2020 Partners in Science Presentation

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Abstract:

Restoration ecology is the science of healing a damaged landscape. In practice this sometimes includes planting native species that were present in the plant community before damage occurred. To recover late-successional plant communities in heavily damaged landscapes, however, it is often more practical to begin restoration at early successional stages. Such is the case for the Cloud Forest Restoration Project on Santa Rosa Island, within the Channel Islands National Park off the coast of Southern California. This area receives moisture from year-round fog which once was intercepted by the plant canopy, dripping to the ground and nourishing growth. This historical “cloud forest” community of chaparral with emergent groves of bishop pines (Pinus muricata) and island oaks (Quercus tomentella) was eroded away to bedrock during overgrazing in the 1800s. Restoration goals are to slow the continuing erosion and develop vegetation that can harvest fog and improve soil conditions for eventual chaparral regrowth. Restoration techniques involve the installation of “fog fences” and early-successional plants along coco-fiber wattles, to slow erosion, capture fog-drip and jump-start vegetation recovery. This experiment evaluated survival and growth of coyote brush (Baccharis pilularis) and purple needlegrass (Stipa pulchra) planted in 2016, in experimental plots across four different substrates types. The treatments were assessed by comparing different growth parameters for measurements taken between 2016 and 2019, inclusive. Results vary across substrates, but in general survivorship and growth gains were greatest for B. pilularis in the combination fog and wattle treatment. While S. pulchra survivorship was indifferent to treatment, growth of survivors benefited from both treatments. Additionally, both species performed better where the bedrock was covered with remnant soil, silt, or construction debris than on bare bedrock.