Newsletter Vol 18 Issue 4, 2010 – California Invasive Plant Council

Vol. 18, No. 4

Winter 2011

Cal-IPC News
Protecting California’s Natural Areas from Wildland Weeds
Quarterly Newsletter of the California Invasive Plant Council

A scourge
of spurge!

The milky sap of Euphorbias is
a dangerous eye irritant. Identify
Euphorbias by their inconspicuous,
yellow-green flowers surrounded by a
pair of bracts. Euphorbia oblongata,
oblong spurge, pictured above, occurs in
central and northern California.
Photo: Bob Case

Inside:
WHIPPET prioritization tool……………..4
Interview with Carla Bossard ……………6
Invasive Euphorbias ……………………….8
2011 Field Course schedule ……………. 10
Small smutgrass …………………………..13

From the Director’s Desk

Twenty years later
Cal-IPC
1442-A Walnut Street, #462
Berkeley, CA 94709
ph (510) 843-3902 fax (510) 217-3500
www.cal-ipc.org info@cal-ipc.org
A California 501(c)3 nonprofit organization

Protecting California’s lands and waters
from ecologically-damaging invasive plants
through science, educations, and policy.
STAFF
Doug Johnson, Executive Director
Heather Brady, Outreach Program Manager
Elizabeth Brusati, Science Program Manager
Suzanne Harmon, Field Mapping Coordinator
Ginny King, Program Assistant
Agustín Luna, Business Manager
Bertha McKinley, Program Assistant
Dana Morawitz, Mapping Program Manager
Cynthia Powell, Mapping & Modeling Specialist
Falk Schuetzenmeister, Mapping & Modeling Specialist
Arpita Sinha, Training Program Specialist
Jen Stern, Training Program Manager
DIRECTORS
Jason Giessow, President
Dendra, Inc.
John Knapp, Vice-President
Native Range, Inc.
Doug Gibson, Treasurer
San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy
Julie Horenstein, Secretary
California Department of Fish & Game
Edith Allen
University of California-Riverside
Peter Beesley
Pacific Gas and Electric
Jason Casanova
Los Angeles/San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council
Edmund Duarte
Alameda County Department of Agriculture
Valerie Eviner
University of California-Davis
Kim Hayes
Elkhorn Slough Foundation
Sue Hubbard
Federal Employee
Deb Jensen
El Dorado Arts Council
Brent Johnson
Pinnacles National Monument
Shawn Kelly
Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project
Shea O’Keefe
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Peter Schuyler
Ecological Consultant
Andrea Williams
Marin Municipal Water District
STUDENT LIAISONS
Annabelle Kleist, UC Davis
Lynn Sweet, UC Riverside
Affiliations for identification purposes only.

Cal-IPC News

Winter 2011 – Volume 18, Number 4
Editors: Doug Johnson, Elizabeth Brusati, Heather Brady, and
Bertha McKinley
Cal-IPC News is published quarterly by the California Invasive
Plant Council. Articles may be reprinted with permission from
the editors. Submissions are welcome. Mention of commercial
products does not imply endorsement by Cal-IPC. We reserve
the right to edit all work.

Cal-IPC News Winter 2011

“T

his invitation is being sent to you because of your interest in invasive exotic
plants, especially those that are degrading wildlands in California.” Thus began
a letter from Greg Archbald to some thirty individuals for an exploratory meeting in
Tiburon on February 21, 1992. Eight months later, on October 9-10, the first CalEPPC Symposium was held in Morro Bay.
This October, at Granlibakken Resort in Tahoe City, Cal-IPC will hold its 20th
annual Symposium. Carla D’Antonio, keynote speaker at the first Symposium, will
reprise her role this year, providing some insight into the growth of the field over the
last two decades. Our focus will be the role of invasive plant management in addressing
today’s interrelated trends in ecological change.
The focus twenty years ago was “to launch a new professionally based organization
to provide a regular forum for the exchange of ideas and knowledge, to promote needed
research and funding, to enhance public awareness of the problem, and to advocate
effective solutions.” Working groups prepared action lists on the topics of education,
policy, funding, control methods, and a database of invasive plant information. Today
we have made significant progress on all of these items.
On page 6, Gina Darin interviews Dr. Carla Bossard of St. Mary’s College of
California, one of Cal-IPC’s co-founders. Carla met John Randall of The Nature
Conservancy and Greg Archbald of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area’s
Habitat Restoration Team at a 1990 Natural Areas Association Conference, a meeting
that Greg credits as being the formative moment when the idea was born for an EPPC
(Exotic Pest Plant Council) in California based on one that had formed in Florida.
Cal-IPC News issues this year will feature interviews with other long-time members
whose perspectives provide context for making our work successful in a rapidly changing world.
We look forward to seeing you in Tahoe, October 5-7, for the 20th Symposium!

