered with Hedgerow Farms, Inc. to initiate the large-scale production of California native milkweed seed. As a result of this partnership, Hedgerow Farms now has multiple acres of milkweed in production and over the course of four growing seasons has produced more than 500 bulk pounds of source-identified seed of three species that had previously been unavailable (Asclepias eriocarpa, A. fascicularis, and A. speciosa). Xerces has supported the partnership with technical (including pest and disease management) and marketing support, incorporated milkweeds into habitat projects on agricultural lands, and conducted public education about the role of milkweeds in monarch conservation. This process has effectively expanded the native plant materials available for restoration and ensured opportunities to restore breeding habitat for monarch butterflies.

SESSION 14: A Quality Environment for All: Native Plants in an Unequal World

14.01 Bridging the gap with communities of color

Caroline Farrell Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment, Delano, CA, USA, cfarrell@crpe-ej.org

It is well documented that low income communities and communities of color are exposed to more environmental burdens (e.g., air and water pollution, soil contamination, pesticide exposure) and fewer infrastructure and environmental benefits (public transit, open space, and parks) than more affluent and majority white communities. The State recently identified the most environmentally disadvantaged communities through the cumulative impact screens in Cal EnviroScreen 2.0. Many are the same communities environmental justice advocates have been assisting for years. The need to build sustainable communities occasioned by the climate crisis provides an opportunity to advance policy and project solutions that achieve carbon reduction as well as social benefits that ameliorate environmental injustice. Finding solutions that achieve multiple benefits - environmental and social - is going to be increasingly important. California leads the nation in demographic changes; we are a majority people of color state. Latino voters are one of our fastest growing demographic groups. Numerous polls show that voters-of-color, particularly Latino voters, are very supportive of environmental policies in general and climate change related issues in particular. This broad support for environmental protection stems from the fact that people of color know they are most affected by environmental neglect and degradation. It is important to broaden the reach and relevancy of traditional environmental and conservation groups to be attentive to the needs of low income communities and communities of color. There are many opportunities for advancing policy and programs that protect both California's native plants and people as we adapt to climate change in the coming years. Together we can find those solutions.

14.02 Environmental justice and environmental restoration

Rey Leon Valley Latino Environmental Advancement Project, Fresno, CA, USA, rleon@valleyleap.org

Valley Latino Environmental Advancement Project (LEAP) works with valley communities to achieve environmental & climate justice to ensure an equitable distribution of environmental benefits while avoiding an inequitable allocation of costs. This talk will explore how an environmental focus can offer many opportunities for positive impacts to low-income and farm worker communities. Through our Nuestros Rios project, Valley LEAP is engaging the Latino Community in efforts to secure access to the utility of rivers and other natural resources, including but not limited to recreation and family enjoyment. One of the big opportunities linked to the San Joaquin and Kings rivers conservancies and many other existing or potential natural resource conservation areas is the potential for employment at a time when unemployment is at an all time high in the region. Likewise local natural areas can introduce children to nature, providing outdoor science labs, and help revive business districts and neighborhoods by turning often vacant neglected spaces into valuable community assets. Natural restoration projects can provide many good local green jobs in planning and implementing open space and waterway improvements, reestablishing native plant communities, removing invasive plants and others. Low-income communities want to obtain these types of improvements, but they frequently need assistance to do so. The California Native Plant Society can help. These projects can be the crossroad between Environmental Justice and natural resource conservation.

14.03 Social and environmental justice in California gardens

Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA, sotelo@usc.edu

From the late nineteenth century onward, Southern California has been sold as a garden paradise, a place of rich soil and temperate climates where lawn, palm trees, ornamental exotics and just about anything will grow-if fed copious water, fertilizers and pesticides. But has this created a Garden of Eden on earth, or a new kind of Garden of Evil? While the deleterious environmental consequences of invasive plants, and imported water, chemicals and pesticides are well-known, the social consequences and labor processes of this form of garden cultivation are less recognized. This presentation will discuss gardens as social and cultural projects that reflect history and the sedimentation of various migrations, and it will focus on the important place of Latino immigrant workers in California gardens. Based on ethnographic and interview research with Latino immigrant men who work in suburban maintenance gardens this presentation describes the occupational structure and the labor consequences of contemporary suburban maintenance gardening for the workers who do the work of mowing, blowing, pruning, raking, fertilizing and planting in middle class and upper class residential gardens from California to Long Island. The presentation will also suggest alternative gardening practices that might build on the horticultural skills and experiences that many of these men bring with them from rural ranchos of central western Mexico, suggesting innovative models that would promote social justice, the dignity of labor, and environmental and culturally sustainable practices.

14.04 Faith partners for environmental justice

Lindi Ramsden Starr King School for the Ministry, Berkeley, CA, USA, ramsden.lindi@gmail.com

As we face climate disruption, we have an opportunity to seek strategies for change that not only improve environmental outcomes, but which also advance equity for environmentally and economically disadvantaged communities. Faith communities can be important partners in this work, bringing many assets to the table: sustained commitment to moral principles, established leadership, intergenerational community, physical community presence , denominational and interfaith networks beyond the local congregation, and resilience and hope in the face of despair. Faith communities and their leaders are also

places in which further education and deeper dialogue can occur with regard to race, class and privilege and the intersection of environmental and economic challenges. Together we can build a broad based and resilient movement to advance environmental justice. Rev. Ramsden engaged the faith community in the successful legislative campaign to realize the human right to water in California.

14.05 What does human rights have to do with the environment?

Allison Davenport International Human Rights Law Clinic, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, adavenport@law.berkeley.edu

Human Rights Law is traditionally thought to be composed of two large categories of rights: 1) civil and political rights (such as freedom from arbitrary detention, freedom of religion, and freedom of expression) and 2) economic, social and cultural rights (the right to heath, the right to education, and the right to an adequate standard of living). For complex historical reasons, the US has only ratified those international human rights treaties advanced by the United Nations that address civil and political rights. As a result, the US public tends to think of human rights narrowly, primarily seeing them as far away concerns such as torture, political persecution, and repression of speech - things not associated much with domestic social and political discussions. But what about those other rights? What can be more fundamental to a life with dignity than to breathe clean air and drink clean water? How can human rights help us address local environmental issues? While there may be disagreement about whether a clean and healthy environment should be a topic of human rights or just a goal for society, it is undisputed that our policies and practices around these issues must always reflect democratic principles and realities. Regardless of the issue, respecting human rights requires us to be fair and non-discriminatory ensuring the rights of the most vulnerable and marginalized in society are recognized and fulfilled. It also requires us to engage in good public practices- such as transparent decision-making which allows for public participation and access to information. The Human Right to Water law in California, signed by Governor Brown in 2012, can teach us valuable lessons about how a human rights framework can help us to tackle environmental challenges in an effective and sustainable way without leaving any Californian behind.

SESSION 15: Threats and Opportunities for Coastal Conservation in the Face of Rising Seas

15.01 Tidal wetlands and sea-level rise: How much is too much?

John Callaway University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA, callaway@usfca.edu

Tidal wetlands are restricted to a narrow band of elevations at the upper end of the tidal range. At lower elevations, conditions are anaerobic and highly stressful for vascular plants, and tidal wetlands are replaced by unvegetated mudflats. At higher elevations, tidal wetland plants are outcompeted by non-wetland species. Because of their location at this interface of land and sea, tidal wetlands are highly sensitive to changes in sea level. Over recent millennia, tidal wetlands flourished under a relatively stable rate of sea-level rise (SLR); however, their sustainability as SLR increases is uncertain. Tidal wetlands counteract increases in SLR and maintain elevation through the accumulation of sediment, either trapping suspended sediment, primarily mineral matter, or accumulating organic matter from the belowground production of roots and rhizomes. However, rapid increases in SLR will lead to loss of elevation and increased inundation and stress on tidal wetland plants. A critical question for the long-term stability of tidal wetlands is: how much of an increase in SLR can plants withstand? Although there is no simple answer to this, a range of evidence gives insight into future sustainability, including sedimentation rates in current tidal wetlands; sediment cores, which provide information on past accretion rates and wetland presence under historical conditions; and simulation models, which integrate much of the available data. In addition, sensitivity to SLR is dependent on available suspended sediment; tidal wetlands in regions with a high level of suspended sediment will be able to withstand greater rates of SLR.

15.02 Tidal wetland ecotones in the San Francisco Estuary: Threats and opportunities for native plant diversity in the face of sea level rise

Michael C. Vasey1, Peter R. Baye2 1San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA, 2Independent Consultant, Annapolis, CA, USA, mcvasey@gmail.com

Ecotones linking terrestrial vegetation and tidal wetlands in the San Francisco Estuary once hosted a remarkable array of native plant species, most of which are now rare but continue to persist in refugia along undiked margins of today’s remnant tidal marshes. Tidal wetland ecotones occur in distinctive and heterogeneous gradients with terrestrial vegetation like wet meadows, alkali grassland, freshwater marsh, and riparian woodland. They range from extremely salty habitats to mildly brackish or nearly freshwater sites where creeks, springs, and seeps discharge into margins of tidal marshes. Further, tidal wetland ecotones are perhaps the least able to restore themselves because they depend on specialized gradients where marsh peats contact terrestrial sediments. Sea level rise further threatens this unique flora. Increased recognition of the value of tidal marsh restoration as a resilient “green infrastructure” adaptation to shoreline submergence and retreat due to sea level rise brings new opportunities to recreate ecotone habitat that could help revive this vanishing diversity. The integration of treated wastewater to establish fresh-brackish terrestrial gradients, and carefully planned species reintroductions, may provide foundations for species-rich ecotones and environmentally beneficial shoreline flood protection. In this presentation, we review what is known about historic and contemporary floristic elements of tidal marsh ecotones in the San Francisco Estuary, assess their vulnerability due to threats of sea level rise, and identify specific projects and initiatives underway for restoration of terrestrial ecotone habitat of the estuary that could revive this component to native plant diversity in this region.

15.03 Baylands adaptation to sea level rise: Horizontal levees, green infrastructure and soft bird's-beak

Jeremy Lowe1, Donna Ball2 1ESA, San Francisco, CA, USA, 2Save The Bay, San Francisco, CA, USA, jlowe@esassoc.com

Our understanding of tidal marsh processes in the Bay continues to advance as does our awareness of the interconnectedness of habitats. Over the next century climate change and other drivers, such as sediment and salinity, will create a more dynamic landscape with shifts in location and nature of these habitats. This raises two questions: how are Baylands habitats likely to evolve and what management actions can we take to guide their evolution. This paper summarizes how the 2014 Baylands Goals Update (BEHGU) starts to address these two key questions and the pilot projects that are investigating how the future Baylands may look. The Oro Loma project is one such pilot where a seepage slope using treated wastewater effluent planted with native species is being constructed to experiment with the restoration of the tidal wetland-upland transition zone. Significant challenges are faced marrying today's flood risk management, wastewater and ecological objectives bur the design draws inspiration from an understanding of yesterday's Bay ecology and geomorphology. Despite the challenges, there are still options available for planners and land managers to adapt to these changes. Specifically we recommend a strong sense of the management action timeline, linking planning and implementation to physical thresholds; multi-objective and multi-habitat projects that can maximize cumulative benefits; immediate implementation of pilot studies to explore and validate recommendations; and flexibility from the regulatory community to allow for new and creative solutions which increase the resilience of Baylands habitat and function while protecting the ecological values of the Bay.

15.04 Tidal marshes: Rising sea levels, rising expectations

Joy Zedler University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA, jbzedler@wisc.edu

As sea levels rise, one option is to do nothing, expecting tidal marshes to migrate upslope or—when they don’t—to accept novel outcomes. Alternatively, we could take actions aligned with increased expectations, e.g., we could add sediment to elevate marshes, recontour adjacent uplands, or assist migration by planting species upslope. But marsh plants won’t necessarily thrive just by providing specific elevations; halophytes also need suitable hydrological regimes and substrates. To identify how sea level rise (SLR) and associated climate changes will challenge native vegetation, we can draw on experiences at Tijuana Estuary, where the recent Pacific Decadal Oscillation included gradual SLR plus extreme events (e.g., sea swells 40 cm above predicted tides, river floods and sedimentation events). The salt marsh experienced at least six kinds of effects (direct, indirect, interactive, additive, unseasonal, and sequential). Sequential effects were the least predictable but had the greatest impact, substantially reducing salt marsh plant diversity. We learned that SLR effects will not be gradual or independent of other climate changes. To meet rising expectations (i.e., salt marshes that can accommodate both SLR and stronger, more frequent extremes), we will need to be adaptive, testing various methods of adding sediment, recontouring and transplanting--plus assessing outcomes over short and long terms. We can still aim to keep all the species and ecosystem services in the region, if not in each site, but we will need to hedge bets by using multiple restoration approaches in multiple sites, sharing understanding, and adjusting management actions as knowledge accumulates.

15.05 Developing sea level rise and adaptation scenarios based on ecological monitoring at a northern California dune system

Andrea Pickart1, Patrick Hesp2, Conor Shea1, Laurel Goldsmith1 1U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arcata, CA, USA, 2Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, andrea_pickart@fws.gov

Coastal dunes are at the vanguard of sea level rise impacts from climate change. Much of the research regarding sea level rise has focused on estuaries, leaving a large data gap for the bar-built dune systems that protect them. We developed a long-term monitoring program to measure changes in beach/dune topography and vegetation at seasonal peaks both to establish baseline conditions against which to monitor future change, and to provide data for sea level rise modeling. Fourteen transects were placed along a latitudinal gradient in the Lanphere and Ma-le’l Dunes, Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The transects were stratified by geomorphic structures (blowouts vs. intact foredunes) and vegetation (native dunegrass dominated, invasive beachgrass dominated, other native species). Topographic points are collected using RTK GPS at one m intervals from mean high water for up to up 220 m inland. Vegetation (cover by species) data are collected objectively using a hybrid point/quadrat method, and maximum vegetation height is recorded. Based on the first three years of data we characterize seasonal and interannual change in topography and species composition, and examine relationships between abiotic and vegetation variables and tidal/weather patterns. Results provide the basis for preliminary adaptation scenarios, with future modeling planned as the data set becomes more robust over time.

SESSION 16: Rare Plants

16.01 Obligate outcrossing supersedes island-like habitat in determining the distribution of genetic diversity in a sandhill endemic (Erysimum teretifolium, Brassicaceae)

Julie Herman1,2, Miranda Melen3, Justen Whittall1 1Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA, USA, 2University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA, 3San Jose State University, San Jose, CA, USA, julie.ann.herman@gmail.com

Island biogeography predicts that islands closer to mainland species reservoirs will support greater equilibrium numbers of species. Extensions of this theory to distributions of genetic diversity predict that populations occupying island-like habitats near genetic reservoirs will contain higher levels of diversity than isolated populations. The Zayante Sandhills of Santa Cruz County are island-like xeric habitats separated by mesic redwood and mixed evergreen forests. These unique habitats are home to seven endemic species, yet are threatened by sand mining and development. The Ben Lomond wallflower (Erysimum teretifolium) is a sandhill endemic known from ~13 populations, several of which consist of <100 individuals. This study investigates the distribution of genetic diversity within and among eight populations of E. teretifolium (n = 11-32 individuals per population) with four heterospecific microsatellite loci to determine whether E. teretifolium's island-like habitat influences that diversity. In an analysis of molecular variance, 85% of genetic variation exists within populations, consistent with E. teretifolium's predominantly self-incompatible mating system. Populations show nominal genetic subdivision (FST for 18 of 28 population comparisons is significantly greater than zero). On the periphery of the species' range, populations are genetically distinct from the highly admixed central populations. These results are being used to guide imminent reintroduction efforts, including seed collection. The genetic data support efforts to preserve even small populations, since unique variation exists within them. Peripheral populations are especially critical to preserving the maximum amount of remaining diversity.

