Serpentine Vegetation Management Project 2005 REPORT Stuart B. Weiss, Ph.D. and David H. Wright, Ph.D. Creekside Center for Earth Observation 27 Bishop Lane, Menlo Park, CA 94025 tel: 650-854-9732, fax: 650-644-3355 e-mail:
[email protected] http://www.creeksidescience.com FWS Grant Agreement No. 814205G240 Weiss and Wright 2005 Serpentine Vegetation Management Report Cover photo: David Wright trimming a 2-inch early trim, grazing exclusion plot on March 15, 2005. The PVC quadrat shows the size of the sample area; an additional 2 dm on all sides of the plot are trimmed to minimize edge effects. The wood blocks are temporarily placed to standardize the height of cut. The wooden stake at upper left marks and identifies the plot. The fence in the background excludes cattle grazing. CONTENTS: Page a. Abstract iii b. Introduction 1 c. Description of study area 3 d. Methods and materials 3 e. Results and Discussion 5 f. Summary and conclusions 14 g. Literature cited 15 h. Summary of expenditures 15 h. Data appendices CD included ii Weiss and Wright 2005 Serpentine Vegetation Management Report ABSTRACT We have begun a 3-year project to evaluate vegetation management methods and grazing impacts on serpentine habitat in Santa Clara County. In the first year of our project, funded by Habitat Restoration Program grant 814205G240, we established an experimental vegetation management trial, collecting initial vegetation data from that trial, conducted observations on serpentine vegetation characteristics across different grazing and other vegetation management regimes (fenceline and burn study), investigated herbivore damage to Dudleya setchellii, and recorded the spatial distribution and other observations on Streptanthus albidus peramoenus and S.