Cal-IPC’s 20th Anniversary Symposium
Granlibakken Resort
Tahoe City
October 5-7, 2011
Join invasive plant managers
from throughout the state in
learning control techniques, the
latest in mapping technologies
and research results.
Including these sessions:
Ecological change
Science, management, and
policy interactions
Climate change in the Sierras
Stay for exciting Friday Field Trips!

Granlibakken’s picturesque resort is nestled
among the hills surrounding Lake Tahoe.
Accomodations range from hotel rooms to
townhouses, setting the stage for a fun and
informative event in a relaxed and beautiful
location. Enjoy a hike through 74 wooded
acres during your stay.

Wildland Weed NewsNewsNewsNewsNews
A power company in Oregon wants to
convert a coal-fired power plant into a
biomass generator using Arundo. This
giant reed invades riparian areas in many
states but has not yet naturalized in
Oregon (according to plants.usda.gov).
Portland General Electric estimates it will
need to spend $600 million to convert
the power plant, then grow 100,000 acres
of Arundo within 50 miles of the facility
to make it economically feasible. Nationwide, several planned biomass facilities
have been scrapped in recent years when
they became too expensive. (High Country
News, Nov. 8, 2010, www.hcn.org)
Sunset Magazine’s garden blog, Fresh
Dirt, recommends against planting
Mexican feather grass (Nassella tenuissima) in landscaping, based on Cal-IPC’s
listing it as a potential invasive plant.
While it has not been formally reviewed
for the Inventory, it has been listed in
weed alerts at the Symposium. The blog
quotes longtime Cal-IPC members Jo
Kitz and Michael O’Brien, who have seen
the grass spreading. freshdirt.sunset.com

Cal-IPC Updates
Watchlist
What new weeds are starting to
pop up in wildlands? Our new
Watchlist compiles information
from Symposium Alerts, plants
nominated for our statewide
Inventory, and comments received
from weed workers into one list. It
will be updated frequently and we
welcome additional information on
these and other species. www.cal-ipc.
org/ip/management/alerts
Job Board
Looking for a job or need workers?
Cal-IPC now has an online job
board at www.cal-ipc.org. Submit
announcements to us at jobboard@
cal-ipc.org.

Water pollution may give invasive marine species an advantage over native species. An experiment in San Francisco Bay
exposed native and exotic organisms to a
copper solution and a seawater control.
The native species richness decreased with
increasing concentration of copper, while
exotic species richness did not change significantly. A few exotic species increased
with more copper, demonstrating that
pollutants affect native and introduced
species differently. (Crooks et al., Biological Invasions, 2011, 13:165–176)
A Central American invasive plant
threatens the world’s largest wildlife
migration. The Serengeti-Masai Mara
ecosystem in Africa is under invasion by
feverfew (Parthenium hysterophorus). If left
unchecked it could threaten the continued migration of millions of animals
across the plains every year, including 1.5
million wildebeest, 500,000 Thomson’s
gazelle and 200,000 zebra. Feverfew
displaces palatable plants eaten by migrating species, reducing the carrying capacity
of natural pastures by as much as 90%.

(International Union for the Conservation
of Nature, Nov. 24, 2010, www.iucn.org)
Medusahead is spreading by 12% per
year in Western states, outgrowing
other grassland species. Researchers in
Oregon found that medusahead has a
faster growth rate, a longer period of
growth, and produces more total biomass
than other plants, including another
invader, cheatgrass. While animals can eat
cheatgrass, the sharp, twisted points on
the ends of medusahead injure wildlife
and livestock. (Science Daily, Nov. 17,
2010, www.sciencedaily.com)
Managing knapweeds and beekeeping are
in conflict in Michigan. Beekeepers are
angry at the release of biocontrol insects
to control spotted knapweed, a serious invasive plant but frequently used by honey
bees. The Michigan Beekeepers Association estimates that knapweed is worth
$40 million annually to the bee industry.
The state Dept. of Ag. is working to find
native plant species that can substitute as
nectar sources. (The Epoch Times, Dec. 21,
2010, www.theepochtimes.com)