16.02 Population viability of Menzies’ wallflower on the coastal dunes of Humboldt Bay

Sebastian Schreiber1, Andrea Pickart2, Jennifer Wheeler3 1University of California, Davis, CA, USA, 2United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge, CA, USA, 3Bureau for Land Management, Arcata, CA, USA, sschreiber@ucdavis.edu

The Humboldt Bay population of the endangered plant, Menzies’ wallflower (Erysimum menziesii [Brassicaceae]) is a perennial monocarp endemic to the dunes at Humboldt Bay, California. Flowering individuals are often infected by white crucifer rust that reduces fecundity. Moreover, survival, growth, and reproduction vary among individuals of different sizes, seasons and years. To understand how these factors interact to influence the long-term demography of this population, we analyzed a stochastic integral projection model (IPM) in collaboration with the Bureau for Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). To parameterize the IPM, we used data collected by USFWS from 1991 to 2000 in which over 11 thousand marked individuals were tracked from emergence to either reproduction or death. The analysis of the IPM reveals that the warmer years of the early 1990s was expected to cause the population to decline due to low summer survivorship of small leafed individuals and disease-induced reductions in fecundity. However, consistent with population surveys, a cooling trend in the past decade is expected to lead to positive population growth. For all years, long-term growth is most sensitive to survival of seedlings as they mature throughout the year. However, during winters, there is a bimodality of sensitivity to smaller- and larger-leafed individuals. In addition to providing new methodological advances in untangling the contributions of seasonal and yearly demographic variation to long-term population growth, our analysis provides guidance on how to target conservation and restoration efforts for Humboldt Bay Wallflower in a changing climate.

16.03 Preventing the extinction of Dudleya verityi (Crassulaceae)

Mark Elvin1,2 1US Fish and Wildlife Service, Ventura, CA, USA, 2University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA, mark_elvin@fws.gov

Approximately 95 percent of the Dudleya verityi individuals have been lost over the past 1 to 2 years due to a series of significant stochastic events, most notably the Springs Fire of 2013 that engulfed the entire species' range. The surviving individuals have been, and continue to be, exposed to and affected by these severe stressors, substantially reducing their vigor. Lichens (Niebla spp., Ramalinaceae), a critical component for the life and reproductive cycles of D. verityi, were also killed by the Springs Fire and their loss will affect D. verityi recovery potential for many years to come. On top of this, California is currently experiencing a drought of unprecedented levels. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service (Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and Channel Islands National Park), California State University Channel Islands, University of California Santa Cruz, and several other partners are working diligently to ensure the few remaining D. verityi individuals survive so that this species does not go extinct in the wild. We are implementing a multi-pronged approach to prevent its extinction that include: rescue of plants, captive propagation (plants and seeds), monitoring and active management, habitat restoration, ex situ conservation, conservation research (e.g., genetics, seed bank), and repatriation to the known occupied sites.

16.04 Helianthus winteri (Asteraceae): A new California sunflower “hiding in plain sight”

John Stebbins1, Chris Winchell2, John Constable1 1California State University, Fresno, Fresno, CA, USA, 2HT Harvey Assoc., Fresno, CA, USA, johnst@mail.fresnostate.edu

California's most common genera are usually considered to be well understood. Explorations for new plant species from Jepson forward have often focused on less explored and more remote areas and those of specialized habitat (e.g. serpentine soils, vernal pools). The recent description of a new sunflower species in well-travelled and easily accessible areas highlights that exciting rare plants are still to be found in "our own backyards." Winter's sunflower (Helianthus winteri), is found along several primary roadways in the Southern Sierra Nevada foothills and differs significantly from the common H. annuus in easily observable morphological and phenological characteristics. Key H. winteri characteristics include (i) being a large woody perennial (stems to 10 cm diameter) that persist for eight-to-ten years and exhibit multiple incomplete growth rings; and (ii) continuous blooming during both summer and winter months. Additional distinguishing features are a unique genetic structure and secondary metabolite profile. Currently, nine populations are documented from a very limited range in southern Fresno and northern Tulare counties (elevation 180-460m) on steep ungrazed south-facing foothill slopes. Historically, H. winteri may have been more widespread extending into the southeastern San Joaquin Valley floor in areas now extensively converted to agriculture or development. A detailed study of the factors determining the species range is necessary, however, observations suggest negative impacts from livestock grazing and road maintenance. Due to the species' limited known range and potential sensitivity to human impacts it was recommended to include H. winteri in the California Native Plant Society's rare plant inventory.

16.05 Conservation assessment for Astragalus tricarinatus (Fabaceae) and Erigeron parishii (Asteraceae) for Joshua Tree National Park

Naomi Fraga1, Tasha La Doux2,3, Linda Prince1, Mitzi Harding2, Joshua Hoines2 1Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, CA, USA, 2Joshua Tree National Park, Twentynine Palms, CA, USA, 3Granite Mountains Desert Research Center, Kelso, CA, USA, lindamprince@gmail.com

Joshua Tree National Park (JTNP) has two federally listed plant species, Erigeron parishii (Asteraceae) and Astragalus tricarinatus (Fabaceae). These taxa are of limited distribution and of conservation concern

due to anthropogenic impacts at known occurrences. Erigeron parishii and Astragalus tricarinatus have east and west trending distributions in the Transverse Ranges and desert mountains of San Bernardino and Riverside counties in southern California. Both of these taxa are relatively better studied in the western portions of their range, where historically the largest populations were known. Our study presents recent findings for plants that occur within JTNP and fall within in the eastern portion of the distribution for both species. We present data for seed germination trials, reproductive biology, demographics, and population genetics for both species. We also produced GIS habitat models to assign probability values of potential habitat utilizing five parameters: elevation, slope, aspect, soil type, and vegetation type. Seed germination trials indicate that seeds have a high (97-100%) germination rate, although different treatments were required for each species. Three populations, two of which are from within JTNP, for each species were sampled for relative genetic diversity using an analysis of Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) genotype data. The population genetic study indicates the presence of historic and contemporary gene flow between sampled populations across the range for both species and support the need for habitat linkages. An evaluation of Erigeron parishii and Astragalus tricarinatus are presented based on these most recent findings including conservation recommendations for both species.

16.06 Why care about native plants?

Russell Huddleston E2 Consulting Engineers, Emeryville, CA, USA, russell.huddleston@e2.com

In September 2001 CNPS issued a policy statement on advocacy for the conservation of native plants. For most CNPS members the conservation of native species is a given, however, effective preservation of native species, habitats and in particular rare plants requires not only legal protections, but also education and public support. To be successful advocates for native plants we must be able to clearly articulate their importance and conservation value. Over the years a number of approaches have been used to express the value of nature. These arguments generally fit into one of two categories: 1) Anthropocentric - of the value of nature as it relates to human beings and; 2) environmental ethic - the idea that all species have intrinsic value. Anthropocentric values include such things as aesthetics or the spiritual benefits provided by nature. Economic values or regarding nature as a provider of goods and services (natural resources) and medicines that can derived from plants. Recent more holistic, but still anthropocentric arguments stress the importance of healthy ecosystems for the well-being of people. Whiles such anthropocentric arguments are often cited, they are also controversial and easily rebutted with equally sound logic. A much stronger case for the preservation of native plants can be made if we recognize that native plants have value because they are a unique and irreplaceable part of California's natural heritage regardless of any values or benefits they may or may not provide to people.

16.07 California's most endangered plants: The top 10 without endangered species protection

Heath Bartosh2,1 1University and Jepson Herbaria. University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA, 2CNPS Rare Plant Program Committee, Sacramento, CA, USA, 3Nomad Ecology, Martinez, CA, USA, hbartosh@nomadecology.com

It has been 41 years since the enactment of the federal Endangered Species Act (FESA). In that time 284 species have been afforded state and/or federal ESA protection. Before the turn of the century 269 plant species were listed in those 27 years. That is about 10 species listed per year. In the first 14 years of this century only 15 taxa have been listed. More work needs to be done. Many rare plants in California are worthy of ESA protection but which ones are the most rare and deserve this protection immediately? If you look closely at the rare plant data maintained by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife it is staggering how many rare plant taxa with a California Rare Plant Rank (CRPR) of 1B or 2B are represented by only one or two populations and are not listed under the state or federal endangered species acts. In fact, there are 43 CRPR 1B taxa with only one population and 40 with two populations. Evaluating CRPR 2B plants indicates there are 64 taxa with one population and 39 with two. That is a total of 186 rare plants that should be on a fast track for federal and/or state listing, with few exceptions. The goal of this data mining is to evaluate these 186 rare plants to determine which 10 are truly the rarest

plants in California and should have petitions for listing prepared immediately. An evaluation of which ESA protection (state/federal) will also be provided.

16.08 The rare plant status review process: A science driven approach to rare plant conservation in California

Aaron E. Sims California Native Plant Society, Sacramento, CA, USA, asims@cnps.org

Since its inception in 1968, the California Native Plant Society's (CNPS) Rare Plant Program (the Program) has been tasked to develop and maintain current, accurate information on the distribution, ecology, and conservation status of California's rare and endangered plants, and to use this information to promote science-based plant conservation in California. For nearly 35 years the Program took an iterative, book-driven approach to rare plant data development and dissemination through publications of the CNPS Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants (Inventory). This resulted in a 4-7 year span between editions of the hardcopy Inventory, and although a perfectly sound approach in the pre-internet days, this method was found to be no longer adequate. California contains approximately 6,500 native plant taxa, over one third of which are currently considered rare, threatened, or endangered. The need to provide current status information for all of California's native plants, combined with new ways to accumulate and distribute data, has led to an unremitting Inventory review process. Today, major status changes and additions to the Inventory are continuously reviewed by over 400 volunteer participants that are included in one to seven regional rare plant status review email groups, and/or are members of a status review forum. Once all comments and available information is received for a given status review, a final decision is made based on a general consensus of reasoning, and the change or addition is instantaneously made to the Inventory database, and updated online on a monthly basis.

16.09 Using development to protect rare serpentine-associated plants: A case study from the San Francisco Bay Area

Tanner Harris WRA, Inc., San Rafael, CA, USA, harris@wra-ca.com

The San Francisco Bay Area, with a human population of nearly 7.5 million, contains numerous occurrences of serpentine soils and hosts a range of serpentine-endemic plant species. An ever-growing human population and the associated need for urban development threatens the long-term viability of these habitats and their ability to support serpentine-endemic species. Improvements in our understanding of the ecology of these species and appropriate techniques for restoring and managing habitats, as well as improvements in regulatory frameworks for protecting species, have created an environment in which development and conservation are no longer mutually exclusive. In fact, we can now use development as leverage for protecting rare species. We provide an example of a current project being designed on Coyote Ridge, an area in South San Francisco Bay that contains one of the largest contiguous areas of serpentine habitat in the Bay Area and is home to federal-listed plant species such as Santa Clara Valley dudleya (Dudleya abramsii subsp. setchellii [Crassulaceae]) and Metcalf Canyon jewelflower (Streptanthus glandulosus subsp. albidus [Brassicaceae]), among other rare plants. The project seeks to preserve and manage habitat for these species while allowing low-value (non-serpentine) portions of the site to be developed for housing. We highlight the regulatory framework being used to permit the project (Santa Clara Valley Habitat Plan) and describe the studies and planning that have gone into designing the development, with a focus on the conservation of rare plant species found on the site.

16.10 The rare plants of the San Bruno Mountains

David Nelson Resident, San Francisco, CA, USA, nelsondl@pacbell.net

San Bruno Mountain is located in San Mateo County, California. It has 652 species of plants, with 398 native and 254 introduced. We are currently doing a re-survey of the mountain, 46 years after the initial survey. The current project has been able to identify and photograph 466 species, with 290 native and 176 introduced. Species not identified in the prior survey are being rediscovered on a regular basis, we cannot find some previously listed plants, and the final number of current species is still unclear. Eighteen plant species not previously documented have been found, six native and 12 introduced, including one orchid. This talk will be a review of the photographs of our rare and endangered that we have still been able to find on San Bruno Mountain.

16.11 California’s Sedum subgenus Gormania (Crassulaceae)

Jane Van Susteren, Robert Patterson San Francisco State, San Francisco, CA, USA, jane.vansusteren@gmail.com

California Sedum subgenus Gormania are isolated on rock faces, which leads to population-specific traits; it is not clear which traits define species boundaries. Some characters used to separate species are continuous; others are only present for a brief window. Year-to-year comparison of morphological traits was difficult until recently due to rapid degradation of herbarium specimens. Using topotype collections from California Gormania, I constructed a molecular-based phylogeny of these species. My data reveals that this group is more closely related to Dudleya and Sedella – genera found in and near the California Floristic Province – than they are to the other members of Gormania - a group found in North America and Europe. The genetic data also confirms the identity of several new species and supports the accuracy of certain morphological characters for identification such as cauline leaf shape and degree of petal reflexion.

16.12 Sedum section Gormania (Crassulaceae): Habitat islands, isolated populations, and overlooked rare species

Barbara L. Wilson1, Richard E. Brainerd1, Nick Otting1, Peter F. Zika2, Julie K. Nelson3, Steven Darington4 1Carex Working Group, Corvallis, OR, USA, 2Herbarium, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA, 3Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Redding, CA, USA, 4Eureka, CA, USA, bwilson@peak.org

Sedum section Gormania consists of a diversity of species, most of which are endemic to northwestern California and southwestern Oregon. Many of the species are rare, and many populations are small. Their discontinuous rock-outcrop habitats function as habitat islands, isolating populations from one another. As a result, populations vary over small and large geographic scales. Taxonomy is confused. Four years of work in the field and herbarium have clarified which existing names apply to which morphological variations. One problem for Sedum taxonomy is deciding how boundaries between species should be assessed in a group where most variants can hybridize in the greenhouse but cannot do so in the field because they do not co-occur. Our work reorganizes the taxonomy of Sedum section Gormania, recognizing some subspecies at the species level and describing five previously unnamed species. Four of these newly named species are apparently very rare. The plants appeal to horticulturalists for use in rock gardens. Establishing sources of cultivated plants for sale to collectors may be the best way to prevent over collecting from wild populations.

16.13 Genetic differentiation in outplanted populations of the rare composite Hazardia orcuttii (Asteraceae)

Loraine Washburn Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, CA, USA, lwashburn@rsabg.org

One tool in the management of rare plant populations is propagation and (re)introduction of individuals into appropriate habitat, though the genetic consequences of this practice are less frequently examined. In the United States, Hazardia orcuttii (Orcutt's hazardia) is restricted to a single natural population in San Diego County. Experimental outplanted populations were established for this rare species in 2003 and 2004. Genetic diversity within the natural population and in four outplanted populations was examined using ISSRs, to address how these experimental populations compare to the source population some ten years later. Significant genetic differentiation has arisen between populations (θPT = 0.063) since establishing the experimental populations. While most (94%) of the observed genetic variability was contained within populations, the remaining 6% represents significant differentiation between populations, possibly indicating either differential survivorship of individuals in outplanted sites, or that genetic shifts occurred during propagation from source population seed. The experimental populations collectively appear to encompass greater genetic variability than the source, natural population, but also appear to have different genetic profiles, relative to the source, and also from each other. Thus while they may provide a buffer against catastrophic loss to the natural population, it should be recognized that these plants are genetically not identical to the natural population. The study also provided evidence of a potential for H. orcuttii to hybridize with the more common H. squarrosa, which can occur sympatrically, an evident concern for management of both the natural and the outplanted H. orcuttii populations.

