Survey results compiled by Craig Dremann, The Reveg Edge, Calif. (650) 325-7333 or email

Ecosystem Being Reported (Please use Kuchler map for USA, see bottom of page for list; other Countries, please cite Vegetation Map you are using, plus the Ecosystem)
For projects outside of the USA, the World Wildlife Fund has good ecosystem categories at http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildworld/profiles/

ECOSYSTEM:

Firm/Agency/Univ.:

Contact person:

Address:

Phone:

Email:

Web page, text:
Web pages, pictures:

DETAILS ABOUT AN EXAMPLE PROJECT SITE:

Example Site's State or Province and County
Coordinates: Latitude , Longitude
Elevation, feet .
Annual Precipitation. of example site, inches:
Acres of the example site:
Prior to work, percent cover: % native, % exotic plants
End of work, percent cover:% native, % exotic plants
Years of work:

Work involved (check all that apply):
Exotic plant cutting, pulling , burning, Grazing, Protected from Grazing ,
Herbicides, Tilling, Seeding, Planting, Local seed collection ,
Local seed were commercially reproduced,
The local native soil seed bank provided most of the resulting native plant cover ,
Other methods used: (please specify):

Ecological Restoration Licensed Technologies* (E.R.L.T.) were used,
If E.R.L.T used, whose ?:

If your own E.R.L.T., are licenses available for others to use? Yes , No

Total annual costs per acre:

Any articles citing the example project:

Anything else you would like to add: Number of native species in project, list of species and native plant families, etc.:

The Reveg Edge, Redwood City, California (Grassland)

Shaw Nature Reserve, Gray Summit, Missouri (Grassland)

Shaw Nature Reserve, Gray Summit, Missouri ("Cedar Glade")

University of Florida/IFAS Sea Grant Extension Program (Sea Oats prairie)

AUSTRALIA

SOUTH AFRICA

The purpose of this study was to measure how quickly habitat could be restored for the various species of Endangered Kangaroo Rats in the San Joaquin Valley. A future mitigation project for the San Joaquin Valley, on a massive scale, has been proposed by the U.S.Bureau of Reclamation office in Fresno, as mitigation for the environmental damage caused by the Federally-managed Friat dam. The Bureau of Reclamation, working with the Bakersfield BLM, are in the process of buying up whole irrigation districts (e.g. about 10 square miles south of the town of Alpaugh), and "retiring" the irrigated farmlands, with future plans of restoring the natural habitat.

The Endangered seed-eating mammals of the San Joaquin Valley are currently trying to exist on a diet of nearly 100% exotic plant seed, because the native habitat has been so severely degraded by 140 years of overgrazing; and the populations of these mammals are still deceasing, or in some areas becoming extinct. Perhaps the exotic seeds don't have all the nutrients required by these species?

At least $2,000,000 annually is being spent by the Federal government on University research on the Listed San Joaquin valley mammals, but apparently nobody had ever set out trays of local native seeds, to determine what plants of the original native ecosystem would have been be utilized by the Kangaroo rats for food.

If you are going to restore habitat for a grain-eating mammal, it might be useful to know what native seeds they might utilize? We set out two dozen kinds of local native seeds in 2002, and found that most species of perennial native grasses and wildflowers were all collected and cached within a few hours!

The seeds of this soil-seedbank of this ecosystem were estimated to be over 50 years old. As a note of caution, this be near the limit of seed longevity of these native seeds, so if other projects in this part of California want to utilize the native soil seedbank, there may be only 20-25 years left.

The name "saltbush" gives the impression that this was historically mostly a shrubland, but 200+ years ago, it was probably more like an arid alkaline grassland, at least in part, with a scattered shrub component. It became a solid shrubland when overgrazed 1860-1940, and you can see this type of change from arid grassland to shrubland from grazing, in the arid grassland photos taken by Dr. Robert Humphrey at http://www.ecoseeds.com/desertgrass.html.