Join Us!
8th Annual Invasive Weeds
Awareness Day at the Capitol
March 16 ~ Sacramento
This is your opportunity to help
maintain WMA funding by telling state
legislators how important it is.
Register to join us at www.cal-ipc.org!
Creative fundraising
Instead of buying a sportscar for his 50th
birthday, Cal-IPC Executive Director
Doug Johnson held an online fundraiser
for Cal-IPC through Crowdrise.com
(yes, he loves his job), raising more
than $5,000. Thank you to all who
contributed!

Membership renewal
Have you renewed your membership
for 2011? Check the mailing label
to see if you are current. Renew
now so you do not miss the Spring
newsletter with information about
the upcoming Symposium!

Cal-IPC News Winter 2011

Feature

When a problem weed is found, you must…WHIPPET!
by Gina Darin, California Dept. of Water Resources, and
Mike Perlmutter and Aviva Rossi, Bay Area Early Detection Network

f you’ve ever faced the problem of
having more weed infestations than you
can manage effectively, you may benefit from WHIPPET (Weed Heuristics:
Invasive Population Prioritization for
Eradication Tool). WHIPPET helps land
managers prevent range expansion of the
most potentially damaging weed infestations. WHIPPET factors biological, spatial and logistical information about each
population to prioritize weed infestations
based on potential impact, invasiveness,
and feasibility of eradication.
WHIPPET was envisioned by Steve
Schoenig while at the California Dept.
of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and
developed with funding from the USDA
Forest Service State and Private Forestry
Program by Gina Darin while at UC
Davis. CDFA needed a systematic tool to
help prioritize A-rated weed infestations
for eradication by considering characteristics of the target species, as well as their
specific locations.
Ms. Darin’s Master’s thesis tested
WHIPPET’s ability to prioritize individual infestations for eradication separately, in acknowledgement that not all

Species-level criteria:
1) Impact to Wildlands *
2) Impact to Agriculture
3) Impact to Humans
4) Rate of Spread *
5) Reproductive Ability *
6) Detectability
7) Control Effectiveness
* as scored in Cal-IPC’s California
Invasive Plant Inventory

Cal-IPC News Winter 2011

infestations of a
given weed pose
the same threats
and feasibility of
eradication. The
test of the prioritization tool in a
sample of CDFA’s
A-rated weeds
showed that by
considering spatial,
logistical, and biological aspects of
individual populations within a species, some ranked
significantly higher
than others in the
resulting prioritization. These high
rankings are due to
the combination
of a location in a
concentration of rare species occurrences,
proximity to a vector of spread, and easy
accessibility.

How to use WHIPPET
WHIPPET is designed for land
managers who have more eradication
targets than they can afford to treat all at
once. WHIPPET will help land managers
choose the highest priority infestations
among high-priority species targets. The
majority of the work involved in using WHIPPET is gathering all the data
needed to run the model. Ms. Darin
will provide trainings on the use of the
model. In time, she hopes to have trained
contractors available who can conduct the
analyses as well.
First, pick high-priority species. Use
the CDFA Pest Plant Rating list (www.
cdfa.ca.gov/weedhome) and the Cal-IPC
Inventory (www.cal-ipc.org/ip/inventory) or

consult your Weed Management Area to
choose species targets.
Second, assess target species for
required information. Figure 1 shows the
variety of criteria that need to be scored.
Appendix B of Ms. Darin’s thesis (available online at www.cdfa.ca.gov/weedhome)
describes these criteria and how to score
them.
Third, fill out a species assessment
for each target species, and assign a score
for each criterion. Contact Ms. Darin for
sample species assessments for A-rated and
additional species already scored.
Fourth, create a GIS inventory of all
populations to be considered for eradication. California-wide GIS invasive plant
occurrence data can be both downloaded
from and uploaded to the Calflora database (www.calflora.org). Thorough data is
important for WHIPPET.

Figure 1. This diagram shows the species-level criteria which contribute to WHIPPET
ranking. Each criteria has a numerical weighting factor based on expert experience. Reproduced from Skurka Darin et al. 2010.