16.14 Conservation of Orcutt’s yellow pincushion, Chaenactis glabriuscula var. orcuttiana (Asteraceae) at Ballona Lagoon, habitat restoration by the city of Los Angeles

William Jones City of Los Angeles/ Department of Public Works, Los Angeles, CA, USA, william.jones@lacity.org

Orcutt’s yellow pincushion (Chaenactis glabriuscula var. orcuttiana, a CNPS-designated rare plant) is an herbaceous annual that occurs on predominantly sandy soils along the west bank of Ballona Lagoon. Located in a densely populated residential area, Ballona Lagoon is a designated, Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area (ESHA) that covers about 6.5 hectares (16 acres) in area, of which 0.6 hectares (1.5 acres) are vegetated by intertidal, coastal strand or coastal dune habitats. Elevation ranges from zero to about 2 meters (6 feet) above mean sea level. The City of Los Angeles is currently implementing a habitat restoration project along an undeveloped portion of the west bank, where habitat has been fairly well degraded, and has been dominated by mostly exotic, ruderal plant species, well-adapted to frequent ground disturbance. The project includes barrier fencing, trails and educational areas. In light of the pincushion’s discovery during construction in the winter of 2010, the City proactively modified aspects of its original design, including planting and irrigation plans to conserve and protect this rare taxon. Modifications were based upon research, consultations with public agencies, along with other restoration ecologists, professional botanists, and staff from the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. Construction resumed with the implementation of its approved conservation plan in the fall of 2011. Nevertheless, as confirmed by regular monitoring since 2012, several factors, including limited access and weed removal, may have contributed toward an increase in the population size and territory beyond its 2010 distribution.

16.15 The current status of Orcuttieae (Poaceae) and Chamaesyce hooveri (Euphorbiaceae) in the Great Valley

Carol W. Witham Witham Consulting, Sacramento, CA, USA, cwitham@ncal.net

In 1986-1987, Biosystems Analysis conducted a Great Valley wide survey for seven grasses in the Orcuttieae tribe and Hoover's spurge. These plants are all vernal pool endemics and are listed under the state and federal Endangered Species Acts. During surveys conducted in 2010-2011, I updated our knowledge on the status of 288 occurrences of Colusa grass (Neostapfia colusana), San Joaquin Valley orcutt grass (Orcuttia inaequalis), hairy orcutt grass (Orcuttia pilosa), slender orcutt grass (Orcuttia tenuis), Sacramento orcutt grass (Orcuttia viscida), Greene's tuctoria (Tuctoria greenei), Solano Grass (Tuctoria mucronata), and Hoover's spurge (Chamaesyce hooveri) in the Great Valley. In 2014, a new mapping report on the Changes in Distribution of Vernal Pool Habitat between 2005 and 2012 became available. That report analyzed losses since adoption of the Vernal Pool Ecosystem Recovery Plan using high resolution aerial imagery. Additionally, for the first time ever, the mapping report analyzed how much extant vernal pool habitat is under some form of protection. This talk intersects the status survey report and the mapping report to provide the most current information on the distribution and status of these species.

16.16 To collect or not to collect: The importance of herbarium collections in the context of rarity

Mare Nazaire Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, CA, USA, mnazaire@rsabg.org

Plant collections are an essential tool and the basic infrastructure that underpins all studies of plant diversity; they provide invaluable contributions to science that reach far beyond taxonomy. In recent decades data have pointed to a general pattern of decline in vascular plant collecting in the United States. Additionally, significant areas in the western U.S. are largely devoid of any specimen records and remain poorly known. Yet phylogenetic and systematics research, which rely heavily on the collection of voucher specimens, are increasing. In light of the potential effects of climate change and the increasing impacts of humans on biodiversity, the need for herbarium collections is ever more crucial. The decline in plant collecting poses serious challenges for plant systematics research and our ability to make informed conservation and land management decisions. Added to this mix is a long-running debate regarding the collection (or over-collection) of rare species and potential implications for the risk of extinction in small and often isolated populations. As the global biodiversity crisis unfolds, the prevalence of this issue will continue to escalate. This presentation centers on the importance herbarium vouchers for all studies of plant diversity. Data are presented on patterns of decline in plant collecting and areas in the western U.S. that are largely deficient in specimen records. The issue of whether scientific vouchering of rare plants is prudent and ethical is highlighted, with emphasis on California’s rare plants. Ethical approaches and alternative methods for responsible collecting, especially of small and vulnerable populations, are discussed.

16.17 Recovering listed species on an active military installation: Unique challenges and opportunities in species management

Bryan Munson Naval Base Coronado, San Diego, CA, USA, Bryan.munson@navy.mil

San Clemente Island (SCI) is one of the most botanically unique places in California, supporting 15 taxa endemic to SCI and 25 taxa endemic to the Channel Islands. When the Navy took ownership of SCI in 1934, the island's native flora was heavily impacted by feral herbivores. Despite active military use of the island, the Navy's management strategies have facilitated a remarkable recovery of the island's vegetation and sensitive species. Plants once believed to be extinct or extirpated have been rediscovered on SCI. Sensitive taxa with only one or a few occurrences have spread across the island, and some of

the first plants listed under the Endangered Species Act now number in the tens of thousands. This talk will focus on the successes of the San Clemente Island botanical program in the context of the unique challenges it faces and the management strategies implemented to overcome those challenges.

16.18 Nine years of monitoring the rare annual clay lens obligate San Diego thornmint, Acanthomintha ilicifolia (Lamiaceae): General relationships and possible drivers of abundance

Patrick McConnell, Markus Spiegelberg Center for Natural Lands Management, Temecula, CA, USA, pmcconnell@cnlm.org

San Diego thornmint is a federal and state listed (FT, CE) endemic to San Diego County and Baja California. The species exhibits strong annual variation in population counts throughout its range, and is known from only 68 occurrences. The Center for Natural Lands Management manages and monitors occurrences in Carlsbad California. The most important driver of population abundance is winter rainfall. However, winter temperatures also appear to have an influence on thornmint abundance. The largest annual population counts have coincided with the warmest winter months, which accumulated the highest rainfall. These seasons appeared to have slightly warmer rainfall event temperatures than the other six years. Fall rainfall appears less influential than winter rainfall in predicting population counts. Intermediate counts have been observed during a dry year, indicating that one rainfall event is enough to provide for germination and maturation.

16.19 Molecular systematics of the tuberous perennial Claytonia (Montiaceae) of California: Will the real C. lanceolata please stand up?

Thomas Stoughton1,2 1Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, CA, USA, 2Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA, USA, thomas.stoughton@gmail.com

Recent efforts to revise hypotheses of phylogenetic relationships among tuberous perennial Claytonia species, particularly the western C. lanceolata complex, have catalyzed further exploration into patterns of hybridization, ecological niche differentiation and speciation in the genus. This focus has resulted in the re-evaluation and validation of many previously recognized taxa in the group, particularly in California. Currently few western taxa are recognized in taxonomic treatments of Claytonia (i.e., TJM2 and FNA), yet molecular phylogenetic study of C. lanceolata and relatives indicates that cryptic species complexes abound and that C. lanceolata as currently circumscribed is widely paraphyletic. This and other new information gathered from in the field is being used to evaluate the evolutionary significance of morphological characteristics that have been traditionally used to circumscribe taxa in Claytonia. Impending taxonomic changes and their relevance for conservation efforts in California are described here.

16.20 The roles of flower color, pollinator behavior, soil preferences, and neutral genetic markers in differentiating the Metcalf Canyon jewelflower, Streptanthus albidus ssp. albidus (Brassicaceae) from its closest relatives

Justen Whittall1, Aaron Thom1, Justin Fulkerson2, Sharon Strauss2 1Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA, USA, 2University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA, jwhittall@scu.edu

Evolutionary divergence among closely related lineages proceeds at different rates for floral traits, soil adaptations and at neutral molecular markers. Here, we compare flower color, soil chemistry and amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) among the three serpentine taxa in the southern clade of Streptanthus glandulosus which includes the federally endangered Metcalf Canyon jewelflower (S. albidus ssp. albidus). We quantified sepal color across the ultraviolet and visible wavelengths for several populations of each taxon, documented the primary pollinators of S. albidus ssp. albidus (Bombus

vosnesenskii [Apidae]) and compared pollinator behavior in mixed arrays of white Metcalf Canyon jewelflower (S. albidus ssp. albidus) and pink most beautiful jewelflower (S. albidus ssp. peramoenus). We then examined 24 soil chemical and physical characteristics and compared growth and reproduction in a reciprocal transplant experiment under common garden conditions. Lastly, we investigated the degree of molecular distinctiveness using >600 AFLPs fragments for 90 individuals. It appears that all three taxa are strongly differentiated by their flower color and AFLPs, but not by soil chemistry or reciprocal transplant success. The results support the taxonomic recognition of S. albidus ssp. albidus and S. albidus ssp. peramoenus and provide the baseline biological data to help guide a reintroduction of the former taxon in southern Santa Clara County.

SESSION 17: Managing Lands for Native Plant Conservation: Essential Ingredients

17.01 Restoring irrigation: Fire, creation stories, and the North Fork Mono Tribe’s land and water rights

Ron Goode, Jared Aldern North Fork Mono Tribe, Clovis, CA, USA, jaldern@prescott.edu

Fire, water, and creation stories are crucial components of ecosystems throughout North Fork Mono homelands. Fire is a gift from the people to the land, and the intentional exclusion of fire since the mid-nineteenth century has reduced the gifts -- the food, medicine, and material or cultural resources -- that the land had offered for centuries in return for the people’s offerings. When intact, the North Fork Mono fire cycle directs water to basket plants, food plants, and other resources in meadows as surely as would an irrigation ditch. Today the North Fork Mono Tribe has several projects underway with the goal of restoring this fire cycle and irrigation system. By doing so, the Tribe advocates for a return to its customary land use and land tenure, asserting that the United States government has never extinguished North Fork Mono land titles or its rights to the water that irrigates cultural resources. The North Fork Mono Tribe expresses its long-term relationship to land and water (and asserts its land tenure and property rights) through its traditional narratives, which serve as records of the time that the Tribe reserved land and water rights throughout its homeland. Thus, fire, ceremonial gifts, and stories are essential elements of North Fork Mono irrigation.

17.02 20 years of non-native tree removal and restoration on the Presidio Coastal Bluffs: A case study supporting tree removal for locally significant plant conservation

Michael Chasse1, Catey Ritchie2 1National Park Service, San Francisco, CA, USA, 2Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, San Francisco, CA, USA, michael_chasse@nps.gov

In 1993, a baseline vegetation inventory of the natural areas of the Presidio was conducted and used to create a vegetation community map. Now, over 20 years later the National Park Service, in partnership with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, has updated the vegetation survey, redrawn the plant community map and reproduced photopoints, with results that show strong evidence of the benefit of tree removal and consistent site maintenance. This talk will benefit land managers by providing examples of successful tree removal and restoration, as well as important public engagement best practices. Restoration efforts on the Presidio Coastal Bluffs also provide an example of how to document these successes with scientific monitoring data. Twenty years of tree removal and restoration on the Presidio Coastal Bluffs in San Francisco have been a great boon for locally significant plant communities and rare plants, including the once presumed extinct Franciscan manzanita (Arctostaphylos franciscana [Ericaceae]). A significant expansion of diverse native plant habitat in the project area, 3 successful rare plant introductions/expansions, the reemergence from seedbank of several locally rare species (e.g., Centromadia pungens [Asteraceae], Orobanche californica [Orobanchaceae]) and the return of locally uncommon birds are among the results of this work.

17.03 Ulistac Natural Area: The restoration to native California habitats of 40 acres of land in the middle of Silicon Valley

Dennis Dowling, Gabriella Trudeau Ulistac Natural Area Restoration & Education Project Inc. 501c3, Santa Clara, CA, USA, d-dowling@sbcglobal.net

A small group of environmentalist led by the local Audubon Society convinced the City of Santa Clara to allow them to restore 40 acres of an old golf course to native California habitats. In the past 15 years, we have changed much of the acreage to native oak savannah, oak woodland, a riparian waterway, and a featured butterfly garden consisting of all California native shrubs and trees. By providing native California habitats; numerous native California birds, mammals, insects, and plants are returning to Silicon Valley. We will describe how we have been successful in returning native trees, shrubs, and grasses to Silicon Valley using only volunteer labor, recycled water, and sustainable organic practices. Planting techniques that we have used such as cardboarding, mulching, four inches of rain theory, removing invasive species and deciding what is native to an area to achieve our objective in restoring native California habitat will be discussed in detail.

17.04 Retaining and rebuilding ecosystem functions in the roadside landscape

Jim Hanson Landscape Architect, Richmond, CA, USA, jimhmail@sonic.net

The state’s landscapes are usually seen with the roadside in the foreground, and there are significant challenges to retaining attractive roadside landscapes in both developed areas and wildlands. Roadside plantings within the developed environment are subject to drastically-disturbed soils, traffic winds, heat, frequent disturbance, and air and rainwater runoff pollutants. Wildland roadsides are subject to visual and ecological degradation from expanding invasive weeds and have fewer resources available for management. Despite these constraints, there are reasons, means, and benefits to attaining attractive roadsides by retaining ecosystem functions on wildland roadsides and by rebuilding ecosystem functions in developed ones. Native plants are integral to this endeavor. The task is made possible by an emerging body of knowledge on California native plant community composition, invasive weed management, the rebuilding of soil function in drastically-disturbed soils, revegetation technique, and landscape management for desirable vegetation. New and accessible mapping tools aid landscape management planning and decision-making. A practical vision for California’s developed and wildland roadside landscapes starts by understanding the complexity of the roadside environment. It leads to making choices about what is desirable and possible. From there, input can help shape public policy so that developed and wildland roadside landscapes provide ecological services, support levels of native flora, and are pleasant on the eye.

17.05 Essential ingredients for effective use of grazing in the context of conserving listed plant species

Catherine A. Little, Deborah L. Rogers Center for Natural Lands Management, Northern California, USA, clittle@cnlm.org

Essential ingredients for native plant conservation vary depending on the management objectives and context. The context in which the Center for Natural Lands Management (CNLM) practices conservation is one of managing nature preserves with listed (state or federal) species. This creates an environment in which a multi-faceted approach is necessary for effective conservation. Essential elements can include effective communication and cooperation with conservation partners, risk assessment and management, monitoring and documentation, and adaptive management. For example, CNLM utilizes vegetation management techniques such as grazing as a tool for promoting native plant composition and diversity for certain habitats and contexts. When planning and implementing an appropriate grazing regime within these sensitive habitats, it is essential to maintain active communication and cooperation with various

entities such as ranchers, regulatory agency personnel, and adjacent landowners. It is important to develop management goals that are at the appropriate management scale and address both weed control and (listed) species protection and enhancement. To reduce risk, it is beneficial to make an assessment to determine whether grazing is appropriate, whether only portions of the property should be grazed initially, and include special conditions in lease agreements. Necessary to having a successful grazing program is implementing a monitoring program in which you are documenting and evaluating the results, and discussing these with others, including the rancher, to make changes to the program in future years. For long-term success, it is also important to evaluate not only sustainability of the habitat, but also the grazing operation.

SESSION 18: Rare Natural Communities

18.01 Water relations in the pygmy forest of the Mendocino coast

Teresa Sholars, Robert Sholars (posthumous) College of the Redwoods, Fort Bragg, CA, USA, tsholars@mcn.org

The pygmy forests on Blacklock and Aborigine soils occur between the Navarro Ridge and Oak Street in the city of Fort Bragg in coastal Mendocino County. These soils appear wet in the winter and dry in the summer. This supposition of xeric soils being a limiting growth factor has been investigated. Soil moisture was measured with gypsum electrical resistant blocks in three sites every other week for a year. Water stress (xylem pressure potential) in plants was measured with a pressure chamber. Shoot length of 20 Pygmy Cypress (Hesperocyparis pygmaea, Cupressaceae) was measured every other week from March through November. Results showed that soil moisture remained above field capacity till the end of June, three months into the growing season. Soil moisture from June to November was still wet enough that the plants measured were not water stressed, unlike the vegetation of the redwood forest which was just meters away. These results show that the plants of the pygmy forest were actively growing in saturated soils. This poorly understood and undervalued ecosystem is very rare with highly restricted occurrence, and is under intense pressure from development and other land use. Much of what is left is degraded. In addition to the rare and wet nature of the soils, the dominant trees in the pygmy forest are rare plants. These unique attributes have not been adequately understood or regulated to protect this threated vegetation type. Understanding that the pygmy forest has features of a wetland ecosystem could help in our conservation efforts.

