Recovery Plan for Coastal Plants of the Northern San Francisco Peninsula Region 1 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Portland, Oregon DISCLAIMER Recovery plans delineate reasonable actions that are believed to be required to recover and/or protect listed species. We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, publish recovery plans, sometimes preparing them with the assistance of recovery teams, contractors, State agencies, and others. Objectives of the plan will be attained and any necessary funds made available subject to budgetary and other constraints affecting the parties involved, as well as the need to address other priorities. Recovery plans do not obligate other parties to undertake specific actions and may not represent the views or official positions or approval of any individuals or agencies involved in the recovery plan other than our own. They represent our official position only after they have been signed by the Director, Regional Director, or Manager as approved. Approved recovery plans are subject to modification as dictated by new findings, changes in species status, and the completion of recovery actions. Literature Citation Should Read As Follows: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2003. Recovery Plan for Coastal Plants of the Northern San Francisco Peninsula. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Portland, Oregon. xvi + 304 pp. Additional copies may be purchased from: Fish and Wildlife Reference Service 5430 Grosvenor Lane, Suite 110 Bethesda, Maryland 20814-2142 301-492-6403 or 1-800-582-3421; FAX: 301-564-4059 E-mail: [email protected] http://fa.r9.fws.gov/r9fwrs The fee for the recovery plan varies depending on the number of pages in the plan. An electronic version of this recovery plan will also be made available at http://pacific.fws.gov/ecoservices/endangered/recovery/default.htm and http://endangered.fws.gov/recovery/index.html#plans. i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The draft recovery plan was prepared at the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office by Peter Baye, and edited by Karen Miller and Diane Elam. The final recovery plan was prepared by Larry Host, Kelly Hornaday, and Kirsten Tarp, and edited by Ray Moranz, Harry McQuillen, and Don Hankins. Marc Albert and Sharon Farrell of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (National Park Service) provided valuable information and insights on the past and prospective vegetation management of the Presidio and Fort Funston, as well as unpublished data on San Francisco lessingia and Raven’s manzanita. Joe Cannon and Marc Albert of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area contributed detailed site-specific information on the management and restoration of remnant dunes supporting San Francisco lessingia. Adam Whelchel of San Francisco State University contributed original unpublished data on the insect visitors of San Francisco lessingia. Staci Markos of the University of California at Berkeley contributed insights on the taxonomy of San Francisco lessingia. Mike Vasey of San Francisco State University made available new data and analysis prepared with co-authors Staci Markos, Lena Hileman, and Tom Parker (unpublished at the time earlier drafts of this recovery plan were prepared) on the taxonomy of Raven’s manzanita. Susan Smith of San Francisco provided information and guidance on the history and future of San Francisco lessingia’s conservation, as well as unpublished notes on plant community composition of lessingia sites. We also acknowledge the valuable recent scientific contributions of Yolanda Mollette and Crima Pogge, for their studies of San Francisco dune seed banks and lessingia population ecology, respectively. Sylvia Martin of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service graciously assisted preparation of photographic reproductions. We are grateful to the peer reviewers who provided us with their comments and suggestions. Their contribution was essential to making the plan scientifically sound. We take responsibility for any errors that remain, as we may not have grasped all the nuances of the information provided to us, despite a sincere desire to blend in all of the improvements communicated through the many comments received. ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Current Species Status: This recovery plan features two plant species, both of which are federally listed as endangered and are endemic to the northern San Francisco peninsula in California. San Francisco lessingia (Lessingia germanorum), an annual herb in the aster family, exists at six sites in the Presidio of San Francisco and one site in Daly City. It is threatened by invasion of nonnative vegetation, habitat loss, and potential land use conflicts in limited restorable urban habitat. Raven’s manzanita (Arctostaphylos hookeri ssp. ravenii) is a rare evergreen creeping shrub in the heath family. Only one genetic individual exists in the wild, but some clones of the original and some of its seedlings have been artificially propagated. The original plant is located in remnant coastal scrub and grassland in the Presidio, along with its transplanted clones. It is threatened by failure to reproduce naturally, habitat loss, potential land use conflicts in limited restorable urban habitat, and disease. Geographic and Ecological Scope of the Recovery Plan: The ecosystems on which the endangered species of this recovery plan depend are limited to narrow geographic areas of the northern San Francisco peninsula. Their habitats are further restricted to specific substrate types: old coastal sand deposits (San Francisco lessingia) and outcrops of serpentine or similar rocks (Raven’s manzanita). Both taxa grow only in sparse, relatively open native dune scrub, coastal scrub, and grassland vegetation. Taxonomic Scope of the Recovery Plan: This recovery plan serves as a revision for the Raven’s Manzanita Recovery Plan (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1984), addressing Raven’s manzanita jointly with San Francisco lessingia to facilitate a more holistic ecosystem-based approach for these species. This recovery plan considers actions for the two featured endangered species along with conservation needs of a number of plants and animals that are associated with them. Several other associated federally-listed taxa that are already covered by other recovery plans are discussed herein: bay checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas editha bayensis), Marin dwarf-flax (Hesperolinon congestum), and Presidio clarkia (Clarkia franciscana), covered by the Recovery Plan for Serpentine Soil Species of the San Francisco Bay Area (U.S. Fish and Wildlife iii Service 1998a); and Myrtle’s silverspot butterfly (Speyeria zerene myrtleae) and beach layia (Layia carnosa), covered by the Recovery Plan for Seven Coastal Plants and the Myrtle’s Silverspot Butterfly (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1998b). In addition, the recovery plan considers 16 plant species of concern associated with San Francisco lessingia and Raven’s manzanita. These 16 plant species are known to be at risk of either range collapse (local or regional extinction) or range-wide extinction. Seventeen other plant species of local or regional conservation significance are also considered. These plants share habitats with the listed species and have suffered substantial declines on the northern San Francisco Peninsula and adjacent coast. Recovery Priority: San Francisco lessingia: 2C (full species; high threats; high recovery potential; conflict with development projects) Raven’s manzanita: 12 (subspecies; moderate threats; low recovery potential) Recovery priority numbers are based on criteria published by Federal Register Notice (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1983a, 1983b). Recovery Objectives: The objectives of this recovery plan are to conserve and restore sufficient habitat and populations of San Francisco lessingia and Raven’s manzanita to warrant their reclassification from endangered to threatened, and ultimately to delist San Francisco lessingia. Recovery of Raven’s manzanita sufficient to warrant delisting is not projected for the foreseeable future. Actions Needed: This recovery plan does not focus on actions that only benefit managed populations of the two listed taxa featured in this plan. Instead, it stresses re-establishing dynamic, persistent populations of the listed taxa within plant communities that have been restored so they are as “self-sustaining” as possible within urban wildland reserves. In self-sustaining communities there is the insurance of replacement in perpetuity of individuals in the population through natural reproduction. Recovery actions for San Francisco lessingia focus on the restoration and management of large, dynamic mosaics of coastal dune iv areas supporting shifting populations within the species’ narrow historic range. Recovery of Raven’s manzanita will include, but will not be limited to, the original recovery strategy presented in the Raven’s Manzanita Recovery Plan (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1984). This strategy emphasized the stabilization of the single remaining genetic individual, which is necessary, but without further measures would result in a dead end to the species’ evolution. This recovery plan seeks to re-establish multiple sexually reproducing populations of Raven’s manzanita in association with historically associated species of local serpentine outcrops. We recognize that the implementation of recovery plans is always affected by circumstances and new information. Furthermore, this recovery plan focuses on biological analysis; review of other aspects of implementing the recovery actions in this plan will be done as required by such laws as the National