South San Francisco Bay Weed Management Plan 1st Edition Prepared by Meg Marriott, Rachel Tertes and Cheryl Strong U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Complex, 1 Marshlands Road, Fremont, CA 94555 For: Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge and South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project November 20, 2013 Literature Citation Should Read As Follows: Marriott, M., Tertes, R. and C. Strong. 2013. South San Francisco Bay Weed Management Plan. 1st Edition. Unpublished report of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fremont, CA. 82pp. OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................................................. 4 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 5 BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................................................... 6 Site Description and History ..................................................................................................................... 6 Weed Management Areas ......................................................................................................................... 7 WEED MANAGEMENT PROGRAM ...................................................................................................... 12 Weed Management Program Goals ........................................................................................................ 12 Inventory and Monitoring ....................................................................................................................... 12 Outreach and Coordination ..................................................................................................................... 12 Priority Weed Species and Projects ........................................................................................................ 13 Additional High Priority Projects ........................................................................................................... 15 Methods of Treatment ............................................................................................................................. 16 Special Herbicide Safety & Environmental Considerations ................................................................... 17 TARGETED WEED CONTROL AND RE-VEGETATION PLANS ....................................................... 18 Pepperweed (Lepidium latifolium) – Highest Priority ............................................................................ 19 Algerian sea lavender (Limonium ramosissimum) – Highest Priority .................................................... 26 Yellow Starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis) – Highest Priority ................................................................ 29 Stinkwort (Dittrichia graveolens) – High Priority .................................................................................. 34 Purple Starthistle (Centaurea calcitrapa) – High Priority ...................................................................... 38 Alkali Russian thistle (Salsola soda) – High Priority ............................................................................. 40 Pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana) and Jubata grass (Cortaderia jubata) – High Priority .................. 43 Giant reed (Arundo donax) and Common reed (Phragmites australis) – High Priority ......................... 46 Italian thistle (Carduus pycnocephalus) and Slenderflowered thistle (Carduus tenuiflorus) – High Priority .................................................................................................................................................... 48 French broom (Genista monspessulana) – High Priority ....................................................................... 50 Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum) – High Priority .......................................................................... 52 PLANT COMMUNITY RESTORATION PROGRAM ............................................................................ 56 WEED DATABASE ................................................................................................................................... 57 VOLUNTEER WEED MANAGEMENT PROJECTS .............................................................................. 58 LITERATURE CITED ............................................................................................................................... 60 2 USEFUL REFERENCE WEBSITES ......................................................................................................... 65 Figure 1 South San Francisco Bay includes lands south of the San Mateo Bridge. Habitat types are noted within the Refuge Approved Acquisition Boundary. ...................................................................... 7 Figure 2: Weed management areas present in the South Bay. Newark, Mowry, Alviso, and West Bay include lands owned and/or managed by the Refuge. ............................................................................... 8 Table 1 Special Status Species within Project Area................................................................................ 66 Table 2. Prioritized List of Weed Species ............................................................................................... 68 Table 3 Early Detection Weed Species Watch List ................................................................................ 69 Table 4. Priority Weed Species for Management .................................................................................. 70 Table 5. Direct Seeding Species ............................................................................................................ 71 Table 6. Container Plantings .................................................................................................................. 72 Appendix 1 Best Management Practices for Weed Spread Prevention .................................................. 74 Appendix 2 Conservation Measures- Herbicide Safety & Environmental Considerations .................... 76 Appendix 3 Walking in the Marsh ......................................................................................................... 79 3 OVERVIEW On the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge (hereafter, Refuge), similar to other natural lands, weeds reduce and degrade wildlife habitat and impede successful habitat restoration. In specific instances, weeds alter hydrology and ecosystem function and act as source populations that infest not only Refuge lands but adjacent properties. In addition, weeds alter landscapes, block views, and increase trail and fire break maintenance needs. On the Refuge, invasive weeds infest habitat types ranging from sub-tidal mudflats to uplands, and are of greatest concern in habitats where they may potentially harm threatened and endangered species, migratory bird species and their habitats. Habitats of concern include tidal marshes, marsh/upland transition zones, and vernal pool grasslands, as well as other habitat types. While this plan encompasses Refuge lands, the plan is easily adaptable for use by adjacent South Bay landowners such as California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) at Eden Landing Ecological Reserve and the privately managed lands of Cargill Salt, Inc. This South San Francisco Bay Weed Management Plan (hereafter WMP) is a structured outline for controlling the most invasive and problematic non-native weeds within the Project Area as part of an overall weed management and re-vegetation program. The WMP uses an adaptive management approach to prioritize, implement and evaluate weed treatment and re-vegetation actions and to modify management priorities and strategies as necessary over time. As part of the WMP, we identify goals for a weed management program and set objectives and priorities for the control or eradication of target weed species, according to their impacts on native species and communities, particularly impacts on threatened and endangered species. The WMP also prioritizes specific projects or circumstances within the Project Area that necessitate weed management and recommends control actions to be implemented in these various situations. Monitoring is a critical component of the WMP adaptive management process and the WMP works in conjunction with the draft Weed Inventory and Monitoring Plan prepared for the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge (draft Weed I&M Plan, Marriott and Tertes 2013). The draft Weed I&M Plan provides a guide for detecting and mapping the distribution and abundance of established and new infestations, for recording the success of weed control in treatment areas, and for tracking growth of known infestations over time. 4 INTRODUCTION The Weed Management Plan has been developed for the prevention, detection, and control of priority invasive weed species affecting the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge trust resources and adjacent lands. It also provides guidelines for the re-vegetation of native plant species in weed treated areas as an essential component of weed management. This plan complies with, and is developed under, the authority of the National Invasive Species Management Plan (Executive Order 13112), and addresses priorities and recommendations for weed control and native plant restoration outlined in state and regional