18.02 How maritime is ‘maritime’ and what are the legal implications for conserving stands of coastal chaparral hosting numerous locally endemic species?

Michael C. Vasey San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA, mcvasey@gmail.com

In 1978, Jim Griffin recognized the unique quality of ‘maritime chaparral’ and in 1986 Bob Holland identified Northern and Central Maritime Chaparral as sensitive natural communities because of the numerous local endemic species occurring in this habitat. Later, the California Coastal Commission gave maritime chaparral legal protection as an ‘Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area’ (ESHA) as did California under CEQA. Over the past few decades, regulators, scientists, and planners have struggled to better define the specific nature of maritime chaparral so that its conservation can be optimized in the face of mounting development pressures. As part of my dissertation research, I utilized an eco-physiological comparison of manzanitas, a survey of coastal chaparral composition diversity, and an exploration of the ESHA legal framework to better understand and inform the conservation of maritime chaparral. In this presentation, I synthesize the results of this research inquiry and interpret these results in the context of conservation and legal protection for coastal chaparral ecosystems. Where does maritime stop and interior begin in the complex and heterogeneous landscape of coastal California? What is the optimal strategy for recognizing and protecting patterns of exceptional local endemism found in ‘maritime chaparral’? Using a synthetic approach, I attempt to address these important conservation questions.

18.03 Changes in the distribution of Great Valley vernal pool habitats from 2005 to 2012

Robert F. Holland1, Carol W. Witham2, John Vollmar3 1Geobotanical Phenomenology, Auburn, CA, USA, 2Witham Consulting, Sacramento, CA, USA, 3Vollmar Natural Lands Consulting, Berkeley, CA, USA, drbobholland@gmail.com

We document changes in extent and condition of vernal pool habitat in the Great Valley between 2005 and 2012. We define "vernal pool habitat" as vernal pools and the surrounding upland habitat matrix, typically naturalized annual grassland. We mapped vernal pool distribution based on 2005 aerial photos using a double-blind mapping protocol. Our study area encompassed some 21.4 million acres, including the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys and surrounding foothills. We then reexamined each of the 2005 polygons, comparing each with 2012 imagery. As of the 2012 imagery, there were 764,868 acres of extant habitat, 42,952 less than in 2005. Habitat actually was eliminated from 47,306 acres, but these losses were partially offset 1,679 acres of mitigation banks built since 2005, and by 2,675 acres that we missed in the 2005 survey. In the seven years since the Recovery Plan was adopted, some 6,758 acres per year have been lost. We analyzed the 2012 geodatabase in numerous ways. We prepared tabular and graphic results by county. We intersected our results with a map of the Core Recovery Areas (CRAs), revealing a net loss of 16,598 acres within the mapped boundaries of the CRAs. Finally, we intersected our results with newly available maps of protected areas, finding that 30% of 2012 extant habitat is under some form of protection (everything from fee title to conservation easement). Twenty-four percent of habitat in the CRAs is protected. We also document that virtually all habitat losses (95%) were to unregulated conversion to more intensive agriculture.

18.04 Letting a coastal ecosystem go wild: Restoring natural processes in the Ten Mile Dunes

Renee Pasquinelli California Department of Parks and Recreation, Mendocino, CA, USA, renee.pasquinelli@parks.ca.gov

The Inglenook Fen - Ten Mile Dunes Natural Preserve of MacKerricher State Park in Mendocino County is a 1,285-acre coastal dune and wetland complex supporting the only coastal fen in California and numerous sensitive species, including populations of Menzies's wallflower (Erysimum menziesii, Brassicaceae; California Rare Plant Rank 1B.1, federally and California endangered) and Howell's spineflower (Chorizanthe howellii, Polygonaceae; Rank 1B.1, federally endangered and California threatened). In the mid-1990's, a proposal to resurrect four miles of legacy logging road as a multiple-use trail through the dunes was promoted, then rejected due to numerous risks to ecological integrity. Subsequent review led park scientists to pursue an ecological management approach, consistent with the State's 1996 designation of this complex as a Natural Preserve. In 2010, funds were allocated to remove the road and culvert crossings and a substantial population of European beachgrass (Ammophila arenaria, Poaceae). In early 2014, following a lengthy, contentious environmental review and coastal permitting process, road and culverts were at last extracted, while Ammophila removal remains an ongoing task. In addition to eliminating physical impediments, the project includes a mitigation, monitoring, and rehabilitation plan to address implementation-related impacts, and to promote ecological resiliency and populational viability of several species. A long-term adaptive management plan, currently in development, will promote ongoing assessment of dune ecosystem elements and propose feasible, ecologically informed management. Ecological recovery is already evident in the recolonization of native species, including American dune grass (Elymus mollis, Poaceae) and pink sand-verbena (Abronia umbellata var. breviflora, Nyctaginaceae; Rank 1B.1).

18.05 Developing a long-term vegetation monitoring framework across the Channel Islands of California

Anne E. Kelly, John J. Mack Catalina Island Conservancy, Avalon, CA, USA, akelly@catalinaconservancy.org

The Channel Islands face common threats, including invasive species, increasing drought intensity, and recent grazing, among others. Biogeographically they are similar, yet differences in the histories of island stakeholders have limited cross-island understanding of these ecosystems. Monitoring plant community extent, type, diversity and condition is a fundamental datum for nearly all adaptive management decisions as well as providing a baseline for tracking changes due to management interventions and near- and long-term climate variation or change. Most Island land managers have or are engaged in some level of vegetation monitoring (e.g., Catalina Island Conservancy, the Channel Islands National Park, and The Nature Conservancy, and the U.S. Military). A long-term (decadal), regional vegetation monitoring framework will be needed to understand not only the present state of island ecosystems and species, but to identify future threats and strategies for promoting vegetation resiliency. Well-documented large-scale survey designs like the Generalized Random Tesselation Survey (GRTS) design make establishing such a framework more straightforward. The California Continental Borderland and Western Transverse Range-Northern Channel Islands Block geologic units, which encompasses the Channel Islands, Santa Monica Mountains and Palos Verde Peninsula, constitute a "natural" and functional unit for an integrated regional monitoring approach. While the islands and mountains in this region share common ecosystem types, each has unique climate, topography, soils, land use and fire history, and rare/endemic species. Comparing commonalities and differences will allow deeper understanding of ecosystem functioning. Leveraging resources across regional managers permits sharing lessons and best practices for future ecosystem management, conservation, and restoration.

SESSION 19: Fire & Native Plants

19.01 Resource protection and fire hazard reduction in California shrublands

Jon Keeley1,2 1U.S. Geological Survey, Sequoia-Kings Canyon Field Station, Three Rivers, CA, USA, 2Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA, jon_keeley@usgs.gov

Land managers are faced with the difficult problem of balancing fire hazards and resource protection. In forested ecosystems management actions designed to reduce fire hazard are generally compatible with resource needs, however, in shrublands the two are often incompatible. In California chaparral and sage scrub fire is a natural ecosystem process, and although most species are fire-adapted they are not adapted to all fires. The fire regime most compatible with long term sustainability is one with high intensity infrequent fires at intervals of 30 years to a century or more. Disturbances in these ecosystems occur from perturbations in this regime, including too frequent fire and potentially the exclusion of fire. These risks are explored and the implications for appropriate fire management that will both conserve resources and protect urban environments.

19.02 Effects of a short-interval reburn on chaparral recovery in southern California

Jan L Beyers, Marcia G Narog USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Riverside, CA, USA, jbeyers@fs.fed.us

One of the greatest threats to chaparral vegetation in southern California is overly-frequent fire. Obligate-seeding shrub species may not have contributed much to the soil seed bank, and non-native annuals that colonize burned areas can quickly reinvade, interfering with native plant establishment. The 2013 Silver fire reburned part of the North Mountain Experimental Area (Riverside County), where we had plots established after the 2006 Esperanza fire. Resampling those plots in spring 2014 provided an opportunity

to assess effects of a short fire return interval on initial chaparral recovery. Eight plots were relocated that burned in both the Esperanza and Silver fires; they were compared to six plots that burned only in the Silver fire. Seedlings of Ceanothus perplexans (cupleaf California lilac, Rhamnaceae), which recovers after fire only from seed, were abundant only on plots that burned in the Silver fire and were more than 20 years since last fire in 2013; plots last burned 14 years previously had low numbers of Ceanothus seedlings. The reburn plots had few Ceanothus seedlings in general but often abundant seedlings of Adenostoma fasciculatum (chamise, Rosaceae) and Dendromecon rigida (bush poppy, Papaveraceae). Resprouting shrubs were abundant in all plots. As expected, non-native annuals were more abundant in the reburn plots than in those burned only in the Silver fire, both in terms of cover and species richness. Native fire-following annuals occurred on all plots. Repeat fires in this area appear to threaten the persistence of Ceanothus species but have not yet negatively affected other chaparral dominants.

19.03 Disturbance regimes predict diversity and composition of forest understory native plant communities

Jens Stevens1, Hugh Safford1,2, Susan Harrison1, Andrew Latimer1 1University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA, 2US Forest Service, Vallejo, CA, USA, jtstevens@ucdavis.edu

By changing the understory microclimate, forest canopy disturbances such as thinning and wildfire may shift the composition of understory native plant communities toward species tolerant of increased temperatures and climatic water deficit, a process termed "thermophilization". Working in yellow pine and dry mixed-conifer forests influenced by fire suppression, we sampled understories in plots that had been factorially thinned and burned in wildfires. We found that these four treatments generated a gradient of disturbance severity and canopy closure, with untreated plots the least disturbed and most closed, and wildfire-only plots the most disturbed and open. Along this gradient, we found that the proportion of flora with evolutionary affinity to northern-mesic environments decreased, while the proportion of southern-xeric flora increased, with increasing disturbance severity and decreasing canopy closure. Canopy disturbance caused a greater reduction of mesic flora in forests with higher levels of precipitation, where mesic species were initially most common. Species with low foliar carbon-nitrogen (C:N) ratios were favored in high-severity disturbance stands, and the elevated water deficit in these stands appeared to favor species with lower specific leaf area at a given C:N level. Forests with intermediate disturbance intensities, where abundances of mesic and xeric species were nearly equal, had higher alpha diversity than the unburned forests, and higher levels of beta diversity than the wildfire-only forests. These findings suggest that fuel-reduction treatments in concert with the reintroduction of wildfire can promote taxonomically and functionally diverse native plant communities.

19.04 Optimal fire frequency for the restoration of the rare native annual Amsinckia grandiflora (Boraginaceae)

Tina Carlsen, Lisa Paterson, Teneile Alfaro Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, USA, carlsen1@llnl.gov

Amsinckia grandiflora is an extremely rare native annual occurring naturally in only a few locations within the Coastal Range east of Livermore, California. We are investigating the use of fire to restore and manage A. grandiflora populations at Site 300, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s experimental test site. Earlier research showed A. grandiflora to prefer growing in a matrix of native perennial bunch grasses, rather than the now more common exotic annual grasses. As fire is a tool commonly used to increase the density of native perennial bunch grasses, and controlled burns are routinely conducted at Site 300, the use of fire to provide a more hospitable habitat for A. grandiflora is being investigated. A ten-year fire frequency experiment was initiated in 1998. Amsinckia grandiflora and Poa secunda (Poaceae, a native perennial bunch grass common at Site 300) was established in the center 1 m2 of twenty 4 m2 experimental plots. Plots were assigned to treatments that included a control (no burning), low frequency burning (every five years), intermediate frequency burning (every three years), and high frequency burning (every year), using a randomized complete block design. The final burn treatment was conducted

in 2011. Three years of post-treatment data have been collected. Preliminary results suggest that while intermediate and high frequency burns do increase the density of native perennial bunch grasses, A. grandiflora does not tolerate the immediate impacts of the burn. Results suggest that fire should be used cautiously as a restoration tool for some rare annual plants. LLNL-ABS-656171.

19.05 Maintaining the fuel zone for T&E species

Kim Klementowski1, Deborah Rogers1,2 1Center for Natural Lands Management, Temecula, CA, USA, 2University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA, kklementowski@cnlm.org

Federal- and state-listed species face, in addition to intrinsic threats, a multitude of human-induced threats. One of those, of increasing magnitude and frequency because of development pressures and safety concerns, arises from municipalities requesting installation of fuel modification zones within the wildland-urban interface. These varying local, regional, or state codes are aimed towards protecting life and structures but are rarely science-based and do not reflect native plant conservation concerns or listed species protections such as the Endangered Species Act. With development on the rise and more mitigation lands being set aside for conservation within the urban/suburban landscape, tensions between developments and those with an invested interest in protecting open space will only increase. These islands of habitats may offer the last remaining refugia for a species and may be legally bound by restrictions prohibiting removal of native vegetation, let alone implementation of the classic 30 feet/70 feet fuel modification zone. Despite the seemingly different overarching ideas for how fuel modification zones should or should not be implemented on-the-ground, understandings and solutions can be reached through created partnerships between fire authorities, natural resource regulatory agencies, and local land management entities. Three case studies will be presented on ongoing fuel zone/listed species tensions in California. Each case will reflect the manager’s efforts to interpret these codes; annual efforts to establish and maintain communication with local municipalities; and continuing determination towards requesting science-based, site-specific solutions that protect public safety while ensuring the persistence of protected flora and fauna for future generations.

19.06 Effects of altered fire regimes on tanoak acorn cultural resources of the Karuk and Yurok Peoples of California

Arielle Halpern1, Frank Lake2, Thomas Carlson1, Wayne Sousa1 1University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, 2United States Forest Service, PSW, Redding, CA, USA, arielle.halpern@berkeley.edu

Tanoak acorns (Notholithocarpus densiflorus, Fagaceae) are an important terrestrial resource system for the Karuk and Yurok People of the Klamath River, California. The targeted, seasonal application of prescribed fire was historically utilized to reduce acorn infestation from Filbertworm (Cydia latiferreana, Tortricidae) and Filbert Weevil (Curculio occidentalis, Curculionidae) larvae and to encourage the regeneration of tanoak associated species of cultural value. Our project seeks to investigate the effects of indigenous prescribed fire on infestation rates of tanoak acorns and the quality of culturally significant tanoak plant associates. This project is conducted in collaboration with the Karuk and Yurok Tribes of California. Collection cages were constructed in heritage tanoak stands along the Klamath River within the ancestral territories of the Karuk and Yurok People (n=7 sites, 118 cages). Prescribed fire was applied to four sites (spring=3, fall=1, control/unburned=3) in 2013. Pre and post-fire vegetation surveys (presence, percent cover, cultural quality) were completed in the summers of 2011-2013. Acorns were collected from all cages at three time points during the fall 2013 acorn season. Weight, shell condition, cotyledon condition, and infestation were assessed. Initial results indicate a reduction in the percent cover of all species in fire treatments but an increased resprouting response from shrub competitors in culturally off- season burns (spring). Initial results also indicate that prescribed fire reduced larval infestation rates from 1) 88-90% to 65-77% in early season acorns, 2) from 85-77% to 59-44% in peak season acorns, and 3) from 98-78% to 57-71% in late season acorns.