If you have not surveyed yet, record
the net and gross size of the infestation,
accessibility of the site, and (ideally)
detectability of the plants before flowering. If you have already surveyed, then
estimate these parameters for each population if you do not have the data. If you
are mapping in polygons or lines, you will
need to convert those populations to a
point layer that represents the occurrences
based on central coordinates.
Fifth, contact Ms. Darin to set up a
WHIPPET training. At your training, we
will run those populations through geoprocessing models in ArcGIS to calculate
the population-level scores. Then we will
enter the species-level and populationlevel criteria scores in the WHIPPET
spreadsheet, work out any issues that may
arise, and calculate the overall priority
scores for each population.
WHIPPET’s ranking of populations
for eradication priority is not the end of
the road. The land manager still needs
to consider additional factors such as
landowner cooperation, and assess the
prioritization to see if it makes sense. For

instance, a land manager may prioritize
treatment of lower-scoring populations
if they can be easily treated by crews and
equipment already mobilized to treat
high-priority populations, thereby maximizing overall efficiency.
CDFA is currently using WHIPPET
to prioritize A-rated weed infestations in
northeastern California, but the major
field test is being undertaken by the Bay
Area Early Detection Network (BAEDN).

Prioritizing for the S.F. Bay Area
BAEDN (www.BAEDN.org)
coordinates early detection and rapid
response to infestations of invasive plants
throughout the nine-county San Francisco
Bay Area. BAEDN proactively deals with
new outbreaks before they can grow into
large and costly environmental threats.
In 2010 BAEDN published a list of 73
priority early detection species. BAEDN
used WHIPPET to prioritize eradication
of over 200 populations of the BAEDN
priority species reported to the Calflora
database over the last 10 years. Because
the BAEDN geographic scope covers mul-

tiple jurisdictions, and relies on existing
data not collected for this purpose, not
all populations have necessary attribute
data, such as population size, driving
time, access, and cost of treatment. Lack
of certain attribute data in our WHIPPET
run prevented a full run of the model,
probably skewing the output to weight
species factors heavier than population
factors. This is more heavily born out in
the results, which show clustered scores
for conspecific populations.
WHIPPET results are now being used
to plan rapid response work in the San
Francisco Bay Area. BAEDN has verified
population status and identified treatment
needs and additional considerations (such
as willingness of landowners to cooperate
on management or eradication efforts,
or local concerns about herbicide use)
through partner contacts and site visits.
…continued page 10

Cal-IPC News Winter 2011

Interview with Cal-IPC co-founder Carla Bossard
by Gina Darin, California Department of Water Resources

s part of Cal-IPC’s 20th year celebration, we’re tracking down some of
the founding board members to ask them
what they think of their creation.
This past December, I caught up with
Carla Bossard and her husband Earl over
some luscious vittles at the Dumpling
House in Davis. She had recently returned
from a sabbatical on the Tibetan Plateau
and is off again in January 2011 to trek
with her St. Mary’s College students
through Thailand, Laos, and Singapore.

Carla begins studying invasives
In her pursuit of a Ph.D., Carla
considered 22 different professors at three
major universities: Berkeley, Santa Cruz,
and Davis. Without question Marcel Rejmánek at UC Davis stood out from the

pack. Carla’s original pursuit of study was
the ecophysiology of tropical rainforest
plants involved in secondary succession.
However, after discussing this topic with
Marcel and considering the challenge of
taking her 7-year-old son Steve to do field
work in Sumatra, she decided on ecophysiology of invasive species in the Sierra
Nevada… and we’re lucky she did!
Carla took Steve into the field regularly while working on her doctorate studying Scotch broom in Redwood National
Park. She shared stories with me about the
days in the field counting broom seedlings
in the sleet and elk poop, and how this
unfortunately turned Steve off from ever
working in the field.
Carla stuck with invasives throughout
her career until last year when she was

invited to join a new project in Tibet to
study the ecophysiology of high elevation
temperate rainforest plants, climate
change, and secondary succession. Never
far from her favorite topic, during her
sabbatical she gave presentations in China
about restoration and invasive species.
Carla plans to wrap up her current
research project this summer during another trip to Asia.

