MEMORANDUM To: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Carlsbad Field Office (Ms. Susie Tharratt, Recovery Permit Coordinator) U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Ventura Field Office (Mr. Chris Kofron, Senior Biologist and Recovery Permit Coordinator) From: Psomas (Irena Mendez, PhD) Date: November 21, 2013 Subject: Results of 2013 Presence/Absence Surveys for El Segundo Blue Butterfly at the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve, Playa Del Rey, Los Angeles County, CA Attachments: 1. Floral and Faunal Compendium 2. Field Notes 3. Video Clip of Site (Provided in Electronic Format Only In lieu of 35 mm Slides) Executive Summary This memorandum is being transmitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in compliance with survey and associated reporting requirements specified in USFWS Recovery Permit TE218630 (Recovery Permit) issued to Irena Mendez. • The El Segundo Blue butterfly (Euphilotes battoides allyni) (ESB) was determined to be present at the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Preserve as a result of presence/absence surveys conducted on June 27, 2013. • Surveys were conducted during the 2013 flight season by for the purposes of enhancing its survival in the wild, thus recommendations are proposed in support of on-going habitat restoration efforts. • Surveys were conducted between June 27 and August 27, 2013 on a weekly basis (with two exceptions—due to scheduling conflicts, weekly surveys were missed in the weeks of July 14th and August 18th) pursuant to the survey method described in Section 5 (b) of the USFWS recovery permit. A total of 199 butterflies were observed as a result of presence/absence surveys along an established survey route. • During the survey period the numbers of adult male and female ESB observed ranged from 0 to 65 on any given survey date. Adults were estimated to emerge the week of June 16 and peak the week of July 7. By August 27 no ESB butterflies were observed. • No incidental take is authorized by the recovery permit and no incidental take occurred during the surveys. • No larval surveys are authorized by the permit and no larval surveys were conducted. Susie Tharratt and Chris Kofron Page 2 of 14 November 21, 2013 Psomas Job Number: Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve Pro Bono Introduction Presence/Absence surveys for the ESB were conducted at the request of the Friends of Ballona Wetlands Board Member, Dr. Edith Read. The Friends of Ballona Wetlands is a non-profit organization whose mission is to champion the restoration and protection of the Ballona Wetlands, involving and educating the public as advocates and stewards.1 The organization has been actively restoring the Ballona Wetlands for over 35 years (including the dune fragment at the western terminus of the larger Ballona Wetlands) which has since been designated the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve (Reserve) upon its purchase by the State of California in 2003. Great strides have been made in restoring the dunes portion of the Reserve. Plant community mapping in conducted in 1990 revealed that most of the area was comprised of iceplant (Carpobrotus edulis) and naturalized stands of non-native trees such as myoporum (Myoporum laetum). Today the site largely contains native coastal dune species and riparian thickets that intergrade with the marsh vegetation.2 Habitat restoration efforts are an on-going project for the organization, as naturalized stands of non-native trees and pockets of iceplant and other non- native species still exist and will require removal thus making way for additional native plantings. In addition, due to the urban setting of the site with its ample sources of landscape and weedy vegetation readily adapted to the site, the organization will need to focus future efforts on resource management that will undoubtedly include a small but persistent population of ESB.3 The educational opportunities for the site will be both challenging and inspiring. Discussions with Friends of Ballona Wetlands Board Member Dr. Edith Read revealed that in 2011, ESB individuals had been observed within dune habitat at the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Preserve in the community of Playa del Rey, Los Angeles, California. In 2012 Dr. Read sent photographs of the ESB for positive identification and requested that presence/absence surveys be conducted during the 2013 flight season pursuant to the special terms and agreements of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Recovery Permit (TE-218630) issued to Irena Mendez, Senior Project Manager and Habitat Restoration Specialist with Psomas. This report has been prepared to document the results of the subject ESB presence/absence surveys at the Ballona dune for the 2013 flight season and fulfills the reporting requirements specified in Section 5g of the Recovery Permit. Coordination was undertaken with the USFWS on October 15, 2013 requesting a continuance of the report submittal deadline, which was extended to November 2013. 