19.07 Characteristics of downed woody debris in mixed jeffrey pine forests of the Sierra San Pedro Mártir, Baja California, Mexico and southern California, USA

Ann Bowers, Richard Minnich University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA, abowe002@ucr.edu

A century of fire suppression left few historical records of forest conditions to guide restoration and management of mixed conifer forests (MCF) in California. Down woody debris is an important resource in the surface fire regime dominating much of the mixed conifer assemblages of the western United States. In this study, MCF of the Sierra San Pedro Mártir, Baja California, Mexico, were surveyed to create a chronosequence of down woody fuels over a century of fire history in four locations. Using non-metric multi-dimensional scaling, these inventories were compared to rare but still extant locations in southern California, USA, with known fire behavior and intervals similar to the Mexican sites. Levels (t ha-1) and density (occurrences ha-1) of down woody debris are statistically similar in both study areas. Accumulation of rotten woody debris is related to time since the last fire, while sound woody debris is not. Sound woody debris is deposited as a continuous rain of material between fire events. Sound wood decays, accumulates as rotten wood, and is largely consumed by the next fire. Litter and duff depths are statistically similar and remain low for over a century in both study areas. Cover of down wood is low for large diameter material (>30 cm dbh). Smaller woody debris is more widely distributed: cover ranged from 0 - 25%. Historical levels of down wood in California are similar to ranges found in this study, providing quantitative estimates of retention to guide ecological restoration efforts in MCF in southern California and elsewhere.

19.08 Changes in chaparral vegetation along a gradient of increasing aridity in southern California

Robert Steers, Edith Allen, Christopher True University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA, robert.steers.ca@gmail.com

A sharp gradient of decreasing precipitation was identified in the eastern Transverse Range, California, where modeled mean annual precipitation decreases from 45.7 to 20.3 cm along an approximately 20 km distance. Four study sites were established in chaparral vegetation along this gradient at a similar elevation, slope, aspect, and soil type. The primary goal of this study was to characterize the vegetation structure and species composition and to also generalize chaparral vegetation response to a drying climate. We found that vegetation structure transitioned from a closed-canopy to an open-canopy corresponding with increased aridity. Cover of dead shrubs and the proportion of dead shrubs were lowest at the drier end of the gradient. Species richness and especially, Shannon diversity, were greatest in the middle of the gradient. Coarse woody shrubs, typical of chaparral species, exhibited the highest relative cover throughout the entire gradient but decreased towards the drier end. In terms of fire response strategies, the relative cover of facultative resprouters and obligate seeders decreased with aridity, while fire intolerant species increased, and obligate resprouters peaked in the middle of the gradient.

19.09 Stimulation of rooting of corms of Triteleia laxa (Themidaceae) in response to glycosyl nitrile (a homolog of glyceryl nitrile, a germination-active compound in smoke)

Winslow Briggs, Rajnish Khanna Khanna, Tong-Seung Tseng Tseng Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA, USA, briggs@stanford.edu

In the past decade, researchers in Western Australia have identified several compounds in smoke that elicit seed germination in sensitive species—the karrikin family of butenolides and glyceryl nitrile. Seeds of some species respond only to karrikins, some only to glyceryl nitrile, and some to both. Many of these species are those that germinate in large numbers following wildfire, but many other non-fire-following species including Arabidopsis thaliana (Brassicaceae) also respond to one or the other of these compounds. In addition, a number of species growing from bulbs or corms respond to wildfire by

flowering in large numbers. Among these species are Triteleia laxa, Toxicoscordion fremontii (Melanthiaceae), Chlorogalum pomeridianum (Agavaceae), Calochortus venustus, Calochortus alba (Liliaceae), and several others. We tested whether either karrikins (karrikin I) or glyconitrile (a close homolog of naturally occurring glyceryl nitrile with the same dissociation chemistry) might induce any measurable response from Triteleia laxa corms. Sprouting, growth rate, flowering time, and percent of corms producing flowering scapes were all unaffected by treatment with 10 µM karrikin I (the most active of the karrikins). By contrast, 10 µM glycosyl nitrile induced a dramatically more rapid emergence of roots and more rapid emergence of shoots from dormant corms than induced by water alone. We will be investigating any possible flowering response as sufficient corms become available.

SESSION 20: Biogeography and Conservation of Lichens and Bryophytes

20.01 Biogeography of California lichens

Stephen Sharnoff University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, lichen@idiom.com

Lichen species distributions in California reflect diversity of the state's plant communities. Actual physiological requirements of lichens with regard to regimes of moisture and light are poorly known, but patterns on the ground provide important clues. Along the central to southern coast lichens unique to a "fog desert" climate, most conspicuously Niebla spp. (Ramalinaceae), flourish on rocks. In oak woodlands of the Coast Range, fruticose species of Usnea (Parmeliaceae) and Ramalina (Ramalinaceae), drape tree branches, and bark is green with Flavoparmelia caperata, Flavopunctelia flaventior (Parmeliaceae), and other foliose lichens. Chaparral habitats have a large variety of species on the twigs of shrubs, such as bright orange Xanthoria spp. (Teloschistaceae), Evernia prunastri (Parmeliaceae), and others. The Sonoran and Mojave Deserts with their many mountain ranges have hundreds of species, mostly crusts, found in México or Arizona but others that are unique to the region. In the northwestern mountains the lichen community is largely, but not entirely, an extension of the temperate rainforest biome to the north, although redwood forests are a special case. The Sierra Nevada alpine is dominated by a number of crustose rock-dwelling lichens found across North America but it lacks many of the arctic-alpine species characteristic of wetter ranges to the north and east. Sierra foothill and montane habitats have species groupings that somewhat overlap those of the Coast Ranges. Especially striking are the lichen communities found on Arctostaphylos spp. (Ericaceae) branches, and the brilliant yellow-green of Letharia spp. (Parmeliaceae) on Abies magnifica (Pinaceae) in the Sierra montane.

20.02 Notes on the distribution, habitat and geography of rare lichens in California

Tom Carlberg California Lichen Society, Fairfax, CA, USA, vicepresident@californialichens.org

The understanding of California's lichen flora has advanced greatly in the past ten years. However many rare species remain elusive, cryptic, undercollected and/or underreported, while enough data have been collected on others to demonstrate that they follow a fairly typical pattern for lichen rarity: wide ranging but rarely occurring within that range. Rare montane species are represented by a few species, but geographic patterns are strongly weighted towards coastal and hypercoastal species, which are sometimes locally abundant within the coastal strip. At least one narrow endemic is uncommon within a nearly extinct habitat, largely due to coastal development. Conservation status is limited for this flora: the California Lichen Society's Conservation Committee has evaluated a limited number of species for conservation status, thirteen of which have recently been added to the CNPS Inventory of Rare Plants. Three northwestern National Forests include more than one species on their Sensitive plant lists, and one aquatic species has Sensitive status on nine Forests.

20.03 The advantages of using lichens in restoration and conservation

Tara Schoenwetter Leidos, Carpinteria, CA, USA, taraschoenwetter@gmail.com

Lichens are often overlooked and lacking from restoration and conservation projects. Lichens are widely acknowledged as indicators or monitors of a variety of environmental effects such as atmospheric and terrestrial pollution, acid rain, and radionuclide accumulation, especially in Northern Hemisphere biomes and ecosystems. Less well known and appreciated is their importance in the cycling of major nutrients, especially carbon and nitrogen as well as their sensitivity to changes in light and UV regimes in various biomes. Lichens are thus potential indicators of environmental change at a variety of levels: local, regional and global. Studies have mainly assigned lichens to nondescript broad categories such as “lichen” or “non-vascular plant” along with bryophytes (algae, mosses and liverworts) and few have examined lichen communities with respect to functional groups or species that share ecological functional roles. Since most studies have investigated individual lichen species we know little about patterns across a range of functional groups or multiple adaptive characteristics such as their different growth forms, photobionts and metabolites. The advantages of examining lichen community patterns using different functional groups will be discussed and how lichens can be used in restoration and conservation.

20.04 Distribution and abundance of Lobaria oregana (Lobariaceae) within the forest canopy and a comparison of detection from ground-based versus canopy-based survey methods in the Six Rivers National Forest of northwest California

John Villella1, Greg Carey1, Tom Carlberg2, Richard Brock1, Jesse Miller3, Lisa Hoover2 1Siskiyou BioSurvey, Ashland, OR, USA, 2Six Rivers National Forest, Eureka, CA, USA, 3University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA, jvillella@siskiyoubiosurvey.com

Lobaria oregana is a charismatic rain forest associated epiphytic cyanolichen that occurs in the forest canopy and has a sporadic occurrence at the southern edge of it’s range in northwest California. For this study we sought to answer the question: are ground based surveys sufficient for detecting the occurrence of Lobaria oregana in Six Rivers National Forest? Known sites within the forest were surveyed using randomly generated ground-based litterfall detection plots and targeted upper canopy surveys were conducted in two hundred trees in order to determine the distribution and abundance of this lichen in the canopy across its range within Six Rivers National Forest. We correlate the likelihood of ground-based detection with the abundance in the canopy and provide conservation recommendations for management of this threatened species based on its distribution within the forest canopy.

20.05 Lichens of Ventura County

David Magney David Magney Environmental Consulting, Ojai, CA, USA, david@magney.org

The lichen flora of California is relatively unknown, including areas such as Ventura County. Lichens are part of the natural biodiversity of most habitats. Land use decisions can result in significant impacts to the lichen flora of a project site, and more broadly to the region or county where the project occurs. Since the distribution of lichens in California is poorly studied except for a few locations, consulting biologist, most of who have no or little ability to identify lichens, much less assess a project's potential impacts to the lichen flora, the author developed a simple tool to help bring attention to the lichen flora of Ventura County, he compiled a checklist and published it on the web.

20.06 California Moss eFlora

Paul Wilson1, Nickte Mendez1, Brent D. Mishler2, Aaron E. Sims3 1California State University, Northridge, Northridge, CA, USA, 2University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, 3California Native Plant Society, Sacramento, CA, USA, paul.wilson@csun.edu

Identification tools such as keys and specimen maps have been pulled into an online guide to California's mosses (website available at: http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/CA_moss_eflora/). Our first task was to set up the information-technology structure of the California Moss eFlora. The structure was initially populated with Norris and Shevock's 2004 keys and catalog information, specimen labels digitized from the UC and CAS herbaria, and some species descriptions prepared by Dan Norris. New information is added continually. Improvements we are working on include "collapsing keys" allowing easier identification from a specified region, a photo for each genus, and a prototype genus treatment (Orthotrichum [Orthotrichaceae]). Eventually, peer-reviewed treatments of other groups are to be produced by various Californians and taxon experts. Verification of specimen identity will be extremely valuable. California Native Plant Society (CNPS) now has a process for listing and delisting sensitive mosses, and that information will be linked up to the Moss eFlora. Moreover, the Moss eFlora provides CNPS with information on habitat, associated species, elevation, and geographic distributions-information that is essential in judging conservation status. The Moss eFlora will also be useful in prioritizing populations in need of protection and populations that should be surveyed in order to assess viability. The eFlora's online mapping highlights unusual specimen reports that should be re-examined. The project is in need of authors and of financial support.

20.07 Bryophyte species richness along a 3000 m elevation gradient

Lena Coleman, Paul Wilson California State University, Northridge, Northridge, CA, USA, lenacoleman44@gmail.com

In Sequoia National Park, 250 plot of 25 m2 were surveyed for all bryophytes along with data on microhabitat. Species richness generally decreases with increasing elevation. This trend holds for mosses found in dry and medium dry microsites, but not for mosses of wet spots. The low-elevation Mediterranean climate is highly suitable for bryophyte richness and cover, whereas the high-elevation zones are covered by snow in the winter and excessively dry during the summer. A number of other microhabitat tendencies were also documented. Sunnier and inclined microsites decreased in richness with increasing elevation. Epiphytes disappeared above about 2,000 m. Bryophytes on rotten wood had highest richness at intermediate elevations. Rock microsites remained relatively unchanged in species richness across elevations, and soil bryophytes had greatest richness at the lowest elevations. Finally, we point out that the patterns of species richness can be accounted for not only by the suitability of the habitat but alternatively by recognizing that different higher taxa vary in their species richness and in their ecological tendencies. For example, the Pottiaceae contributes greatly to species richness at low elevations.

20.08 New (and old) species everywhere we look: Understanding the California bryophyte flora through molecular data

Benjamin Carter Duke University, Durham, NC, USA, benjamincarter125@gmail.com

Efforts to document the California bryophyte flora have surged over the last few decades. Spearheading this effort are the collectors and taxonomists describing new species and documenting biogeographic patterns based on new collections. However, molecular studies are also becoming an increasingly important part of the overall effort to document the flora. A strong trend in recent studies is the discovery and description of previously overlooked (or noticed by previous generations but subsequently ignored) species. It is also becoming clear that ongoing and recent speciation is an important contributor to endemism and diversity in the California bryophyte flora. In this talk, I summarize the recent molecular

studies documenting species discovery in California and place these in the context of an emerging understanding of the biogeography and conservation of the state’s bryophyte flora.

20.09 Conservation and management of rare bryophytes

Judith A. Harpel University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Canada, judith.harpel@botany.ubc.ca

Bryophytes (mosses, hornworts and liverworts) play an important role in our ecosystem, through erosion control, contributing to the nitrogen budget and water balance, and by providing habitat for a wide variety of arthropods and insects. Unfortunately bryophytes have often been an overlooked part of our landscape. Because of their small size, and sometimes poorly understood distributions, bryophytes present unique problems for rare species management. In 1994 the Northwest Forest Plan brought the management of rare bryophytes to the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management botanists and managers of northwestern California, western Oregon and Washington. While the plan brought bryophyte management to the forefront in this region, the current rapidly occurring environmental changes have increased our concerns for bryophyte conservation beyond that region. Today bryophytes have now been included in many state and federal rare plant species programs throughout North America and the world. This talk will attempt to discuss what makes a bryophyte rare, and what we have learned about managing for rare bryophytes.

20.10 Bryological exploration in California and the West: The role of the amateur in bryology

Ken Kellman California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, USA, kkellman@sbcglobal.net

Floristic knowledge is the foundation of all conservation policy. Despite advances in bryophyte floristics during the last 15 years, distribution of bryophytes in California is poorly known. County level catalogs have only been published for four California counties. Yet those few county studies have revealed many species new to science, and many more new to the state. Lack of college level training and funding for floristic studies leaves survey and identification work to amateur workers. An examination of the challenges faced by amateur bryologists helps to explain why so little floristic work is being done in California and the west.

SESSION 21: Invasive Plants

21.01 Setting and implementing regional strategies for landscape-scale invasive plant management

Elizabeth Brusati, Doug Johnson, Dana Morawitz California Invasive Plant Council, Berkeley, CA, USA, dfmorawitz@cal-ipc.org

Detecting and responding to invasive plant populations before they spread is the most effective way of limiting their impact, but deciding which invasive plant species and populations to prioritize is challenging. Working with public and private land managers, Cal-IPC developed a transparent process for setting landscape-scale priorities for invasive plant management. The process is based on spatial distribution data from CalWeedMapper, an online decision-support tool with statewide maps of >200 invasive plants. For 32% of the species, CalWeedMapper also aids analysis by displaying the projected shift in suitable range due to climate change. Regional partnerships use this information to set regional strategy; they select species for region-wide eradication, prepare a workplan, and draft a budget needed to accomplish the work. Seven regions (comprising 30 of the state's 58 counties) have used this process to select priority species for eradication and surveillance (typically 8-12 species per region per category). One region has secured funding for implementation. This process involves more than forty organizations in collaborative regional planning. The two-county Northwest California region is one of those currently developing a proposal. Their project will focus on region-wide eradication of three species of knotweed,

oblong spurge, giant reed, and rush skeletonweed. The 5-year project budget will be in the $1M range. The collaborative strategic planning process provides potential funders with a strong and transparent rationale for eradicating high-priority invasive plant populations before they spread and have much greater ecological impact.