E.R.L.T.: The Reveg Edge's technologies are available.
Licenses: Yes

To show the difficulty in restoring this ecosystem: the County of San Mateo, under the original Habitat Conservation Plan permit (San Bruno Mtn. HCP), have been spending $145,000 per year for 20 years, (total of $3,000,000-4,000,000) to restore this native grassland ecosystem, to mitigate for destroying Endangered Species Critical habitat---without one successful acre completed so far.

E.R.L.T.: The Reveg Edge's technologies are available.
Licenses: Yes

Article.citing.project: Dremann, Craig C. with Michael Shaw. 2002. "Releasing the Native Seedbank: An Innovative Approach to Restoring a Coastal California Ecosystem." ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION. 20 (June, No.2): 103-107.

This area of dunes had been devastated by a combination of strong storms and foot traffic over the previous 3-4 years. There were patches of existing vegetation, but these patches were small and isolated. The City of Fernandina Beach received a grant from the state of Florida for the restoration. Extension agents from UF/IFAS Cooperative Extension helped by coordinating volunteers and instructing them on proper planting methods. The fire department ensured that the sea oats were watered regularly during the first few months after planting.

Volunteers (including two Americorps groups) have been essential to this effort at every step.

Articles.citing.project: Several in Missouri Botanical Garden Bulletin (circulated to all MBG members)

Additional: The Kuchler designation "Cedar Glade" is a misnomer. This type of xeric, calciphilic grassland should more properly called dolomite glade. Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) is an invasive woody plant in these grasslands, which 200 years ago did not occur in them at all. GLO survey notes for our property, dated March 1818, make no mention of cedars or any other trees on the glades, which are described as "poor, stony ground, no timber". Cedar trees shade out, or at least reduce vigor and reproduction of perhaps 20 dolomite glade perennial herb species which grow nowhere else on the property (and also do so to even an even greater number of generalized native grassland species, shared with the prairie, but often more abundant on the glade.)

The project consisted of the reconnection of the isolated salt marsh, removal of exotic plants from the project area, re-vegetation with native salt marsh plants and the production of educational materials and displays. The project site is part of a 30-acre parcel donated to the EEL Program by the Richard King Mellon Foundation and is located adjacent to the future site of the Barrier Island Ecosystem Center (BIEC) which will serve as an educational center within the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge.

The BIEC will provide opportunities for public education regarding the restoration of wetlands and the protection of water resources and provide easy access for management and monitoring of the project.

The project site is a ten (10) acre impoundment, called Pepper Cove, located on the barrier island of Brevard County, Florida, approximately 3 miles north of the Sebastian Inlet. This impoundment, along with most of the salt marshes in east central Florida, were impounded (surrounded by earthen dikes) to discourage the laying of eggs by salt-marsh mosquitoes.

The Pepper Cove impoundment was constructed in the late 1950s and has undergone drastic ecosystem changes related to its isolation from the Indian River Lagoon. A review of aerial photos from 1943 through to the present, along with recent field surveys, show that the herbaceous salt marsh present in the 1940s has been replaced by plants which have exploited the altered hydrology.

Research has shown that a variety of both ecologically and economically important species of fishes and invertebrates utilize mangrove/salt marsh systems as nursery habitats.

The impoundment of salt marshes for mosquito control limits the amount of nursery habitat available and leads to decreased biological diversity and a break in the nutrient cycling between the lagoon and upland habitats. The proximity of the Pepper Cove impoundment to the Sebastian Inlet, a primary source of many vertebrate and invertebrate recruits, made the reconnection of this impoundment highly desirable.

The EEL Program Land Manager will act with guidance from BCMCD in managing water levels within the impoundment to maximize exchange between the marsh and the lagoon and maintain effective mosquito control.

Though scheduled to begin on October 1, 2000, initiation of work was delayed while Brevard County and the State of Florida worked on a contract which would streamline the process of receiving grant funds for the removal of exotic plants from EEL Program managed lands. For a variety of reasons the contract was not signed until March of 2001 immediately after which the exotic removal was scheduled.

