Italian Ryegrass Invasion Cnps Fellows: Charli and John Danielsen
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$5.00 (Free to Members) VOL. 36, NO. 1 • WINTER 2008 FREMONTIA JOURNAL OF THE CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY SERPENTINE GRASSLANDS EDGEWOOD—THE WHOLE STORY COYOTE RIDGE SUCCESS ITALIAN RYEGRASS INVASION CNPS FELLOWS: CHARLI AND JOHN DANIELSEN VOLUME 36:1, WINTER 2008 75896-PG cover.pmd 1 4/1/08, 4:18 PM CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY FREMONTIA CNPS, 2707 K Street, Suite 1; Sacramento, CA 95816-5113 Phone: (916) 447-CNPS (2677) Fax: (916) 447-2727 VOL. 36, NO. 1, WINTER 2008 Web site: www.cnps.org Email: [email protected] Copyright © 2008 MEMBERSHIP California Native Plant Society Membership form located on inside back cover; dues include subscriptions to Fremontia and the Bulletin Bart O’Brien, Editor Bob Hass, Copy Editor Mariposa Lily . $1,500 Family or Group . $75 Benefactor . $600 International . $75 Beth Hansen-Winter, Designer Patron . $300 Individual or Library . $45 Kathryn Blassey, Editorial Assistant Plant Lover . $100 Student/Retired/Limited Income . $25 Brad Jenkins, Jake Sigg, and Carol W. Witham, Proofreaders STAFF CHAPTER COUNCIL Sacramento Office: Brad Jenkins (Chair), Larry Levine (Vice CALIFORNIA NATIVE Executive Director . Amanda Jorgenson Chair), Sarah Jayne (Secretary) PLANT SOCIETY Development Director . Melissa Cirone Alta Peak (Tulare) . Joan Stewart Finance & Administration Manager . Bristlecone (Inyo-Mono) . Dedicated to the Preservation of Cari Porter Steve McLaughlin the California Native Flora Membership & Sales Coordinator . Channel Islands . David Magney Stacey Flowerdew The California Native Plant Society Dorothy King Young (Mendocino/ At Large: (CNPS) is a statewide nonprofit organi- Sonoma Coast) . Lori Hubbart zation dedicated to increasing the un- Fremontia Editor . Bart O’Brien East Bay . Delia Taylor derstanding and appreciation of Califor- Senior Conservation Botanist . El Dorado . Amy Hoffman nia’s native plants, and to preserving position open Kern County . Lucy Clark them and their natural habitats for fu- Rare Plant Botanist . Nick Jensen Los Angeles/Santa Monica Mtns . ture generations. Senior Vegetation Ecologist . Julie Betsey Landis CNPS carries out its mission through Evens Marin County . Carolyn Longstreth science, conservation advocacy, educa- Vegetation Ecologists . Jennifer Milo Baker (Sonoma County) . tion, and horticulture at the local, state, Buck, Donna Shorrock and federal levels. It monitors rare and East Bay Conservation Analyst . Liz Parsons endangered plants and habitats; acts to Lech Naumovich Mojave Desert . Tim Thomas save endangered areas through public- Legislative Advocate . Vern Goehring Monterey Bay . Rosemary Foster ity, persuasion, and on occasion, legal Mount Lassen . Catie Bishop action; provides expert testimony to Legal Advisor . position open Napa Valley . John Pitt government bodies; supports the estab- Website Coordinator . Mark Naftzger lishment of native plant preserves; spon- CNPS Bulletin Editor . Bob Hass North Coast . Larry Levine sors workdays to remove invasive plants; Training Coordinator . Josie Crawford North San Joaquin . James Brugger and offers a range of educational activi- Orange County . Laura Camp ties including speaker programs, field BOARD OF DIRECTORS Redbud (Grass Valley/Auburn) . trips, native plant sales, horticultural position open (President), Sue Britting Marie Bain workshops, and demonstration gardens. (Vice President), Steve Hartman (Trea- Riverside/San Bernardino counties . Since its founding in 1965, the tradi- surer), Lynn Houser (Secretary). At Katie Barrows tional strength of CNPS has been its Large: Brett Hall, Arvind Kumar, Brian Sacramento Valley . Hazel Gordon dedicated volunteers. CNPS activities LeNeve, Vince Scheidt, Alison Shilling, San Diego . Marty Foltyn are organized at the local chapter level Carol W. Witham where members’ varied interests influ- San Gabriel Mtns . Gabi McLean ence what is done. Volunteers from the San Luis Obispo . Lauren Brown 33 CNPS chapters annually contribute PROGRAM DIRECTORS Sanhedrin (Ukiah) . Vishnu in excess of 87,000 hours (equivalent CNPS Press . Holly Forbes Santa Clara Valley . Kevin Bryant to 42 full-time employees). Conservation . position open Santa Cruz County . Brett Hall CNPS membership is open to all. Horticulture . Susan Libonati-Barnes Sequoia (Fresno) . position open Members receive the quarterly journal, Posters . Bertha McKinley Shasta . Susan Libonati-Barnes Fremontia, the quarterly statewide Bul- and Wilma Follette Sierra Foothills (Tuolumne, Cala- letin, and newsletters from their local Rare Plants . position open veras, Mariposa) . Patrick Stone CNPS chapter. Vegetation . .Todd Keeler-Wolf South Coast (Palos Verdes) . MATERIALS FOR PUBLICATION Barbara Sattler