21.02 Are they still selling that? How we can help nurseries choose noninvasive plants: A presentation by PlantRight

Greg Richardson Sustainable Conservation, San Francisco, CA, USA, grichardson@suscon.org

By definition, invasive plants harm the environment, economy and/or human health. They impact vegetative landscapes across California - displacing native plants and wildlife, and in some cases altering both soil composition and natural hydrologic cycles. The financial impact of invasive plants nationwide has been estimated to be $27 billion per year, and the dollars spent on invasive plants in California is conservatively estimated at $82 million per year. Many of these impacts could have been avoided, as almost half of the invasive plants in California were originally introduced through the horticultural trade. Started in 2005, PlantRight is a collaborative, science-based and voluntary program designed to prevent further spread of horticultural invasive plants in California, and to promote the use of noninvasive alternatives. This talk will focus on PlantRight's efforts working with the nursery trade to address this issue at its source, and highlight the program's progress over the past few years. Specific topics of discussion include an annual citizen-science survey of nurseries statewide, partnerships with retail nurseries, and predictive tools for identifying emerging invasives, before they spread.

21.03 Calflora's Weed Manager system

Cynthia Powell, John Malpas Calflora, Berkeley, CA, USA, cpowell@calflora.org

Tracking changes in plant populations for introduced and native plants is vital for land managers. Built originally for invasive plants but applicable to native plants, Weed Manager represents a significant extension to Calflora's tools for data collection. Weed Manager (WM) is used by individuals and organizations engaged in land management. The primary purpose of the system is to track plant populations over time and how they change in terms of percent cover, polygon size, phenology, etc. For weeds, WM can also track the treatments applied to plant populations. Each subscribing organization or agency uses a private copy of the system, but has the option of sharing their data with other subscribing organizations within the system, other Calflora users, and with other systems. A subscribing organization can also configure certain aspects of how they want to use the system by choosing which fields are required, or which extra fields should be collected for an assessment. The core data fields and the core methodologies remain standard across all organization subscribers, however, thus enabling data exchange and integration. Although the WM software was designed with weeds in mind, many of the tools are available to all Calflora contributors, and can also be used to great advantage to collect data about native plants. The WM phone application called "Observer Pro" is free and ready for testing on Android phones. This app enhances, but is not necessary for, WM data collection. WM development will be complete March 2015, but users may request early access now.

21.04 An early detection rapid response pilot program in California State Parks

Ramona Robison California State Parks, Sacramento, CA, USA, ramona.robison@parks.ca.gov

The California State Parks (Parks) Natural Resources Program spends a significant amount of its yearly budget on invasive plant management. Most of the effort goes towards management of known weed infestations. Monitoring is also in place using a modified version of The Nature Conservancy's Weed Information Management System (WIMS), which focuses on 30 species that are already widespread. In order to become more pro-active and identify new infestations before they become widespread, in 2013 Parks implemented a pilot program for early detection and rapid response (EDRR) in the Santa Cruz District's Mountain Sector and Orange Coast District Parks. In 2014 we added some San Diego Coast, North Coast Redwoods and Sierra District Parks to the pilot program. Methods developed included selection of an EDRR target list, preparation of training materials for field staff including: a GPS data collection and management system, maps and GIS layers of EDRR target search areas. We also added cost and budget estimates to extend the protocol to the entire Parks system. The project is in collaboration with the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County and California Invasive Plant Council. The presentation will include some lessons learned as well as unexpected successes and successful collaborations.

21.05 Lessons learned and the future direction of invasive plant management on the California Islands Archipelago

John Knapp1, John Randall1, Christie Boser1, Morgan Ball3, John Mack2, Grant Powell2, Peter Dixon2, Valerie Vartanian4, Denise Knapp6, Luciana Luna-Mendoza7, Julio Hernandez-Montoya7, Paula Power5, Sarah Chaney5, David Mazurkiewicz5, Eamon O'Byrne1, Steve Junak6, Bryan Munson4 1The Nature Conservancy, Ventura, CA, USA, 2Catalina Island Conservancy, Avalon, CA, USA, 3Wildlands Conservation Science, Lompoc, CA, USA, 4U.S. Navy, San Diego and Point Mugu, CA, USA, 5Channel Islands National Park, Ventura, CA, USA, 6Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Santa Barbara, CA, USA, 7Conservacion de Islas, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, jknapp@tnc.org

The California Islands are home to unique taxa and plant communities, have extremely high rates of endemism, and have been identified as global "hotspots" of biodiversity. Yet the accelerated degradation on these islands by anthropogenic forces such as the introduction of invasive plants has resulted in these islands being classified as "threat spots", having an excessively high number of listed, extirpated, and extinct species. For the past 40 years island managers from Baja to Alta California have targeted invasive species for eradication, primarily introduced vertebrates. The success of those removals has prompted managers to apply similar techniques and strategies. Invasive plants have been managed on all islands over the past two decades with the use of volunteers, trained staff, contract professionals, or a combination thereof. Both weed-led and site-led strategies are employed where species of limited distribution are targeted for eradication, and sites of high value are protected from a suite of invasives. Approximately 20 invasive plant species have been functionally eradicated from various islands, and an additional 30 are actively being eradicated. Island managers and a diverse group of mainland collaborators have identified invasive plants as the primary threat to the biological resources of the islands, and recognize the need for greater collaboration and coordination. In 2014, island managers collectively began to pursue an archipelago approach to invasive plant management, where species will be prioritized on each island and across the archipelago. These same managers have agreed to increased resource and expertise sharing going forward to strengthen these efforts.

21.06 Competitive interactions between native and invasive grassland plants are mediated by precipitation, nitrogen deposition, clipping, and the identity of plant competitors

Valerie Eviner1, Kevin Rice1, Carolyn Malmstrom2, Joanne Heraty1 1University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA, 2Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA, veviner@ucdavis.edu

In order to effectively restore native communities and control invasive species, it is critical to understand how multiple factors influence plant communities. In 2007, we planted three community types prevalent in California grasslands (on their own and in mixtures): (1) naturalized exotic annuals (dominant for the last 200-300 years); (2) native species commonly used in restoration; and (3) more recent annual invaders (Aegilops triuncialis, Elymus caput-medusae [Poaceae]). These plant treatments were exposed to: precipitation manipulations, nitrogen deposition, and/or seasonal clipping. At the end of each growing season, we assessed percent cover of species. Dry growing seasons increased native cover and decreased recent invaders, while wet seasons increased recent invaders. The naturalized annuals increased in wet conditions only when the invaders weren't present, and increased in dry conditions only when the natives weren't present. Nitrogen deposition tended to increase native bunchgrass cover, but its effects on the invaders varied by year, significantly increasing the prevalence of invaders in 2010 and 2013, while decreasing them in 2011 and 2012. Clipping consistently increased the prevalence of invaders, while the effects on natives varied by year. Significant interactions occurred among treatments. In particular, N deposition strongly mediated the impacts of clipping on community composition. Together, these results demonstrate that the effectiveness of vegetation management will vary depending on precipitation levels and nitrogen deposition. In addition, while invasive species may dominate over natives early in the restoration process, under most conditions, natives suppress the recent invasives after five years.

21.07 Restoration of a California grassland through intensive yellow starthistle control and native perennial bunchgrass reintroduction

Brent Johnson Pinnacles National Park, Paicines, CA, USA, brent_johnson@nps.gov

Since 2009, Pinnacles National Park has been actively restoring over 140 acres of a highly degraded grassland and valley oak savannah system newly acquired in 2006. Restoration and research efforts include testing native bunchgrass re-vegetation methods, integrated pest management techniques to control YST, and extensive monitoring and mapping of target species, along with plant community response to treatments. Management techniques included prescribed burning, broadcast herbicide application, timed mowing, goat grazing, and manual hoeing or pulling with multiple partners, inmate crews and volunteers. These varied methods and consistent treatments over five consecutive years have successfully decreased YST populations to significantly less than 1% cover, and protected adjacent private and park lands from infestations. Based on knowledge and results gained from these efforts, the park is undergoing larger-scale drill-seeding with locally derived native perennial grass seed.

21.08 Tidal seed dispersal potential of Spartina densiflora (Poaceae)

Kelsey McDonald1,2, Alison O'Dowd1, Andrea Pickart2 1Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA, USA, 2U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arcata, CA, USA, kelseyleemcdonald@gmail.com

The invasive salt marsh cordgrass Spartina densiflora poses a threat to restoration sites and native coastal areas throughout the Pacific Northwest by dispersing seeds on tidal currents. Setting nets in tidal creeks showed that S. densiflora seeds drift away from the invaded salt marsh in substantial numbers, and a small number were also caught drifting into a restored salt marsh in Humboldt Bay. Laboratory tests of the buoyancy duration of S. densiflora seeds in still and agitated saltwater showed that the seeds could remain buoyant long enough to independently disperse long distances on surface currents. With minimal disturbance in laboratory conditions, approximately 90% of seeds in the unshaken treatment floated longer than a month. In the agitated treatment that was placed on an orbital shaker to simulate natural bay and ocean conditions, 99% sank within 10 days and less than 0.2% remained buoyant for approximately one month. While only a small percentage of seeds remained buoyant in simulated ocean conditions for an extended period, the invaded saltmarshes in the Humboldt Bay and the Eel River were estimated to produce 25 to 34 billion viable seeds every year. Based on these figures, the Humboldt Bay region could be annually exporting an estimated five to 33 million S. densiflora seeds capable of independently drifting northward on surface currents for a month and invading the Pacific Northwest coast. These findings underscore the importance of continuing restoration in Humboldt Bay and early detection and response efforts throughout the Pacific Northwest.

21.09 Mammoth Lakes invasive "aster" threatens to swamp a local native ecotype: An example of a wildland weed problem that needs more attention.

Ann Howald, Sherry Taylor California Native Plant Society, Bristlecone Chapter, USA, annhowald@vom.com

In 2012 CNPS Bristlecone Chapter members noticed a non-native “aster” spreading through the mountain community of Mammoth Lakes, near wildlands and a University of California Natural Reserve. This invader, which looks different from our local native “asters,” was eventually identified by an expert as Dieteria canescens var. canescens (hoary aster, Asteraceae), a very surprising result, since plants with the identical scientific name are native to Mammoth Lakes. We learned that Dieteria canescens var. canescens is a wide-ranging and variable taxon, and the genetic type invading Mammoth Lakes is found in western Wyoming, but not anywhere near California. Since the native and the invader are closely related, hybridization between these two forms is likely possible. Since the two forms are genetically and physically different, hybrids would be a new genetic type that potentially could invade wildlands, swamping our local native ecotype – an unwelcome outcome in places like the Mammoth Lakes Basin where conserving native biodiversity is an important goal. In 2014 a new infestation of Penstemon subglaber (smooth beardtongue, Plantaginaceae), native to the Rockies but related to our native Penstemon speciosus (showy beardtongue), and likely to hybridize with it according to experts, was discovered adjacent to Inyo National Forest land near Mammoth Lakes. Close relatives of natives are introduced in or near wildlands from nurseries, during revegetation, and in “wildflower” seed packets. Several CNPS Policies address these issues, but it is clear that more effort is needed: educating the public, revegetation contractors and the nursery industry; public agency involvement; and lots of hand-pulling!

21.10 Tamarisk removal in Palm Canyon, Riverside County: It’s possible!

Kathryn Kramer1, Debra Nelson2 1SoCal Biology, Temecula, CA, USA, 2San Bernardino National Forest, Idyllwild, CA, USA, socalbiology@gmail.com

Recent controversies of tamarisk removal have centered on whether eradication efforts are worthwhile in some areas. Large-scale tamarisk infestations, such as those in river systems like the Colorado River in which a serious type-conversion to a solid gallery forest of tamarisk has occurred, may not be worth active control efforts. However for smaller, isolated wetland systems, particularly riparian habitats in desert ecosystems, control is possible and practical. Palm Canyon, named for Washingtonia filifera (Arecaceae), drains into Palm Springs, a popular desert resort town in Southern California. The largest population of California fan palms occurs in this canyon. The endangered Peninsular Bighorn sheep are also found in the area. Tamarisk has been established for many years in this isolated desert canyon. Removal of tamarisk has been complicated by the regulations of multiple land management agencies with the Forest Service as the remaining land manager to address the upslope well-established tamarisk population in the canyon. The San Bernardino National Forest began an environmental analysis to assess tamarisk removal in Palm Canyon in 2004. The process of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) took six years to complete and resulted in an environmental assessment that was not contested by any stakeholder group despite the use of the herbicide imazapyr. Actual treatment of tamarisk began in 2011. To date, 47% of the 87 mapped acres of tamarisk has been treated in the canyon. It takes patience, determination and one or two federal careers but tamarisk removal in isolated desert riparian systems can be completed.

21.11 Local distribution pattern interacts with rainfall manipulation to influence seed production in the annual grassland invader, Aegilops triuncialis (Poaceae)

Meghan Skaer Thomason, Kevin Rice University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA, mjskaer@ucdavis.edu

Climate change will influence the spread and impact of biological invasions. It is important to predict which invaders will benefit from future changes in climate, and thereby identify which may need particular attention and prioritization of management efforts. Because establishment, persistence, and spread determine invasion success, this prediction requires detailed information about demographic response. Although many manipulative climate change experiments have been conducted, none have explicitly investigated the impact of local-scale (5-50 cm) distribution pattern on plant demographic responses, including survival, reproduction, and population growth. In the northern California Coast Range, we developed a field experiment evaluating the interaction of climate change and local-scale patterning on the demography of Aegilops triuncialis. We manipulated rainfall, seed density, and local-scale seeding pattern in a full factorial experiment. Seeding pattern was evenly distributed or aggregated in a 5x5 cell ‘checkerboard’ grid scheme (12 seeded cells=aggregated; 25 seeded cells=even). Demographic data were collected for three years following initial establishment. Pattern and scale figure prominently in the demographic response of A. triuncialis to climate change. Aggregated plants, experiencing decreased interspecific interactions, produced more seed, especially in the final, and driest, of the three study years. However, when adjusted mathematically for initial seeding pattern, total subplot seed output was highest in the evenly distributed seeding treatment. Over three years, this difference became smaller. This suggests that over a longer time scale, an aggregated stand of A. triuncialis might have higher population growth rates than an evenly distributed stand.

21.12 Brachypodium distachyon (Poaceae): An adaptive approach to controlling an invasive species and conserving endemic species and sensitive habitats in San Diego, California

Patricia Gordon-Reedy Conservation Biology Institute, Corvallis, OR, USA, pgordonreedy@consbio.org

Brachypodium distachyon is an emerging invasive species with potentially widespread ecological implications for native species, habitats, and ecosystem processes. In recent years, it has increased in extent and dominance in Southern California, possibly in response to repeated fires and climatic conditions. Brachypodium decreases native species diversity and may alter soil ecology, vegetation community structure and composition, and natural fire regimes. Brachypodium is particularly dense on restricted soils where it threatens edaphic endemic plants and native grassland and coastal sage scrub communities. These plants and habitats are conservation targets under Natural Community Conservation Planning programs in San Diego County. We used conceptual models to document life history traits that influence Brachypodium persistence and dispersal, identify observed or potential ecological effects, target variables that may respond to control, and predict areas at risk of invasion. Based on these models, we developed a predictive tool for early detection and implemented experimental control treatments. Brachypodium success appears tied to edaphic and climatic conditions, disturbance, and species’ biology. Control is highest with herbicide, although timing of application is critical due to multiple germination cohorts per season. Mechanical treatment provides some control and may be an alternative to herbicide. Dethatching reduces litter and benefits existing native species. Post-treatment native species seeding results were inconclusive, possibly due to drought conditions during the study. Brachypodium may rebound if control is discontinued prematurely due to high seed output, high seed viability, and minimal seed dormancy. Brachypodium control should be prioritized where dense infestations overlap with rare species and habitats.