Carla’s intentions for Cal-IPC
First, Carla was concerned that the
problem of invasive species was far greater
than most people realized, including
environmentalists; so her main goal for
Cal-IPC was to increase awareness and
educate the public on the potentially
disastrous consequences of invasive species
in California. Personally, her goal was to
come up with some applied
solutions to these problems, which is reflected in
her research and publications.

Founders of Cal-IPC in the early 1990’s: (back, from left) Jo Kitz, Jake Sigg, Ann Howald,
Nelroy Jackson, Greg Archbald, Steve Harris, Mike Pitcairn, Sally Davis, (front, from left) John
Randall, George Molnar, Mike Kelly, and Carla Bossard.

Cal-IPC News Winter 2011

Another of Carla’s
aspirations for Cal-IPC was
to develop a place where
real land mangers out in
the field pulling weeds by
their roots who actually
had onsite expertise could
talk to academics who
knew chemical processes
about in invasive plants but
didn’t really understand
which problems were most
critical in the field. Prior
to Cal-IPC, there was not
really a forum for the two
to come together and share
ideas about invasive plant
management. Cal-IPC’s
success lies in getting
professional researchers
meeting regularly with
on-the-ground experts in
the field.

After Cal-IPC had been going for a
few years and education and awareness
was progressing, she hoped Cal-IPC
would start backing research and
finding solutions. She was particularly
concerned about educating people with
power, like legislators, who have some
pull on the issues.

Where is Cal-IPC going?
Cal-IPC has been exceptional
and has exceeded Carla’s hopes and
expectations on educating the public
and providing a forum for researchers
and land managers to come together
on invasive plant issues. Cal-IPC’s
work on advocacy is still developing,
but it’s going strong. Cal-IPC has more

Balancing on a log in Sumatra, Indonesia, Jan.1995. We were walking across a large bog to get to an island badly infested with eupatory
(Ageratina adenophora). This location was on the edge of a National Park
and they wanted advice on what to do about the eupatory before it got
into their park. In 2008, I learned that eupatory has completely taken
over the island but not gotten into the park. Now I know how to stop
the spread of eupatory: circle the infestation with a really big bog! Photo:
Carla Bossard.

JiuZhaiGou National Biosphere Preserve on the Tibetan Plateau, on the Chinese side of the Tibet-China
border, April 2010. Carla Bossard and Dr. Tangya of
the Sichuan University, along with their students, have
been examining changing of the high altitude montane
rain forest species composition has been altered due to
to changing environmental conditions. Photo: Carla
Bossard.

staff now than ever before, is
doing research and is finding
the answers. Carla expects to
see Cal-IPC expand advocacy
efforts in the future, maybe
hiring permanent policy staff,
but doesn’t expect to see any
slow down on the original
goals.

Carla’s advice for aspiring weed
warriors:
1) “Assess the invasives situation first
thing when they get their job and
prioritize efforts to be successful.”
2) “Endure. Don’t give up! …Think
sleet and elk poop!

Cal-IPC News Winter 2011

Dangerous and invasive Euphorbias in California
by Bob Case, former Cal-IPC board member, retired from Contra Costa County Dept. of Agriculture

uring recent months as the Cal-IPC
mapping crew traveled around the
state they have found that few people
know the species of invasive spurges in
California wildlands. A bit of a refresher
on spurge biology and identification
can help weed warriors and detection
specialists identify and report these
dangerous weeds. I say dangerous because
I have suffered eight hours of excruciating
eye pain from exposure to oblong spurge
sap and have accounts of similar pain
from other weed warriors. Temporary
blindness is well documented.
Generally, invasive spurges are noxious
perennials with milky white latex sap
that has varying toxic effects depending
on dose, mode of exposure and species.
They range from 10 to 90 cm tall and are
originally from southwestern Europe.

tive and appear within lemon
to greenish colored bracts
which are quite attractive. A
commonly known member
of the Euphorbia family is the
poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima), whose colorful red
bracts can be mistaken for the
sepals or petals of flowers.
Weed Warrior and television news anchor Wendy
Tokuda was alarmed when she
discovered a vase full of oblong
spurge in her local beauty salon that the stylist had picked
on her way to work. Imagine
a few careless touches!

