Winter 2014 1 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME “Conservation of Wild Life Through Education” Volume 100 Winter 2014 Number 1 Special Native Plant Issue Gilia tricolor, CDFW Photo by Jeb Bjerke Gilia tricolor, Forests, water power, and wild game are three of California’s greatest resources. They are ours to use but not to destroy. The United States Department of Agriculture says: “The free marketing of wild game leads swiftly to extermination.” —Yearbook, 1910, page 254 Published Quarterly by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. CALIFORNIA STATE PRINTING OFFICE 2 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME Vol. 100, No. 1 FRONTISPIECE.—The first issue ofCalifornia Fish and Game was published in October, 1914. Volume 1 consisted of a total of 5 issues, four of which were published in 1915. Publication has occurred on a quarterly basis beginning with volume 2 in 1916. Winter 2014 3 VOLUME 100 WINTER 2014 NUMBER 1 Published Quarterly by STATE OF CALIFORNIA CALIFORNIA NATURAL RESOURCES AGENCY DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE ISSN: 0008-1078 (print) ISSN: 2331-0405 (online) --LDA-- 4 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME Vol. 100, No. 1 STATE OF CALIFORNIA Jerry Brown, Governor CALIFORNIA NATURAL RESOURCES AGENCY John Laird, Secretary for Natural Resources FISH AND GAME COMMISSION Michael Sutton, President Jack Baylis, Vice President Jim Kellogg, Member Richard B. Rogers, Member Jacque Hostler-Carmesin, Member Sonke Mastrup, Executive Director DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE Charlton “Chuck” Bonham, Director CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME EDITORIAL STAFF Vern Bleich ........................................................................................Editor-in-Chief Debra Hamilton ............ Office of Communication, Education and Outreach -AVU Jeff Villepique, Steve Parmenter ........................................... Inland Deserts Region Scott Osborn, Laura Patterson, Levi Souza, Joel Trumbo ............... Wildlife Branch Dave Lentz, Kevin Shaffer ............................................................. Fisheries Branch Peter Kalvass, Nina Kogut .................................................................Marine Region James Harrington .......................................Office of Spill Prevention and Response Cherilyn Burton ...................................................................... Native Plant Program Winter 2014 5 Contents Notes from the Editor VERNON C. BLEICH .............................................................................................................7 Congratulatory remarks regarding California Fish and Game volume 100 EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor ......................................................................................9 Introduction to the special native plant issue CHARLTON H. BONHAM AND DAN GLUESENKAMP ................................................................10 Past, present, and future of native plant conservation within the California Department of Fish and Wildlife KRISTI A. LAZAR AND JEB M. BJERKE ................................................................................12 Characterizing habitat suitability for disturbance-dependent rare plants of gabbro soils MELANIE GOGOL-PROKURAT ..............................................................................................19 Status survey for endangered Bakersfield cactus BRIAN L. CYPHER, ERIN N. TENNANT, ELLEN A. CYPHER, CHRISTINE L. VAN HORN JOB, AND SCOTT E. PHILLIPS ....................................................................................................34 Translocation as a conservation measure for endangered Bakersfield cactus ELLEN A. CYPHER, BRIAN L. CYPHER, BRIANNA D. BORDERS, AND CHRISTINE L. VAN HORN JOB .............................................................................................48 Identifying practical, small-scale disturbance to restore habitat for an endangered annual forb CHRISTAL NIEDERER, STUART B. WEISS, AND LEWIS STRINGER ............................................61 Seed banking California’s rare plants EVAN MEYER, NICK JENSEN, AND NAOMI FRAGA .................................................................79 Utilizing the California Natural Diversity Database to aid in plant conservation: a case study from the California desert KRISTI A. LAZAR ...............................................................................................................86 Tanoak conservation: a role for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife FREDERICA BOWCUTT .........................................................................................................94 Plant community characterization and ranking of fens in the Lake Tahoe Basin, California and Nevada KENDRA G. SIKES AND JULIE M. EVENS ...........................................................................114 Recognizing a new species of Silene (Caryophyllaceae) from California: a splitter’s game? THOMAS R. STOUGHTON, DIANA D. JOLLES, AND HEATH A. BARTOSH ................................138 Doing adaptive management: improving the application of science to the restoration of a rare Lake Tahoe plant BRUCE M. PAVLIK AND ALISON E. STANTON .....................................................................153 Book Review: A manual of California Vegetation. Second Edition CYNTHIA L. ROYE. ..........................................................................................................172 6 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME Vol. 100, No. 1 California Fish and Game California Fish and Game is published quarterly by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. It is a journal devoted to the conservation and understanding of the flora and fauna of California and surrounding areas. If its contents are reproduced elsewhere, the authors and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife would appreciate being acknowledged. Please direct correspondence to: Vernon C. Bleich, Ph.D. Editor-in-Chief California Fish and Game [email protected] Inquiries regarding subscriptions should be directed to the Subscription Manager at 916 322-8911 or by email at [email protected]. Alternate communication format is available upon request. If reasonable accommodation is needed, call 916 322-8911 or the California Relay (Telephone) Service for the deaf or hearing-impaired from TDD phones at 1-800-735-2929. Winter 2014 7 California Fish and Game 100(1):7-8; 2014 Notes from the Editor One hundred years is a long time. It is a very long time in the context of professional journals. As the Editor-in-Chief of California Fish and Game, I am very pleased that this journal is celebrating with a series of special issues that will comprise Volume 100. I am also proud to be responsible for the production of Volume 100, but I am especially proud of the work that is being accomplished by those that have taken on the responsibilities of recruiting authors, seeking reviews, corresponding with the authors, passing judgment on the acceptability of contributions for publication in our centennial year, and for assistance with reading proofs. Those individuals truly served as Corresponding Editors, a task usually handled by the Editor-in-Chief. As a result, they deserve a world of thanks for the effort put forth in producing volume 100, and each Corresponding Editor will be identified appropriately as each special issue is published this coming year. This issue includes a special contribution from Governor Jerry Brown recognizing the centennial year of publication of California Fish and Game. As noted by Governor Brown, much has changed in the last century, and challenges to conservation seem to increase in unending ways. Also included is an introduction written by Dan Gluesenkamp of the California Native Plant Society and Chuck Bonham, Director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), in which they recognize the relevance of an entire issue of the journal dedicated to the biology and conservation of plants. Responsibility for the successful production of volume 100(1), our first issue this year, lies largely with Ms. Cherilyn Burton, a Senior Environmental Scientist in the Native Plant Program at CDFW. Ms. Burton earned her B.S. in Biological Sciences with a concentration in conservation from California State University Sacramento, and her M.S. in Ecology from the University of California, Davis. Cherilyn has 13 years of experience as a biologist in the environmental field, having worked previously with the California Department of Transportation and a private environmental consulting firm, where she acquired a wide diversity of experience assessing habitats and populations of many sensitive species, with a primary focus on plants. In her current position, Ms. Burton works on a variety of tasks related primarily to native plant conservation and recovery, with an emphasis on state- listed plant taxa. She also represents CDFW on a multi-agency team responsible for implementing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Recovery Plan for Vernal Pool Ecosystems of California and Southern Oregon. Thank you, Cherilyn, for the effort and dedication expended while producing the first-ever issue of California Fish and Game dedicated solely to botanical subjects. 8 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME Vol. 100, No. 1 Following the recent retirement of Associate Editor Liam Davis and the resignation of Associate Editor Paul Hofmann, I am pleased to announce that three incoming Associate Editors will join the editorial staff of California Fish and Game. Ms. Laura Patterson works in the Wildlife Division of CDFW, where she has assumed the position