Site and Seed Table of Contents Introduction.....................................................................................................................4 1.0 Native Plant Nursery..................................................................................................4 1.1 Nursery Inventory......................................................................................................4 1.2 Vegetative Propagation Experiments..........................................................................5 2.0 Rainfall Data Collection.............................................................................................6 3.0 Seed Collection..........................................................................................................8 4.0 Native Plant Surveys..................................................................................................8 5.0 Native Species Outplantings ......................................................................................9 5.1 Outplanting Site Installation.......................................................................................9 5.2 Acorn Sowing..........................................................................................................11 6.0 Survivorship and Growth .........................................................................................12 7.0 Outplanting Site Retirements ...................................................................................13 8.0 Recruitment .............................................................................................................16 8.1 Active Site Recruitment...........................................................................................16 8.2 Retired Site Recruitment..........................................................................................16 9.0 Exotic Species Monitoring.......................................................................................17 10.0 Fire mapping..........................................................................................................18 11.0 Fuel Moisture.........................................................................................................22 12.0 Accomplishments, Conclusions and Recommendations .........................................24 12.1 Recruitment ...........................................................................................................24 12.2 Propagation............................................................................................................24 12.3 Experimental Outplanting Sites..............................................................................24 12.4 Reclamation of the Borrow Pit...............................................................................25 12.5 Endangered Species Research ................................................................................25 12.6 Dunes Restoration..................................................................................................26 Site and Seed List of Tables Table 1. Current Greenhouse Inventory ...........................................................................5 Table 2. Vegetative Propagation Experiments Results.....................................................6 Table 3. Survivorship at active plantings........................................................................13 Table 4. Final Survivorship of 2005 Outplanting Sites ..................................................15 Table 5. Recruits Found at 2005 Sites During Retirement .............................................15 Table 6. 2010 Recruitment Data From All Active Sites.................................................16 Table 7. Recruits Found at Retired Sites .......................................................................17 Table 8. Fire severity class definitions ..........................................................................19 Table 9. Fire Severity Data and acreage of 2010 fires. ..................................................21 Table 9 (cont). Fire Severity Data and acreage of 2010 fires. ........................................22 Site and Seed List of Figures Figure 1. Rain Gauge Locations..........................................................................................7 Figure 2. Average rainfall since 2004..................................................................................7 Figure 3. New Plant Populations.........................................................................................8 Figure 4. Native Habitat Enhancement Sites Completed as of 2010 ..................................10 Figure 4. Native Habitat Enhancement Sites Completed as of 2010 (cont.) .......................11 Figure 5. 2010 Acorn Sowing Sites....................................................................................12 Figure 6. Invasive Species Populations Treated in 2010.....................................................18 Figure 7. SWAT 1 and SWAT 2 Area Fires.......................................................................19 Figure 8. Wilson Cove Area Fires......................................................................................20 Figure 9. Central Island Fires.............................................................................................20 Figure 10. SHOBA Fires ...................................................................................................20 Figure 11. Locations of Fuel Moisture Monitoring Sites. ...................................................23 Figure 12. Average Fuel Moisture for All Sites: April 2007 through December 2010.........24 iii Introduction This report describes the activities and accomplishments of the San Clemente Island Native Habitat Restoration Program from January 2010 through December 2010. These activities have been conducted for the United States Navy under contract with the Soil Ecology and Restoration Group (SERG) of San Diego State University. The goal of this program is to ensure the long-term viability of native island species through the restoration and stewardship of native plant communities, and in turn help to ensure the long-term success of SCI Naval operations. Tasks identified as critical to the success of this program include native plant seed collection, propagation and out-planting, maintenance of a native plant nursery, and monitoring of sensitive and endangered native plant populations. Additional contractual obligations include the following tasks: • Maintenance of nursery stock for erosion control, educational purposes, and landscaping of military facilities • Maintenance of an Island seed bank and seed processing facility • Maintenance of an herbarium of native Island specimens • Collection of fire data including fuel moisture monitoring and wildland fire severity assessment and mapping • Noxious weed mapping and treatment of small populations • Restoration of erosion-prone sites 1.0 Native Plant Nursery 1.1 Nursery Inventory Past nursery production has focused on propagating plants for shrike habitat enhancement, sensitive species and sensitive habitat enhancement, and erosion control projects, with additional stock for island residents to use in landscaping and beautification of military facilities. The planting moratorium due to unresolved UXO safety issues resulted in very little movement of stock through the nursery, so propagation was minimal. Replacement of stock lost to attrition and some germination experiments kept the numbers of plants at a stable number all year. Current nursery inventory is approximately 2,300 plants from 49 species (Table 1). 4 Table 1. Current Greenhouse and Nursery Inventory: December 2010 Species Quantity Species Quantity Ambrosia chamissonis 3 Keckiella cordifolia 65 Artemisia californica 121 Lavatera assurgentiflora glabra 254 Artemisia nesiotica 25 Lathyrus vestitus 4 Astragalus miguelensis 17 Lonicera hispidula 7 Astragalus nevinii 8 Lotus argophyllus argenteus 13 Atriplex californica 10 Lotus dendroideus traskiae 24 Calystegia macrostegia 27 Lyonothamnus floribundus 10 Ceanothus megacarpus 93 Lycium californicum 25 Constancea nevinii 53 Malacothamnus clementinus 1 Coreopsis gigantea 22 Malosma laurina 5 Crossosoma californicum 89 Mimulus aurantiacus parviflorus 134 Deinandra clementina 15 Mirabilis californica 10 Dudleya virens virens 60 Munzothamnus blairii 203 Encelia californica 26 Prunus lyonii 37 Eriophyllum confertiflorum 49 Quercus tomentella 29 Eriogonum giganteum 59 Rhamnus pirifolia 22 Eriogonum grande 57 Rhus integrifolia 253 Euphorbia misera 65 Ribes malvaceum 8 Frankenia salina 34 Salvia mellifera 51 Gambelia speciosa 57 Sambucus mexicana 1 Gnaphalium bicolor 96 Scrophularia villosa 46 Hazardia cana 80 Senecio lyonii 8 Heteromeles arbutifolia 205 Spergularia macrotheca 36 Isocoma menziesii 68 Zauschneria californica 24 Isomeris arborea 47 TOTAL STOCK 2537 1.2 Vegetative Propagation Experiments The majority of container plants installed at restoration sites have been the result of successful seed germination trials, and this has limited the potential species lists to those plants that produce collectable quantities of seed and germinate well under lab conditions. Chaparral and coastal sage scrub species such as Malosma laurina, Sambucus mexicanus, Dudleya virens and Euphorbia misera have only germinated in very small quantities, if at all, so other techniques of propagation must be developed. Species currently under study for vegetative propagation are: Lonicera