21.13 Evaluating the effects of mechanical and manual removal of Ammophila arenaria (Poaceae) within coastal dunes of Humboldt County

Ayla Mills1, Kristina Schierenbeck2 1California State University, Chico, Chico, CA, USA, 2Redwood National and State Parks, Orick, CA, USA, amills8@mail.csuchico.edu

Ammophila arenaria was introduced to North America in 1868 for sand stabilization and since then it has invaded most of the dune ecosystems of the west coast. Approximately 50% of the 283 ha beach at Gold Bluffs Beach within Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park (Humboldt County) is covered by A. arenaria and if left unmanaged this habitat is likely to become a dense monoculture. Our hypothesis tests the efficacy of mechanical (excavators and dozers) and manual (hand-pulling) removal methods on plant community composition and regeneration. Vegetation was characterized, monitored and photo documented before, during, and after A. arenaria removal. Six 25m² plots running parallel to the ocean were set up within each of the different removal sites (two mechanical, two manual, two control). Each plot was marked with GPS and rebar and three equally spaced transects were established with five 1m² plots along each transect. Species diversity, richness, and percent cover within the plots were established. The plots were monitored every three months to quantitatively evaluate A. arenaria resprout rate and native plant recovery within the study areas. Documenting which removal technique is most effective at eliminating A. arenaria will be imperative for the conservation management of coastal dunes and the rare species that rely on them. Ultimately, our research provides the basis to establish a conservation protocol for land managers to effectively eliminate one of the worst invasive plants in coastal ecosystems with the least damage to the native plant community.

21.14 Invasive annual grasses at the Lanphere and Ma-le'l Dunes Units, Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge

Laurel Goldsmith, Andrea Pickart Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Arcata, CA, USA, laurel_goldsmith@fws.gov

The invasive annual grasses Bromus diandrus, Briza maxima, Vulpia bromoides, and Aira praecox (Poaceae) have proliferated over the semi-stable dunes of Humboldt Bay during the past 25 years. These species overstabilize dunes and outcompete native dune mat species. Regional inventories of invasive annual grasses on the North Spit of Humboldt Bay were undertaken in 1998 and 2009 when U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its partners mapped cover by species of dominant grasses. Results of these inventories show an increase of 550% from 547 acres in 1998 to 2,286 acres in 2009. The treatments currently employed at the Lanphere and Ma-le'l Dunes Units of Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge consist of hand pulling Bromus diandrus and Briza maxima annually and flaming Vulpia bromoides and Aira praecox periodically. Monitoring of treatment plots is carried out annually prior to removal of annual grasses in the spring. Monitoring results show a decline in Bromus diandrus density from 327/m2 pre-treatment in 2000 to 74/m2 in 2001 and a steady decline until 2005 when it reached three individuals/m2. Additionally, there was a significant increase in total native cover in areas that were treated. Challenges to the management of these species include, but are not limited to, a lack of dedicated funding and the continuing source of seed dispersed by wind from adjacent properties.

21.15 Using soil analysis and vegetation modelling to help identify areas likely to support invasion of the noxious weeds Alyssum murale and A. corsicum (Brassicaceae) in southwestern Oregon and northwestern California

Kelly Amsberry1, Kathryn Strawn2, Robert Meinke1 1Oregon Department of Agriculture/Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA, 2U.S. Forest Service, Portland, OR, USA, amsberrk@science.oregonstate.edu

Alyssum murale and A. corsicum (yellowtuft) are hyperaccumulating plants that concentrate nickel in their leaves. This unique ability led to their use as phytomining crops in the Illinois Valley, an area of southwestern Oregon known for its nickel-rich peridotite soils and associated “serpentine” endemic flora. After invasion from fields into natural areas, cultivation was discontinued, and both species were designated as Noxious Weeds by the Oregon Department of Agriculture. To identify habitat vulnerable to invasion and help direct survey efforts, a model using climatic, topographic and edaphic parameters was developed at 100 meter resolution. Additional edaphic characterization of selected sites was provided by analyzing soil samples collected from 28 of the occupied sites identified as “non-serpentine” in the model’s SSURGO soils dataset (with Willamette River soils included as controls). Ca:Mg ratios (meq/100g) for 86% of these samples were less than one (a widely used definition of “serpentine”), 11% were intermediate (less than 1.5) and one on the periphery of the invaded area was normal. Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) values were low for most samples, with the Willamette River controls exhibiting low CEC, but a normal Ca:Mg ratios. We also quantified the “serpentine-ness” of the vegetation at each site utilizing a model developed from published serpentine affinity data. Using point transects and species-specific affinity values, we calculated a serpentine affinity score for each soil collection site. Presence of serpentine vegetation was associated with soil samples with low Ca:Mg ratios, providing a method for easily identifying functionally serpentine sites in the field.

SESSION 22: Vegetation Classification, Mapping, & Monitoring

22.01 The heuristic and economic values associated with vegetation mapping in California using the national vegetation classification

Madison Most, Danielle Bram California State University, Northridge, Northridge, CA, USA, madisonmost@gmail.com

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife's (DFW) Vegetation Classification and Mapping Program (VegCAMP) (dfw.ca.gov/biogeodata/vegcamp/) has developed a vegetation classification standard for all natural and semi-natural vegetation communities present in California that complies with the National Vegetation Classification System (NVCS). Approximately 30% of the state has been mapped to standards in this ad hoc approach, and maps of some areas are approaching ten years old or are at coarser scales than desirable. Due to these limitations, the implementation of a state-wide map/GIS dataset and classification is desired. The availability of such a dataset would save significant time and money in decisions relating to land acquisition, land management, regional planning, endangered species conservation, and emergency preparedness on a local, regional and state level. Because of the relatively large upfront costs of collecting and classifying vegetation data, it has been deemed necessary to produce a solid business case to justify this undertaking on a statewide basis. As such, the Center for Geographical Studies (CGS) at California State University, Northridge has developed a business plan that defines vegetation mapping products called for by the state standard, provides business case studies where vegetation mapping has improved the efficiency and efficacy of government processes, establishes a demand for high resolution vegetation mapping, and provides a cost-benefit analysis for an ongoing vegetation mapping program.

22.02 The importance of vegetation maps for California's Regional Advance Mitigation Planning (RAMP) program

Dennis Grossman California Strategic Growth Council, Sacramento, CA, USA, denny.grossman@sgc.ca.gov

The State of California would like to apply Regional Advance Mitigation Planning (RAMP) methods as the standard approach to future regional planning efforts. This approach promotes the identification of long-term conservation and development goals at a regional scale. This will streamline implementation of important development projects by providing critical environmental information necessary for project planning and implementation. It will simultaneously ensure long-term protection of important conservation resources through acquisition and stewardship of critical lands as a core component of integrated regional planning. The RAMP approach relies on a regional map of conservation priorities to direct development activities. This conservation priority map is used in early project planning phases to ensure avoidance and minimization of impacts to important resources. It is also used to quantify unavoidable impacts and direct mitigation resources to advance the protection of important regional conservation priorities. The regional conservation priorities map will include information on species and ecosystems of conservation concern. It should also represent landscape connectivity, integrity and resilience information that are required for the long-term protection of these resources. An appropriately scaled map of vegetation is generally the most efficient product to display and derive this information. A vegetation map directly represents many of the important ecosystems, and provides the basis for robust species habitat models, landscape integrity analyses and connectivity studies. This presentation will identify the implantation processes for the emerging RAMP approach. The discussion will focus on the use of vegetation maps to provide much of the information required for successful RAMP implementation.

22.03 Describing and understanding the ecological sites of the grasslands at Tejon Ranch, California

Sheri Spiegal, James Bartolome University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA, spiegal@berkeley.edu

California grasslands vary greatly across space and time. The UC Berkeley Range Ecology Lab uses a set of conceptual tools to describe, understand, and predict grassland dynamics in order to help managers faced with this variability select effective management actions. Conceptual tools include collecting data repeatedly at randomly sited study plots, organizing the data into models that describe spatial variation in soils and spatial and temporal variation in plant communities, and identifying the probable drivers of plant community change. The Lab is partnering with the Tejon Ranch Conservancy to describe, understand, and predict dynamics across 100,000 acres of grasslands in the southern San Joaquin Valley, southern Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi Mountains, and western Mojave Desert. The foundation of our understanding is the ecological site, an assemblage of land units with similar topographic and soil characteristics. The ecological site is a useful conceptual tool for managers, because land units that share topographic and soil characteristics tend to support similar vegetation and respond similarly to management. Accordingly, each ecological site can be treated as a management unit for conservation planning. Using the topographic and edaphic data collected at 57 study plots, we have classified eleven ecological sites. We have identified the ecological sites that have demonstrated the potential to support extensive native annual and perennial communities and the temporally dynamic environmental conditions associated with native annual abundance on each ecological site (e.g., timing and amount of rainfall; rodent bioturbation). The Conservancy is using the data-driven models to inform its conservation management.

22.04 The influence of surficial geologic processes on vegetation patterns in southern Johnson Valley

Jeremy Lancaster1, Rachelle Boul2, Todd Keeler-Wolf2 1California Geological Survey, Sacramento, CA, USA, 2California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Sacramento, CA, USA, Jeremy.Lancaster@Conservation.ca.gov

Interdisciplinary studies of desert processes provide valuable insight into surficial processes and the distribution of ecological values in advance of changes in land use. Areas of higher biological value are being included in the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) in response to potential increased land use from renewable energy projects in California. As part of the DRECP process, part of Johnson Valley, a broad internally draining basin located in southwestern San Bernardino County, has been designated a development focus area for renewable energy. To ensure long-term ecosystem sustainability in this development focus area it is important to understand and quantify desert ecosystem processes. In this collaborative study vegetation and surficial geologic mapping are conducted independently to highlight the relationships between Quaternary landforms, processes and substrate with the areal distribution of vegetation alliances in the study area. Geographic analysis shows, the Larrea tridentata (Zygophyllaceae) alliance corresponds to geologically young, well-drained sandy soils, associated with distal piedmont alluvial fan and eolian deposits; clonal stands of Larrea tridentata also match the orientation and distribution of active eolian transport across the mid- and distal- piedmont; relative cover of Ambrosia dumosa (Asteraceae) increases on interbedded alluvial and eolian deposits that have incipient to well-developed pedogenic horizons; and, Coleogyne ramosissima (Rosaceae) corresponds to geologically old alluvial fan deposits with relatively stable geomorphic surfaces. These findings are consistent with studies that demonstrate surficial geology - the lithology, texture, age, and depositional environment of surficial deposits - influence hydrology, vegetation morphology, and community characteristics, including habitat for sensitive species.

22.05 Riparian vegetation mapping and landscape-scale mitigation planning on the San Joaquin River

Zooey Diggory1, Rosemary Stefani2 1Stillwater Sciences, Santa Cruz, CA, USA, 2U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Sacramento, CA, USA, zooey@stillwatersci.com

Mapping of riparian vegetation performed a number of vital roles during the development of the Riparian Habitat Mitigation and Monitoring Plan for the San Joaquin River Restoration Program (SJRRP). The Plan provides a landscape-scale process for identifying and monitoring riparian vegetation "credits" created by restoration flow releases to compensate for impacts from restoration-related construction and infrastructure modification projects. Riparian vegetation in the 150-mile restoration area was mapped to the group and, to the extent possible, alliance levels. The resulting map was then used to: (1) detect longitudinal patterns in native and nonnative vegetation types; (2) estimate, in conjunction with a riparian vegetation recruitment model, whether natural vegetation recruitment predicted under restoration flows would result in riparian habitat creation or enhancement; and (3) identify high priority areas to evaluate for riparian vegetation credits. The field assessment phase of the vegetation mapping was expanded to allow for evaluation of natural vegetation recruitment and was used to identify where riparian vegetation credits may already be available. The use of California standards for mapping and vegetation classification allowed for integration with another recently developed vegetation map of the region. Ultimately, the vegetation map proved to be an important tool to understand riparian resources in the restoration area, identify and monitor appropriate compensation areas for impacts to riparian vegetation, and implement a landscape-scale approach to riparian habitat management in the face of natural disturbance, human disturbance, and climate change uncertainties.

22.06 Mapping and assessing conditions along 250 miles of riparian corridor in the north Sacramento River watershed

Amy Merrill1, John Menke2, Tricia Parker Hamelberg3, Emmalien Craydon1 1Stillwater Sciences, Berkeley, CA, USA, 2Aerial Information Systems, Redlands, CA, USA, 3US Fish and Wildlife Service, Red Bluff, CA, USA, amy@stillwatersci.com

Healthy riparian corridors support native cold water fisheries as well as diverse birds and wildlife, yet many of these areas are degraded due to over 100 years of altered land and water management. Establishing baseline information on riparian vegetation extent, type, and condition is critical for identifying priority areas and actions to improve riparian and aquatic habitat. Our team helped to establish this baseline information for Cow and Mill creeks, important tributaries to the north Sacramento River. Using remotely collected and field collected data, we mapped vegetation alliances and assessed conditions for the riparian corridor along 250 river miles of these two watersheds. We also used these data, along with input from watershed groups and other entities, to identify reaches where enhancement or restoration efforts are most needed. Following a field reconnaissance effort, draft riparian vegetation maps were produced by AIS. Stillwater field crews surveyed vegetation at 244 points and performed more in-depth surveys of riparian conditions at another 81 points in both watersheds. We found that overall accuracy of the draft vegetation map was 89%. The final vegetation maps and recorded attributes, such as canopy density and height within 30-ft, 100-ft, and 500-ft buffers of the channel, were used to screen reaches for riparian condition. Reaches identified through this screening process were then examined using remote imagery, field data, and information on land use, geology, water diversions, and fish barriers. With this information, we mapped differences in riparian conditions and recommended high priority areas for restoration and enhancement.

22.07 Vegetation and land cover mapping on Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Client: NAVFAC Southwest and MCAS Miramar

David Murray2, Amy Noddings1 1Tetra Tech, Inc., Santa Barbara, CA, USA, 2Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, San Diego, CA, USA, amy.noddings@tetratech.com

Between September 2013 and March 2014, Tetra Tech, Inc. completed a vegetation and land cover mapping effort at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar. The previous vegetation classification for MCAS Miramar was completed using data obtained in 2000 prior to the availability of high resolution aerial photography. The current mapping effort used the National Vegetation Classification (NVC) Standard to classify vegetation in the 18,171 acres of undeveloped area at MCAS Miramar. The entire station was mapped by botanists in the field, resulting in 3,517 unique vegetation polygons. A total of 144 vegetation types at either the alliance or association level were used to map the undeveloped portions of MCAS Miramar. During the mapping effort, 60 vegetation stands were sampled using the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) Rapid Assessment method. Accuracy assessment data determined that the vegetation and land cover map has approximately 95 percent accuracy. The data collected will provide vegetation cover information that can be used for vegetation monitoring, wildlife habitat monitoring, and sensitive resource protection across the station. The map can also help guide future restoration projects by providing greater understanding of what species were in an area prior to the disturbance. Additionally, the vegetation data can help monitor habitat transformation over longer time periods in response to climate fluctuations and droughts.

