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Silverwood Wildlife Sanctuary

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Silverwood Wildlife Sanctuary SILVERWOOD WILDLIFE SANCTUARY This week we will be travelling again to Lakeside, this time to visit the Silverwood Wildlife Sanctuary. This 785-acre sanctuary is owned and operated by San Diego Audubon. It was created as a place to hike, bird watch, research and learn more about the native plants and birds that reside there, as well as reptile and mammals. And your timing couldn’t be better, as the wildflowers are exploding this year. Silverwood Wildlife Sanctuary (Silverwood Wildlife Sanctuary, 2012) (Contributors, Silverwood Wildlife Sanctuary, 2016) San Diego Audubon Society’s mission is to foster the protection and appreciation of birds, other wildlife and habitats through education and study, and to advocate for a cleaner, healthier environment. As a result, they own and operate two sanctuaries which seek to preserve the diversity of San Diego County. The two sanctuaries are Silverwood Wildlife Sanctuary and Anstine Audubon Nature Preserve, located in Vista. Silverwood Wildlife Sanctuary is dedicated to the preservation of the diverse combination of chaparral, and streamside riparian flora and fauna. It is managed essentially as a wilderness preserve, except for a small developed area near the entrance. It has an extensive trail system. Over 324 native plant species and 124 bird species have been recorded there. According to their website, “The purpose of Silverwood is to preserve, in as complete and natural a state as possible, a pg. 1 SILVERWOOD WILDLIFE SANCTUARY prime swath of one of the country’s most critically endangered ecosystems: California’s coastal chaparral. “ The first 85 acres of Silverwood were donated to the San Diego Audubon Society by member Harry Woodward in 1965. Since then, a naturalist and manager has lived on the site. In 2013, it has grown through acquisitions to 757 acres, 100 of which were transferred to the SD Audubon Society from the Federal Bureau of Land Management. Artifacts found at the Sanctuary indicate that Kumeyaay Indians lived in and around the site for thousands of years. There are two wet-season streams on the Sanctuary. They are riparian woodlands and a small cienega which provide diversity in the Sanctuary. A cienega is a wetland system of alkaline, freshwater, spongy and wet meadows, which are permanently saturated. (Contributors, Ciénega, 2017). Mammals observed include Bobcat, Mountain Lion, Ringtail, Coyote, Chipmunks, Deer, Grey Fox and some other smaller mammals. About 160 species of birds have been recorded, which makes it a popular bird watching area. Reptiles include the threatened San Diego Horned Lizard and the rare Lyre and Night snakes. There are many other species of flora and fauna found in this Sanctuary which are designated as threatened, rare or declining. There are more than four miles of trails to explore. Two of the trails are marked with plant identification signs and there is a short ethnobotany (study of the knowledge and customs of a people and how the plants are used for medical, religious and other uses) trail. There is also an observation area, about a third of a mile from the parking lot. This area attracts birds and small mammals. The Frank Gander Nature Education Center contains flora and fauna displays, historical items, a library and collection of taxidermied wildlife. You will also find a demonstration of landscaping with native plants which require little or no water. pg. 2 SILVERWOOD WILDLIFE SANCTUARY Nature education is a major function of Silverwood. It is open to the public at no charge, with free nature education hikes offered every Sunday. In 2011, a fourth- grade nature education program was begun with local school districts. The 2003 Cedar fire swept through the Sanctuary, incinerating the entire Sanctuary. It burned all structures. Insurance payments allowed building a new fire resistant resident for the resident manager, which was completed in 2007. A grant was also obtained to construct a small solar powered nature center, which was named the Frank F. Gander Nature Education Center. (Frank Gander was the first botanist to live at the Sanctuary as a resident naturalist and manager.) After the fire, new growth appeared on the oak trees and the root-ball chaparral species almost immediately. Wildflowers soon reappeared. Seven species of fire- follower wildflowers that have never been recorded at Silverwood were found in the few years after the fire. Fire-following birds such as the Lazuli Bunting and the Black-chinned Sparrow soon arrived. By 2008, the habitats had completely regenerated themselves. pg. 3 SILVERWOOD WILDLIFE SANCTUARY What is a Sanctuary? (Contributors, 2017) To learn more about sanctuaries, I consulted Wikipedia. There, I was surprised to hear that the original meaning of sanctuary is a sacred place, like a shrine. Since these places are often seen as a haven, by extension the term is now to mean any place of safety. This would include a safe place for humans as well as non- humans. A plant sanctuary, also known as a wildlife preserve, is an area set aside to maintain functioning natural ecosystems, to