The flowers are
monoecious (male and female
flowers occuring on each plant
All the spurges in California are
but separately). Each flower
perennials that go through a period of
cluster or inflorescence is
senescence, with semi-woody shoots that
umbel-like at the stem tips,
Euphorbia oblongata, oblong spurge, occurs
turn reddish with the onset of the cold
with the central inflorescences
throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and the
maturing first. Flowers are
season. Leaves often turn reddish to yelcentral Sierras. Photo by Bob Case.
insect pollinated and explodlowish just before dropping. These are
ing capsules disperse the seeds.
good characters to look for in the fall and
numerous buds, making control difficult.
These spurges also have a deep spreadwinter. In the summer another character
California’s invasive spurges
ing root structure which can store vast
to look for is the unusual appearance of
amounts of energy and they produce
the “flowers”. The flowers are distincThere are several species of spurges
that are known threats to California’s
wildlands. Oblong spurge (Euphorbia
oblongata) and
Euphorbia terracina Geraldton carnation
carnation spurge
spurge (Euphorbia
terracina) are found
in valuable habitats in wildlands near
the two largest population centers in the
state. These spurges are both “B” rated
noxious weeds by the California
Dept. of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), have known
economic/environmental
deteriment and limited distribution.
Cal-IPC’s InvenEuphorbia terracina, Geraldton carnation spurge, has only
tory rates them as
been reported in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. Photo
limited and moderby Erin Avina, NPS.
ate, repectively.

Cal-IPC News Winter 2011

Euphorbia terracina has dramatically
increased its distribution over the last
five years. Scattered populations
Euphorbia oblongata are found throughout Ventura and
oblong spurge
Los Angeles counties, including
large populations within the Santa
Monica Mountains National Recreation
Area.
Leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula) and serrate
or toothed spurge (Euphorbia serrata) are
both “A” rated by CDFA, have known
economic/environmental deteriment and
a limited enough distribution to allow
for the possibility of eradication
or successful containment. CalIPC’s Inventory rates E. esula
as high, but did not evaluate
E. serrata.

Euphorbia oblongata has been known
in the Bay Area since the 1940s but has
recently spread rapidly in burned and
managed areas in the Bay Area. E. oblongata has also been reported in the Sierran
foothills.

Euphorbia serrata was
eradicated from the only
known location in the Bay
Area decades ago but could easily
reappear. The leaves are visibly toothed or
serrate which make it easy to identify.
Euphorbia esula is known from
several northern California counties and
is under eradication. Oregon and Nevada
have large populations that are ready to
reinvade at any time.
E. esula is considered a
serious noxious weed in
most western states with

Euphorbia esula, leafy spurge, occurs in northern
California, and is a serious problem in MT, ID, WY, ND,
SD, OR and NV. Photo by Bob Case.

extensive populations in Montana, Idaho,
Wyoming and the Dakotas.

Controlling spurges
Managed sheep and goat grazing can
reduce the economic impacts but many
thousands of acres have been considered
useless once this weed takes over. Mechanical controls and hand pulling are generally not effective because of the deep root
system and potential for toxic effects on
workers. Introduced beetles have helped
in E. esula management and when utilized
with grazing and herbicide applications
can be effective tools in serious management and eradication. Unfortunately
spurges rapidly reclaim lands if treatments are not coupled with restoration
plans that include some type of seeding or
replanting.
The spurges are out there, two species
are disturbingly well established, two are
known threats waiting on the sidelines to
invade and numerous other species are
potential threats. We must increase our
knowledge and detection efforts to protect
California’s precious wildland habitats
from the threat.
As CDFA-rated weeds these spurges
are subject to control or eradication by
the county (“B” rated) or state (“A” rated).
If you see an invasive weed, take photos
and collect a specimen, get information
on location (GPS or maps) and the land
owner if possible. Check references to
eliminate misidentificaEuphorbia esula tion wtih non-invasives
leafy spurge
and natives. Suspects
should be taken to the
local county Agricultural Commissioner’s
office for determination. Positives should
be reported to the local Weed Management Area and data entered on
Calflora.
For more information about E. esula, E.
oblongata, and E.
terracina, refer
to the plant
profiles on
Cal-IPC’s
website,
www.cal-ipc.
org

Cal-IPC News Winter 2011

…WHIPPET from page 5
Targeting eradication for high-scoring
populations thus directs effort to populations with the greatest potential to cause
negative impacts and spread rapidly, and
with the highest feasibility of eradication.
BAEDN found WHIPPET to be an
extremely valuable tool for planning eradication of high priority species, and looks
forward to adapting and employing the
tool more broadly through the emerging
California Early Detection Network.
In addition another field test of
WHIPPET will be undertaken by a
partnership led by Ducks Unlimited to
prioritize red sesbania populations for
eradication. Extensive field surveys of
red sesbania were completed during the
summer of 2010 to ensure that thorough
GIS data was available to run the model.
Although WHIPPET was orginally
developed for multiple species analysis
and prioritization, this project will

provide a case study of its use for a single
species on a regional scale.