1 Available at: http://www.ballonafriends.org/about.html 2 Available at: http://www.ballonafriends.org/restoration.html 3 Available at: http://butterfliesofamerica.com/euphilotes_battoides_allyni_types.htm Susie Tharratt and Chris Kofron Page 3 of 14 November 21, 2013 Psomas Job Number: Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve Pro Bono Project Location The project is located in the community of Playa del Rey, City of Los Angeles, in Los Angeles County, California. The site lies in an area bounded by Ballona Creek to the north; the Ballona Wetlands to the east; commercial property and Culver Boulevard to the south; and residential property and Vista del Mar Boulevard to the west. Towards the north is the Marina Del Rey Channel and associated marina, and towards the south is Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). (Figure 1, Project Location). The Project site is depicted on the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 7.5 minute series Venice Topographic Quadrangle (Sausal Redondo Land Grant, Township 2S, Range 15 West). The project site is accessed via Culver Place through a locked security gate at the end of the parking lot for the commercial property. Species Profile The ESB, in the family Lycaenidae, is part of the insect community of the El Segundo sand dunes ecosystem (Emmel and Emmel 1973 in El Segundo Blue Butterfly, 5-Year Review). The life cycle of the ESB is tied intimately to coast buckwheat (Eriogonum parvifolium) as survival of each of its four life stages (egg, larva, pupa, and adult) depend on this plant. The adult stage typically ranges from 4 days to 2 weeks and normally commences in mid-June and lasts until early September. Adults consume coast buckwheat pollen and nectar, and mate and lay eggs on coast buckwheat flowers. Eggs hatch within 3 to 5 days, and larvae undergo four instars prior to pupation. During the larval (“caterpillar”) stage, individuals remain concealed within flower heads and feed primarily on coast buckwheat seeds. Upon pupation (change from larval to pupal stage), individuals fall to the ground and remain buried either underground or in the leaf litter at the base of the coast buckwheat until they emerge as adult butterflies. The pupal (“cocoon”) stage lasts for one or more years.4 The USFWS’ 5-year Recovery Plan notes that the precise habitat requirements of the ESB are not fully understood. Although it is known that the ESB depends on coast buckwheat, the range of coast buckwheat is greater than the range of the ESB. At the time of its listing in 1976, the ESB was only known from the Airport Dunes and one small site near El Segundo now known as the Chevron Preserve. By 1998 when the recovery plan was issued, the ESB was known to occur in four disjunct locations: the Ballona Wetlands, Airport Dunes, Chevron Preserve, and Malaga Cove (USFWS 1998).5 At the time the 5-year review of the species was completed (2008), The Ballona Wetlands site was considered no longer occupied. Recently, however, ESB individuals were observed on the dune fragment located at the western terminus of the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Preserve in 2011 and the species continue to persist in 2013, thus, the ESB is known to occur in four disjunct locations. Dispersal of the species to restored habitat areas adjacent to the specified disjunct locations have been reported in 2007 thus 4 Available at: http://www.fws.gov/carlsbad/SpeciesStatusList/5YR/20080331_5YR_ESB.pdf 5 Available at: http://xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/el_segundo_blue_recovery_plan_1998.pdf El Segundo Blue Butterfly Survey Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve del Rey Date: 9/24/2013 Date: Playa , CA Project Location Ü 01,000 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 Fe United States Geological Survey 7.5 minute Venice Topographic Quadrangle Project Location Path:F:\ENVIRON\01-Proposals\2013 Proposals\ESB ProBono\GIS\mxd\Fig1_Project location.mxd Figure 1 Susie Tharratt and Chris Kofron Page 4 of 14 November 21, 2013 Psomas Job Number: Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve Pro Bono the number of sites with habitat occupied by the ESB have increased but considered still to be within the known four disjunct locations.6 The ESB was recently reported to occur at two locations recognized neither in the 1976 listing rule nor the 1998 recovery plan: a southern location on the Palos Verdes Peninsula near Point Vicente, Los Angeles County (RBF Consulting 2001; Pratt 2006), and a northern location at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County.7 It is not completely clear in both cases, however, if these individuals are actually the ESB or morphologically similar species. The uncertain taxonomic status of the recently discovered populations both at the Palos Verdes Peninsula and the Vandenberg Air Force Base makes it impossible to assess whether the current distribution of the ESB is different from the range stated in the recovery plan.8 Methods This section describes the methods employed in support of plant community mapping, establishment of the survey route, and presence/absence surveys.