provide refuge for species and to maintain ecological processes that cannot survive in most landscapes and seascapes. Sanctuaries are benchmarks against human interaction with the natural world. California’s Coastal Chaparral (Bailey, 1995) There are a number of characteristics of California’s Coastal Chaparral. Climate: Hot, dry summers and rainy, mild winters. Average annual temperatures 50 to 65F, with annual precipitation ranging from 10 to 50 inches. The coastal province has a more moderate climate than the interior and can receive fog and other moisture in the summer. Fire is common, usually a result of lightening. Vegetation: Several tree species can be found in this region, including the Monterey cypress, Torrey pine, Monterey Pine and Bishop pine. The coastal plains and larger valleys have sagebrush and grassland communities. A riparian forest containing many broadleaf species grows along the streams. Along the lower mountains and hills, low trees with small, leathery leaves can be found. Live oak or white oak can also be found. On steep hills and mountain slopes, much of the vegetation is scrub or “dwarf forest”, also known as chaparral, consisting of chamise and various manzanitas that are adapted to the periodic fire. Exposed coastal areas can contain coastal scrub, coyote brush, California sagebrush and bush lupine. Sages are also common. Soils: The soils are high in bases and quite fertile when soil water is adequate. pg. 4 SILVERWOOD WILDLIFE SANCTUARY Chaparral (Chaparral, 2010) Nothing says California like chaparral. It is the most extensive plant community in the state, dominating foothills and mountain slopes from Southern Oregon to Baja. It is defined as a semi-arid shrub, with hard leaved woody plants able to survive summer drought, mild and wet winters, and natural fires every 30 to 150 years. The leaves are unique in that they can reduce evaporation through a variety of characteristics, including waxy coatings, thicker cell layers and recessed stomata (pores in the leaves permitting evaporation and the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide). In times of drought, chaparral plants employ four different strategies: • Avoiders (avoid drought with long roots and hard thick leaves, like laurel sumac) pg. 5 SILVERWOOD WILDLIFE SANCTUARY • Persisters (tolerate drought by physiological adaptations and movements, like ceanothus) • Retreaters (annuals or underground storage organs) • Chameleons (evade drought by being semi-summer deciduous like black sage) There are three seasons in California chaparral: fall, spring and drought. Fall is subtle, lasting only a few short weeks in June between spring and drought. This is characterized by a shedding of leaves on shrubs like ceanothus and manzanita, until drought settles in. Drought follows, with several months of extreme dryness. When moisture finally arrives, the traditional winter months become part of the chaparral’s season of growth. There is a surprisingly wide variety of distinct communities of chaparral. The eight basic chaparral types are red shanks, ceanothus, chamise, mixed manzanita, scrub oak and montane. Their ability to exploit moisture when available and survive when it is not makes it a genuine evolutionary achievement. Threats to Chaparral (Threats to Chaparral, 2017) Silverwood Wildlife Sanctuary is tasked with preserving the chaparral community, described in the mission statement as one of the country’s most critically endangered ecosystems. One organization, the California Chaparral Institute, is dedicated to educating the public about threats to Chaparral, and the importance of restoring our natural fire cycle to the environment. According to this organization, aside from development, there are three basic threats to the chaparral ecosystem that can ultimately lead to the conversion of native shrublands to non-native weedlands. They are: • Excessive fire • Fuel treatments conducted by fire agencies • Misconceptions leading to negative public attitudes. It was mentioned earlier that the fire interval for chaparral is 30 to 150 years. However, prescribed fires are often used to keep brush under control. The problem with these is that they eliminate chaparral by reducing its biodiversity than by converting the chaparral to non-native weedlands. The natural condition of chaparral is infrequent, huge wildfires (not excessive vegetation). The age and pg. 6 SILVERWOOD WILDLIFE SANCTUARY density of chaparral has little to do with the large fires in Southern California, which are driven primarily by weather. Chaparral has a high-intensity “crown fire regime”, which means that when a fire burns, it burns everything, leaving behind merely ashes. In contrast, a “surface fire regime” burn at low-intensity, consuming mostly the understory and leaving the larger trees unharmed. Chaparral is sometimes referred to as “fire-dependent”, meaning that it should burn on a regular basis to remain healthy. However, it is not that simple. Chaparral responds differently to fire depending on the species of chaparral, the angle and direction of the slope that it grows on, local climate and the frequency, intensity and seasonality of the fire.
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