ROAD TO RECOVERY: INTRODUCTION OF TWO RARE VERNAL POOL GRASSES, GREENE’S TUCTORIA (Tuctoria greenei) AND COLUSA GRASS (Neostapfia colusana) __________ A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of California State University, Chico __________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science in Botany __________ by Erin Gottschalk Fisher Summer 2013 ROAD TO RECOVERY: INTRODUCTION OF TWO RARE VERNAL POOL GRASSES, GREENE’S TUCTORIA (Tuctoria greenei) AND COLUSA GRASS (Neostapfia colusana) A Thesis by Erin Gottschalk Fisher Summer 2013 APPROVED BY THE DEAN OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND VICE PROVOST FOR RESEARCH: Eun K. Park, Ph.D. APPROVED BY THE GRADUATE ADVISORY COMMITTEE: Colleen A. Hatfield, Ph.D., Chair Kristina A. Schierenbeck, Ph.D. F. Thomas Griggs, Ph.D. Joseph G. Silveira, M.S. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First I would like to thank my advisor, Colleen Hatfield, for despite her very full schedule, always made time to meet with me. If I was struggling, she helped me get out of my head and put things in perspective. Without fail, she knew when to light a fire under me to keep me moving forward. I am also incredibly thankful for her assistance with the hydrology and reference population mapping figures. The rest of my committee, Joe Silveira, Tom Griggs, and Kristina Schierenbeck, were wonderful as well. Joe introduced me to the National Wildlife Refuge system and to a wealth of knowledge on vernal pool soils, geology, species biology, and management. Tom provided generous first-hand information and stories about my study species, and invaluable insight into what would likely work (and not work) for my introduction methods. Kristina was always available and happy to talk to me about my project, including research design and the evolutionary and genetic perspective. A big shout- out to my lab mates, including fellow plant lovers Melanie Williams, Tim Hanson, and Rachel Francis, who helped me problem-solve and provided support and friendship in and out of the lab. CSU Chico state professors outside of my committee were also helpful. Robert Schlising took me on my first trip to Vina Plains and introduced me to Greene’s tuctoria. He also provided me with a generous amount of literature on Vina Plains and my study species. Nancy Carter was vastly helpful with the statistical approach and tests I used for my research. I am more confident with statistics after working with her iii over many hours. David Brown opened his geology lab to me and helped guide me through the soil salinity analyses. I am extremely grateful to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for access to Llano Seco and Colusa NWR; the Nature Conservancy for access to Vina Plains; and the UC Davis Natural Reserve System and Solano Land Trust for access to Jepson Prairie. I have immense gratitude for Heather Davis, Carol Witham, and John Gerlach for advice and sharing their expertise on vernal pools and associated rare grasses. I greatly appreciate the funding I received for this research. I was funded in part by Northern California Botanists; California Native Plant Society; Grants-In-Aid of Research from the National Academy of Sciences, administered by Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society; Jim Jokerst Field Botany Award; Garrett Gibson Memorial Botany Scholarship; and Vesta Holt Field Studies Merit Project Award. Thank you to my family and friends who have been supportive and cheered me on throughout this process. Especially my Mom and Dad, Ann and Guy Gottschalk, who I am forever grateful for instilling in me a curiosity and love of the natural world, and encouraging me in my educational pursuits. Last but not least, I am eternally thankful to my amazingly supportive, generous, and creative husband, Hyland Fisher. He was my loyal field assistant and design consultant; hard-working, insightful, and an expert problem-solver. Not to mention that his patience and excellent cooking kept me going along the way. Thank you! I am so happy to have shared this journey with you. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... iii List of Tables ....................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... viii Abstract ............................................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER I. Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1 II. Background ..................................................................................................... 9 Vernal Pools ...................................................................................... 9 Rare Plant Introductions and Reintroductions ............................ 16 Study Species .................................................................................... 21 III. Methods ........................................................................................................... 44 Study Sites ....................................................................................... 44 Sampling Design and Data Collection ........................................ 63 Data Analyses ................................................................................. 81 IV. Results .............................................................................................................. 85 Characterizing Study Sites ............................................................ 85 Introductions and Reintroductions ............................................. 97 Lab Germination ............................................................................ 130 V. Discussion ........................................................................................................ 134 Characterizing Study Sites ............................................................ 134 Introductions and Reintroductions ............................................. 138 Lab Germination ............................................................................ 156 Summary, Conclusions, and Implications for Conservation ... 158 v PAGE References ........................................................................................................................... 167 Appendices A. 2010 Hydrology – Dry Down ........................................................................ 183 B. 2010 Reference Populations .......................................................................... 205 C. 2011 Hydrology – Dry Down ........................................................................ 215 D. 2011 Reference Populations .......................................................................... 237 vi LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE 3-1. Length of transects, number of packets, and number of seeds in seed packets for the introduction and reintroduction pools or areas ............................................................................................ 72 3-2. Sixteen Greene’s tuctoria treatments (n=3 Petri dishes each) and 8 Colusa grass treatments (n=3 Petri dishes each) to test for specific factors affecting seed germination ......................... 79 4-1. Approximate final dry-down date for pools at the four study sites ...... 86 4-2. Vegetation community within (on-patch) and outside (off-patch) mapped Greene’s tuctoria areas in five pools at Vina Plains ............ 93 4-3. Vegetation community within (on patch) and outside (off patch) of mapped Colusa grass areas in Olcott Lake at Jepson Prairie ........ 96 4-4. Vegetation community associated with the three introduction pools at Colusa NWR .............................................................................. 97 4-5. Statistical results for comparison of Greene’s tuctoria (a) Reintroduction pools at Vina Plains and (b) Introduction pools at Llano Seco .................................................................................. 111 4-6. Seed treatment percent germination: Kruskal-Wallis test results for two-way factorial experiment including temperature and substrate .................................................................................................... 132 4-7. Inflorescence treatment germination/Petri dish: Kruskal-Wallis test results for two-way factorial experiment including temperature and substrate ...................................................................... 133 vii LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 2-1. (a) Colusa grass at Jepson Prairie and (b) Greene’s tuctoria at Vina Plains ............................................................................................ 22 2-2. Current distribution of Greene’s tuctoria ................................................... 33 2-3. Current distribution of Colusa grass ........................................................... 41 3-1. Vicinity map and site photos for the Greene’s tuctoria study sites ......... 45 3-2. Vicinity map and site photos for the Colusa grass study sites ................ 46 3-3. Total monthly precipitation for September through June for the three years of the study along with the long-term average for (a) Vina Plains and (b) Llano Seco ......................................................... 47 3-4. Total monthly precipitation for September through June for the three years of the study along with the long-term average for