Appendix F. Habitat Assessment for Narrow Endemic Plants Report For
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Appendix F. Habitat Assessment for Narrow Endemic Plants Report for the Liberty XXIII Renewable Energy Power Plant Project, City of Banning, Riverside County, California Appendix F– Liberty XXIII Renewable Energy Power Plant Fall 2007 Vegetation AssessmentXeric Specialties Consulting - Botanical Surveys _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ HABITAT ASSESSMENT FOR NARROW ENDEMIC PLANTS REPORT FOR THE LIBERTY XXIII RENEWABLE ENERGY POWER PLANT PROJECT CITY OF BANNING, RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA Introduction Aspen Environmental Group contracted with Xeric Specialties Consulting to perform a seasonally-independent non- comprehensive botanical survey for the City of Banning to determine extant and potential plant/vegetation resources at the proposed site for the Liberty XXIII Renewable Energy Power Plant project in the southeast Banning area. The field survey was performed by plant ecologist Dave Silverman and wildlife biologist Cindy Hopkins on 18 September 2007 and reverified in March 2008. The proposed site boundary, as surveyed, was approximately 45.2 acres. This is a distinctive parcel, and we had little need for geo-referenced benchmarks during the survey. We included adjacent vegetation resources in the assessment. Conditions for assessment of the site’s flora were poor seasonally and very poor for rainfall conditions for 2006-2007. The site is located within an arid ecosystem type and the majority of extant herbaceous plant species would have been undetectable from our survey timing. The spring (April-May) of 2005 represents the last time a viable botanical survey could have been performed. All perennial species of plants observed were identified. A small subset of the potential annual plant species were present as living or recently senesced individuals, and were all identified to taxon. Most skeletons from past annual plants were also identified to species or at least to the genus level, though available remnant annual plant skeletons were highly reduced from the past two drought years. Site Description The proposed project site is located at the NW base of Mt. San Jacinto in Riverside Co, CA, where Smith Creek defines the boundary between the north-facing foothills and the SE-trending aspect of the Banning Bench and associated alluvial fan upon which most of the City of Banning exists. The site is approximately 3 km east of the confluence of Smith Creek and the San Gorgonio River. Average elevation at the site is approximately 2080’. Most aspects within the site are south to east trending. The site is characterized by two pre-existing natural landforms. The southwest portion of the site, and southeast to east edges of the site, were previously associated with the active primary channel and associated alluvial terraces of Smith Creek. The major, more northerly portion of the site is previously associated with the broad, south to east-facing, braided alluvial fan landform of the East San Gorgonio Pass region. Currently, the south half of the water treatment facility and the abandoned sand-gravel operation, now an open pit, are located where the northern alluvial terrace of Smith Creek previously existed. The active channel is now re-directed more eastward and the areas at the south end of the site are no longer associated with current flooding and alluvial deposition events of Smith Creek, though there is still a significant veneer of eolian deposits onto the site from lighter Smith Creek alluvium. Clearly, this area was a highly viable source of natural deposits of sand and gravel, thus the former operation and current open pit are consistent with the geological nature of this part of the site. The remainder of the site is associated with the alluvial fan landform, which remains mostly geologically intact at the northeast end of the site, but is altered in the north portion of the sand&gravel pit, the east edge of a trash dump and along the east end of sewer pond facilities. Soils within the site are weakly developed, being typical of alluvial depositions that form entisols or of debris flow depositions that form entisols or aridisols. Soil colors are dominated by the characteristic colors of the local bedrock parent material contributors, primarily feldspars and quartz particles associated with granite and gneiss bedrock sources in the San Jacinto and San Gorgonio ranges. Soil textures are loamy sand in their most developed upper horizons or more frequently they are coarse decomposed parent materials in disturbed areas, active deposition zones or at depth in sub-B horizons. To some extent, a recent history of disturbance and nutrient deposition associated with anthropogenic effects has added a more organic and developed upper horizon to the areas associated with intact sections of the alluvial fan landform and also to some of the naturally sterile deposits. Disturbed areas have more soil sterility related to disturbance or removal of topsoil. This appears to be limiting the succession of woody plants in some areas, while supporting ephemeral weedy conditions in years of high rainfall. Such rank growths, obvious from aerial photos of the site from 2005 (A near-record rainfall year), are partially fueled by above-background nutrient depositions. A more widely-spaced distribution with smaller, and more native herbaceous annuals was likely the more historic and natural ephemeral plant climax condition for this soil and region. Page 1 June 2008 Appendix F– Liberty XXIII Renewable Energy Power Plant Fall 2007 Vegetation AssessmentXeric Specialties Consulting - Botanical Surveys _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The land use history of site has been intensive and varied, including cattle grazing, mining, dumping and the fringe effects of the sewer ponds. The current ecological condition of the site is poor. Only parts of the Smith Creek and the northeast end of the site resemble natural climax ecosystems. The adjacent chaparral slopes of the Mt. San Jacinto foothills were recently burned and despite a very diverse plant assemblage currently, appear to be compromised by non-native grass type conversions. Of the different ecosystem features associated with the site, the wash scrub associated with Smith Creek appears to be most healthy and capable of continued renewal and recovery. Overview of the south part of the proposed project site, as viewed from the burned chaparral hill to the east of the site, with Smith Creek to the left and in the foreground. The site is mostly located in the upper right of the photo. There are four basic vegetation cover types associated with the site; the wash scrub in Smith Creek, the denuded or herbaceous-ephemeral area associated with the open pit, the buckwheat scrub that fringes the pit and the catclaw fan scrub at the right edge of the photo. Overview of the north part of the proposed project site, as viewed from the burned chaparral hill to the east of the site, with Smith Creek in the foreground. The site is mostly located in the upper left of the photo with the Banning airport in the upper right background. Two of the vegetation cover types associated with the site are visible. Wash scrub is associated with Smith Creek and the associated alluvial terrace. Catclaw fan scrub is the dominant intact vegetation type in most of the background. Page 2 June 2008 Appendix F– Liberty XXIII Renewable Energy Power Plant Fall 2007 Vegetation AssessmentXeric Specialties Consulting - Botanical Surveys _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Vegetation Description Currently, four basic vegetation cover types occur within the site boundaries (see maps below). These include wash scrub and catclaw fan scrub vegetation communities which are mostly natural stands. A low scrub dominated by monotypic stands of California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum) is a successional plant community associated with partially recovered disturbed areas or as an invader-replacement of disturbed zones within the natural vegetation stands. A large portion of the site is associated with a mostly denuded open pit, where sparse weedy herbaceous plants, mostly typical of sand fields, form a weak cover in most years. The former and current vegetation states of site are different. Historically, it was likely that a significant portion of the south half of the site was a semi-desert wash scrub, similar to, but more arborescent than, the current wash scrub associated with Smith Creek. The past species composition probably included more stands of desert willow (Chilopsis linearis), catclaw acacia (Acacia greggii), elderberry (Sambucus mexicana), mesquite (Prosopis sp.), scattered true willows (Salix spp.) and scattered oaks. The shrub component of this former vegetation stand was likely different in composition as well, with perhaps rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus spp.) present, and more California ephedra (Ephedra californica) and four-wing saltbush (Atriplex canescens) present than currently. The wash scrub composition is now restricted to the south and east edges of the site. Though desert willow and catclaw acacia are still frequent in this vegetation stand, the current composition appears to more shrub-based, with increased densities of scalebroom (Lepidospartum squamatum) and California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum). Scalebroom was a likely common component