22.08 Using the CNPS vegetation map to predict the presence and abundance of a rare bird species in the Carrizo Plain National Monument

Dennis Jongsomjit1, Jim Tietz1, Leo Salas1, Kathleen Sharum2, Geoff Geupel1 1Point Blue Conservation Science, Petaluma, CA, USA, 2U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Bakersfield, CA, USA, lsalas@pointblue.org

The San Joaquin population (including the Carrizo Plain) of the Le Conte's Thrasher is listed as a Species of Special Concern by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Primary threats to this population include habitat loss and degradation attributed to conversion due to development, agriculture and fire. Yet over the past decade, there have been few studies examining what factors determine its presence and abundance, the basic information needed to manage the threats and develop restoration plans. For the past four years, Point Blue has collaborated with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to survey the resident population within the Carrizo Plain National Monument to better understand its ecological needs during the breeding season. Together with a new detailed vegetation map developed by the California Native Plant Society, we are using this newly gained knowledge to develop a landscape scale ecological model of the species' presence and abundance across the monument. We developed a population estimate for the species within the monument We will present the results of the landscape ecological model and its relationship with vegetation type and cover, and highlight the priority areas for Le Conte's Thrasher monitoring and conservation. We will also propose means to establish a closer integration of CNPS data products with the large bird monitoring datasets in the California Avian Data Center.

22.09 Temporal and spatial relationships between vegetation productivity and type and the endangered blunt-nosed leopard lizard

Joseph Stewart1, Barry Sinervo1, Michael Westphal2, H. Scott Butterfield3 1University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA, 2Bureau of Land Management, Hollister, CA, USA, 3The Nature Conservancy, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA, jaes@ucsc.edu

Despite state and federal protection, the blunt-nosed leopard lizard (BNLL) appears to be experiencing ongoing range contraction. Data-driven land acquisition and vegetation management will be crucial to stave off further losses. In order to inform this effort, we analyze temporal and spatial relationships

between vegetation, climate, and BNLL. In the Carrizo Plain, BNLL demography tracks annual patterns of vegetation productivity—with highest survival and fecundity occurring during years of moderately high growth of herbaceous vegetation. Range-wide, BNLL site persistence is associated with low vegetation biomass and low precipitation—extirpations over the last century were more likely to occur at sites with high vegetation productivity and high precipitation. BNLL appear to exist in a delicate balance with vegetation; whereas too much vegetation impedes their ability to hunt, too little vegetation diminished their prey base. We also analyzed patterns of BNLL occurrence with respect to California Native Plant Society vegetation maps for the Carrizo Plain National Monument. BNLL occurrence was documented in the following MCV2 vegetation types: Annual and Perennial Grassland, Atriplex polycarpa (Chenopodiaceae), Ephedra californica (Ephedraceae), Atriplex spinifera (Chenopodiaceae), and Lasthenia californica (Asteraceae)-Plantago erecta (Plantaginaceae)-Vulpia microstachys (Poaceae). Relative to the available habitat, BNLL showed significant tendency toward occurrence at sites with lower exotic species cover and low (i.e., 1-10%) shrub cover. We discuss the future of BNLL in light of climate change and recommend small modifications to vegetation mapping methods to best support BNLL conservation and potential targeted land acquisitions.

22.10 Using vegetation maps for resource management planning: A case study from the Mt. Tamalpais watershed

Andrea Williams, Janet Klein Marin Municipal Water District, Corte Madera, CA, USA, awilliams@marinwater.org

The Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) completed its first Vegetation Classification and Map in 2005 with support from California Native Plant Society, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Aerial Information Systems (AIS). The map has proven to be an invaluable tool in planning and representing watershed resources in a graphic, graspable fashion. Consultants and MMWD staff have used the Vegetation Classification and Map to locate additional rare plant species; identify "significant" vegetation stands; model bird or wildlife-habitat relationships; delineate areas heavily impacted by sudden oak death (SOD); modify fuel break placement and design; model the spread of invasive species; and develop alternative implementation strategies for invasive species control and native community restoration. A 2010 re-map of forested areas with support from the USDA Forest Service and AIS showed the progression of SOD and shift in vegetation types within impacted areas. The 2010 map has been instrumental in planning experimental responses to forest disease, and continues to be of use in rare plant and weed inventories, and the ongoing process of updating MMWD's Wildfire Protection and Habitat Improvement Plan (WPHIP), a document that directs all vegetation-related work on the 18,500 acre Mt Tamalpais Watershed for a period of 10-15 years.

SESSION 23: Renewable Energy: Balancing Distributed and Utility-Scale Generation

23.01 Native plant conservation and California desert renewable energy development: 2009-2014

Greg Suba California Native Plant Society, Sacramento, CA, USA, gsuba@cnps.org

The construction of solar and wind energy projects throughout California's deserts have impacted native plant species and communities. While significant native plant impacts have occurred, others have been avoided through conservation measures established during the planning and permitting phases of several projects. Additional desert vegetation mapping, plant surveys, research projects, and conservation measures have been developed related to individual project and regional conservation planning processes. This talk will review how and where native plant species and communities have been impacted and/or avoided by California desert solar and wind energy projects since 2009, and address what implications current desert plant issues could have for future native plant conservation actions in California.

23.02 The current status of renewable energy projects across the Central Valley, California

Kate Kelly Kelly Group, Winters, CA, USA, kate@kgconsulting.net

Throughout a coordinated effort to minimize ecological impacts from California desert energy projects, a coalition of environmental groups, including CNPS, have stressed the need to site projects on previously-disturbed lands. As developers propose utility-scale renewable energy projects beyond the desert, projects have been proposed on both disturbed (e.g., agricultural use) and undisturbed lands in several areas of California's Central Valley. Kate Kelly will present the status of proposed and approved renewable energy projects in the Central Valley, and wildlife impacts associated with them. While working as a consultant to Defenders of Wildlife, Kate has taken the lead on Defender's Central Valley Renewable Energy Program which is focused on incentivizing the siting of renewable energy projects in low-conflict areas and on impaired agricultural lands with low habitat value as a key strategy for accelerating renewable energy development and protecting vital natural resources.

23.03 Incorporating conservation science into desert renewable energy planning at federal, state, and local levels

Terry Watt Watt Planning Consultants, San Francisco, CA, USA, terrywatt@att.net

The California Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) is a joint planning process involving local, state and federal government lands and agencies. Its purpose is to identify lands most appropriate for renewable energy development while conserving areas important for wildlife, wilderness, recreation, and other values across the California desert. The DRECP's conservation and management actions, essential to the success of the plan, are based on both existing and emerging science, and must meet the standards of both state and federal laws over a vast planning area. Additionally, counties within the DRECP area must continue to be involved in the finalizing of the plan as they will play a key role in implementing the plan's proposed conservation areas on private lands. Since 2011, Ms. Watt has facilitated discussions between local, state, and federal resource agencies, industry representatives, and environmental stakeholders on how to incorporate best available science into both the DRECP and renewable energy-related General Plan amendments in several counties.

23.04 California's rooftop solar market: What lies ahead and how to keep it growing

Bernadette Del Chiaro California Solar Energy Industries Association, Sacramento, CA, USA, bernadette@calseia.org

Bernadette Del Chiaro will present the status of California's rooftop solar market, its growth in recent years, and what the current market amounts to in terms of helping to power California. She will also discuss the barriers and challenges to the growth of the rooftop solar market, and what kinds of initiatives are either underway or in need to being launched to maximize the potential for rooftop solar to help meet the state's climate change goals.

SESSION 24: Science and Policy: Coming Together or Not

24.01 Policy needs science

Elizabeth (Izzy) Martin The Sierra Fund, Nevada City, CA, USA, izzy.martin@sierrafund.org

The inconvenient truth is that good public policy must be advised by good science. Too often interests seek to keep good science out of the policy discussion by using biased research or controlling the research agenda, obscuring the science, or just plain ignoring the science. The mechanics of injecting the science into the public policy debate include getting superior scientific insights to the public and policy makers in an understandable and timely fashion. It is vital that people with an understanding of the science engage in dialogue and decision making to ensure science isn't obscured or ignored. Izzy will share insights she has gained in more than 30 years building bridges across the chasm of science and policy, first working to grow the sustainable agriculture industry and more recently assessing and addressing the legacy environmental, health and cultural impacts of California's Gold Rush.

24.02 The give and take of integrating science and policy

Loren Clark Community Development/Resource Agency, Placer County, Auburn, CA, USA, lclark@placer.ca.gov

Placer County has experienced a significant amount of growth over the past three decades. Economic forecasts through 2060 show the potential for 136,000 new homes, 182,000 new jobs and 340,000 new persons, doubling the current population. This growth will irreversibly change 50,000 acres of a natural or semi-natural landscape. To appropriately plan for growth and conserve unique landscape, Placer County is undertaking two conservation planning initiatives: 1) the non-regulatory Placer Legacy Open Space and Agricultural Conservation Program and the 2) the Placer County Conservation Plan (PCCP) addressing endangered species and wetlands through a Natural Community Conservation Plan, Habitat Conservation Plan and programmatic permitting for the Clean Water Act. This presentation will focus on the need to integrate science into the development of land use policy. Both of these initiatives seek to use science to implement local land use policies and programs. Various examples of doing this will be presented, including updating of the County's tree ordinance based upon the work of Dr. Richard Harris leading to mitigation standards that focus on replacing oak woodland function instead of the traditional inch-for-inch replacement. It will also look at the pitfalls associated with the lack of collaborative engagement between policy makers and scientists. Oftentimes scientific results are used to threaten and cajole decision-makers (e.g., CEQA litigation) as opposed to providing a foundation for good policy. Consideration of the needs of policy makers when developing scientific tools and methods will allow science to provide decision-makers with practical solutions. Likewise, when collaboration works decision-makers seek to ensure their policy actions are solidly founded on credible science.

24.03 Scientists, prepare for the World of policy

Katharine Moore California Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water, Sacramento, CA, USA, katharine.moore@sen.ca.gov

Science and scientists can and should inform and enlighten the public policy debate. However, it is important for the scientific community to recognize that, in general, the policy world's culture and norms are different. Effective engagement should seek to understand and take that into consideration. Otherwise frustration may ensue for a well meaning scientific expert otherwise able to contribute critical insights and information to the public policy discussion. Katharine Moore will share her unique perspective to this question having spent over a decade as a successful academic scientist before moving to a natural resources policy staff position in the California State Senate five years ago. She is an engineer with a Ph.D. in atmospheric science (atmospheric chemistry) from Colorado State University.

24.04 The California Legislature has a high regard for science

Bill Quirk Member of the California State Assembly, Sacramento, CA, USA

From my experience in the California State Legislature, I've learned that members depend on reliable information. We often find the opponents and proponents of a bill completely disagreeing on the actual impacts of a bill. If there is good scientific information that can help us resolve this conflict, it is usually gratefully accepted. Science can also inspire legislation, particularly when the topic is an environmental issue. One of the most important examples of this is AB32, the bill which set California on the road to reducing its greenhouse gas footprint. Science, however, is not enough to ensure that good bills are written and passed. Values matter. How much risk or cost are you willing to accept for a given benefit? This can determine just how much you are willing to do to avert climate change, under what conditions you would allow fracking, and any number of other important policy questions.

24.05 Can science and public policies protect State Parks?

Jay Chamberlin Natural Resources Division, California State Parks, Sacramento, CA, USA, Jay.Chamberlin@parks.ca.gov

Land management is frequently where the rubber meets the road in the science-policy debate. While the halls of the Academy and the corridors of Capitol may echo with impassioned debate about natural resource topics, it is the land managers facing difficult choices in uncertain times who need better guidance from both science and policy. Are our existing policies and policy structures sufficiently flexible to underpin our need to manage adaptively? Does our scientific understanding give us enough confidence to act in the face of uncertain futures? Drawing on two decades of natural resource program development and implementation, Jay will focus on these questions through the lens of the natural resources policies and the science that frames our management of State Parks. In tracing how park policies have evolved over time in light of changing science, he will explore whether our policies and policy setting practices are adequately matched with science to protect our State Parks in an era of climate change.

SESSION 25: Progress and Promise Talks

at the CNPS 2015 Conservation Conference 3:00 Saturday January 17

http://CNPS.org/2015

Rebecca Moore initiated and leads the development of Google Earth Engine and Google Earth Outreach. Rebecca’s team supports nonprofits, scientists, communities and indigenous peoples around the world in applying Google's mapping tools to the world's pressing problems in areas such as environmental conservation, human rights and cultural preservation. Her personal work using Google Earth was instrumental in stopping the logging of more than a thousand acres of redwoods in her Santa Cruz Mountain community.

25.01 Title: From the Ground to the Cloud: New tools for conservation.

Abstract of talk: From smartphone-based field data collection to Google Earth & Maps, advances in digital mapping technology offer new approaches to conservation, and can empower everyone to be a naturalist. Free, high-

performance cloud-computing tools such as Google Earth Engine are democratizing access to petapixel-scale satellite imagery archives, and scientists are developing new EE-powered applications which map, measure and monitor our changing planet in unprecedented detail. Applications include the first detailed maps of global forest cover and change, to track and and reduce global deforestation. At the local level, citizens and communities are using these tools for visualization, collaboration, storytelling, sharing of environmental data and advocacy around conservation issues.

Paul R. Ehrlich is co-founder of the field of coevolution and has pursued long-term studies of the dynamics of California butterfly populations, including climate change influences on extinction probability. He has been a pioneer in alerting the public to the problems of overpopulation, and in raising issues of population, resources, and the environment as matters of public policy. A central focus of his group is investigating ways that human-disturbed landscapes can be made more hospitable to biodiversity, and he is deeply involved in the Millennium Alliance for Humanity and the Biosphere.

25.02 Title: Population’s still the elephant in the room.

Abstract of talk: Environmental problems have contributed to numerous collapses of civilizations in the past. Now, for the first time, a global collapse appears likely. Overpopulation, overconsumption by the rich and poor choices of technologies are major drivers; dramatic cultural change provides the main hope of averting calamity.

Kim Stanley Robinson is one of the most acclaimed writers of science fiction in the history of the genre. His Mars Trilogy (Red mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars) and Wild Shore Triptych reflect a vision of the future shaped by a childhood in development-crazy Orange County and a life spent exploring California’s Sierra Nevada. Virtually all of Robinson's novels have an ecological component; sustainability would have to be counted among his primary themes. Robinson's work often features scientists as heroes, who become critically important because of research discoveries, networking and collaboration with other scientists, political lobbying, or becoming public figures.

25.03 Title: Terraforming Earth: Some Considerations.

Abstract of talk: Climate change will create challenges for the human response that are already being characterized by such terms as mitigation, adaptation, assisted migration, rewilding, geo-engineering, and so on. These terms invoke

strategies and underlying assumptions that are often unexamined, and in some cases extremely problematic; it's worth taking some time to discuss some of them in the hope of destranding and clarifying issues, and this talk will make a first pass at such a discussion.

Dr. Peter Raven, a leading botanist and advocate of conservation and biodiversity with a notably international outlook. For more than 39 years, Dr. Raven headed the Missouri Botanical Garden, an institution he nurtured to become a world-class center for botanical research, education, and horticulture display.

25.04 Title: How to Save Our Plants (and Ourselves)?

Abstract of talk: Ina narrow sense, we simply get their seeds and the plants themselves, spread the word about them, and put them back into nature when and where we can. In reality, to save them, we need a level, sustainable population; a stop to climate change; tolerable consumption rates; and the empowerment of all people. A tall order? Nothing else is likely to work for more than a few decades, even if you think it's working now.

Jack Dangermond is a landscape architect by training. As founder and president of Esri, his leadership and vision stimulate the ongoing innovation of GIS technologies that enable people to make insightful decisions and improve the quality of life everywhere.

25.05 Title: Innovation in Conservation using Geography and GIS.

Abstract of talk: We're a planet of 7 billion people with 7 billion different ways of thinking about our lives, homes and futures. Geography and Geodesign are powerful ways to help people achieve a common awareness of their environment and it's limitations. GIS harnesses the power of these concepts into a worldwide platform for understanding, planning and action.