DISCLAIMER: Tahoe . Michael Hogan The views expressed by authors published CNPS members and others are wel- come to contribute materials for publi- Willis L. Jepson (Solano) . in this journal do not necessarily reflect Mary Frances Kelly Poh established policy or procedure of CNPS, cation in Fremontia. See the inside back and their publication in this journal should cover for manuscript submission in- Yerba Buena (San Francisco) . not be interpreted as an organizational structions. Jo-Ann Ordano endorsement—in part or in whole—of their ideas, statements, or opinions. Printed by Premier Graphics: www.premiergraphics.biz FREMONTIA VOLUME 36:1, WINTER 2008 75896-PG cover.pmd 2 4/1/08, 4:18 PM CONTENTS CONSERVATION OF SERPENTINE ENDEMICS BY A CNPS CHAPTER: TWO STRATEGIES by Carolyn Curtis and Donald Mayall ............................................... 2 Serpentine grassland habitats, the bay checkerspot butterfly, the Santa Clara Valley Chapter of CNPS, rare and endangered plants, and successful conservation outcomes are the unifying features of this short introductory piece for the next two articles. Join authors Carolyn Curtis and Donald Mayall as they set the stage for two successful conservation initiatives that are detailed in the following two articles. EDGEWOOD COUNTY PARK AND NATURAL PRESERVE: HOW IT HAPPENED by Carolyn Curtis ....................................................................................................... 3 At last! The full story of how Edgewood Natural Preserve came to be. Edgewood is a major success story, one of those rare instances when those concerned with both biology and beauty triumphed over commercial interests. It is also an instructive tale of how to build ongoing effective coalitions and use the political process to achieve the best possible outcome for conserving biological diversity. PROTECTING COYOTE RIDGE by Donald Mayall ............................................. 12 The Santa Clara Valley Chapter’s subsequent success with Coyote Ridge was considerably smoother due to the application of lessons learned at Edgewood though adapted to fit the unique set of circumstances found in San Jose’s Coyote Valley. Coyote Ridge contains the sole remaining population of the bay checkerspot butterfly and is home to many rare and endangered plant species. ITALIAN RYEGRASS: A NEW CENTRAL CALIFORNIA DOMINANT? by Peter Hopkinson, Matt Stevenson, Michele Hammond, Sasha Gennet, Devii Rao, and James W. Bartolome........................................................................................................... 20 Italian ryegrass has recently become a major component of San Francisco Bay Area grasslands—with major biological consequences. The authors have documented the rap- id assault on these grasslands by this non-native interloper. This aggressive weed also figures prominently in the Edgewood and Coyote Ridge articles. CNPS FELLOWS: CHARLI AND JOHN DANIELSEN by Laura Baker and Barbara Malloch Leitner......................................................................................................... 25 Charli and John Danielsen have been major figures in the California Native Plant Society for over 30 years. These indefatigable members of the East Bay Chapter have held many positions both at the state and locally—ranging from field trip chair to chapter president to state president for Charli, while John has served as state treasurer and has provided his skills on a wide array of projects. THE COVER: Spring view of serpentine grasslands and surrounding plant communities at Edgewood County Park and Natural Preserve, San Mateo County. Photograph by K. Himes. VOLUME 36:1, WINTER 2008 FREMONTIA 1 75896-PG gutsrev1.pmd 1 4/1/08, 4:51 PM CONSERVATION OF SERPENTINE ENDEMICS BY A CNPS CHAPTER: TWO STRATEGIES by Carolyn Curtis and Donald Mayall ike all other CNPS chapters, the in southern San Mateo County, west Santa Clara Valley Chapter, of Redwood City; the other is Coy- covering Santa Clara County ote Ridge, an area east of Highway and the southern two-thirds of 101, south of the urbanized part of LSan Mateo County, has its distinc- San Jose. Both had the same butter- tive habitats of particular beauty and fly host and nectar plants, but the hot spots of diversity. A factor in special status plants differed. these hot spots in our area is serpen- The butterfly and serpentine are tine grassland and chaparral associ- a common thread in these two sto- ated with tectonic plate movement ries, as is the impact of air pollution along the San Andreas fault. Nonna- on their ecology. That fascinating tive plants do not do well on serpen- story is told elsewhere (Weiss 1999). tine, allowing many native wildflow- To vastly oversimplify it, atmo- ers to flourish as they did before spheric nitrogen from air pollution western civilization arrived, result- has been enriching