On April 10th, exotic removal began utilizing the Brontosaurus mower operated by John Brown and Sons, Inc. Approximately 12 acres of dense monoculture Brazilian pepper were removed from within the project area in approximately 3 weeks. The removal of approximately 125 Australian pine trees were removed by Staff from the Marine Resources Council. The Australian pine trees were piled on a disturbed portion of the site and were prescribed burned to promote native plant regeneration.

Once Brazilian peppers had been removed from the project site we were then able to access the dike, survey elevations and prepare the site plan for the permits which were required for the culvert installations. A permit application was completed and submitted to the St Johns River Water Management District and the Army Corps of Engineers for review and received in September of 2001. The culverts, which had been purchased and invoiced in September 2001, were moved to the site and the Brevard County Mosquito Control District was able to complete the installation of the culverts by October 20th, 2001.

The northern culvert installation was a simple matter of setting siltation barriers, digging through the dike to the appropriate depth, installing the culvert, leveling to sea level and covering. The distance between the interior of the marsh and the lagoon was too great to allow for a simple culvert installation which is limited to a maximum of 40 feet in length. To cover the nearly 200 feet separating the lagoon and the marsh we had decided to run the culvert from the lagoon to a created deep pond which was then connected by a meandering creek to the interior marsh.

In order to prevent the areas which had been cleared of exotic plants from becoming re-infested we adopted a three prong approach. For areas along State Road A1A, which had been coastal strand and maritime hammock habitats, the land is being closely monitored and all exotics are being removed while native plants, whose seeds had remained viable in the soil, are being encouraged. For the area of spoil generated by the construction of the adjacent canal, the pepper was cut and pines cut and left on site and a prescribed fire utilized to regenerate nutrients and allow for re-colonization of native plants.

For the culvert locations, including the dike and the created pond, it was decided that a native planting would be required to quickly stabilize the soil and prevent re-colonization by exotics. On December 1st, a group of 24 volunteers, overseen by the Marine Resources Council planted 4000 native salt marsh plants and associates. These plants are flourishing thanks to the care and monitoring of Marine Resources Council Staff.

Due to their role as nursery habitat for many lagoon species, and their positive impact on water quality, there is an urgent need to educate the public on the value of salt marshes and their management throughout the Indian River Lagoon region. To address this need we immediately set out to collect detailed information which would document the state of the property prior to restoration and which would be required for the permits required for the restoration. To accomplish this we enlisted the help of a graduate level Restoration and Mitigation Course at Florida Tech.

Graduate students conducted numerous studies including detailed elevation, plant, animal, soil and water chemistry surveys during the course of the project. Much of this information is critical for the long term monitoring of the site and documentation of activities and portions will be utilized on interior interpretive displays once the BIEC is opened. Much of the data collected by Florida Tech students was incorporated into an educational kiosk, funded by the St Johns River Water Management District, located at the site of the southern culvert/pond which describes the restoration activities, partners and the history of salt marsh management along the Indian River Lagoon.

Over 200 volunteers have been registered on the project; countless volunteer hours;

Species list of 65 species, but only 12 have been successfully propagated; seed testing and research by honours and postgraduate students is underway;

Incorporation of responsible tourism through course in Eco-tourism

Here is a list of the plant families and number of species for each that appeared from the soil seed bank: Apiaceae-2, Asphodelaceae-1, Asteraceae-9, Campanulaceae -6, Crassulaceae-1, Cyperaceae-12, Droseraceae-1, Ericaceae-7, Fabaceae-4, Gentianaceae-1, Haemoderaceae-1, Hyacinthaceae-1, Iridaceae-6, Juncaceae-2, Malvaceae -2, Mesembryanthemaceae-1, Oleaceae-1, Orchidaceae-1, Oxalidaceae-3, Poaceae-3, Polygalaceae-3, Restionaceae-1, Rhamnaceae-2, Rosaceae-4, Rubiaceae-1, Santalaceae-2, Scrophulariaceae-3, and Thymeliaceae-4.