Acknowledgements
Special thanks to collaborators who
helped develop and test the tool, to
Andrea Williams for the acronym, and to
Tim Michels for designing the logo!

Resources
Darin, G. 2008. Prioritizing weed
populations for eradication at a regional
level: The California Department of Food
and Agriculture’s A-rated weeds. Master’s
Thesis,UC Davis. Available: www.cdfa.
ca.gov/weedhome.
Skurka Darin. G.M., et al. 2010. WHIPPET: A novel tool for prioritizing invasive
plant populations for regional eradication,
Journal of Environmental Management,
doi:10.1016.2010/j.jenvman.2010.08.013
Contact Gina Darin for WHIPPET
training opportunities: (916) 376-9749,
gsdarin@water.ca.gov.

2011 Field Course Schedule
Gain understanding of appropriate control methods.
Learn better invasive plant identification skills.
Learn effective mapping techniques.
Create strategic plans to effectively achieve conservation goals.

IP
Cal-

ine
a
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San Luis Obispo

San Francisco

San Luis Obispo Botanic Garden

The Presidio’s Log Cabin

April 13 – Biology & ID
April 14 – Control Methods

San Diego

Lema Ranch

Tijuana River NERR

Cal-IPC News Winter 2011

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June 21 – Strategic Approaches
June 22 – Control Methods

Redding
May 17 – Biology & ID
May 18 – Control Methods

Man
ager

At Cal-IPC Field Courses you will learn valuable
tools needed to manage invasive plants from expert
instructors, and you can work towards your Cal-IPC
Trained Wildland Manager certificate. Check our
website to learn more about course curricula and the
new certificate program. Register at www.cal-ipc.org,
or call us at (510) 843-3902.

August 3 – Mapping
August 4 – Control Methods

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Cal-IPC News Winter 2011

Thank You for Supporting our Work!
Recent Donors
Your tax-deductible donations are extremely
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Special thanks to 97 supporters that contributed to Doug’s
th
(Murphys), James
50 birthday fundraiser. With the help of a few friends, Doug
& Nancy Harris
raised over $5,000. Doug is picured above chewing gorse during
(Huntington
his time as a California State Park employee at Año Nuevo State
Beach), John &
Park, 2001.
Hermi Hiatt

Cal-IPC News Winter 2011

(Las Vegas, NV), Ken Himes (Belmont),
Mark Hoddle (Riverside), Julie Horenstein
(Sacramento), Dana Howell, Susan
Hubbard (Salinas), Kevin Jackson
(Oakland), Nelroy Jackson (Corona),
Carolyn Johnson (Sebastopol), Barbara
W. Jones (Richmond), Virginia King
(Oakland), Annabelle Kleist (Davis),
Marla Knight (Fort Jones), Carla Koop,
Mark Langner (Bridgeport), Mark Lawless
(Poway), Lynn Lorenson (Nevada City),
Loran May (San Francisco), Tanya Meyer
(Emporium, PA), Virginia Meyer (Shingle
Springs), Audrey Miller (Ferndale), Paul
Minault (San Francisco), Bill Neill (North
Hollywood), Elizabeth Proctor (San
Francisco), Carolyn Ridley (Alexandria,
VA), James Roberts (Ventura), Craig
Schriefer (Sacramento), Susan Schwartz
(Berkeley), Falk Schuetzenmeister
(Oakland), Julie Serences (Carmichael),
Bobbi Simpson (Point Reyes), Peter
Slattery (Salina), David Smernoff (Portola
Valley), Philomene R. Smith (Monterey),
Jean Starkweather (San Rafael), George
& Helene Strauss (Berkeley), Donna
Thompson (Crescent City), R.W. Van
Alstyne (Fort Bragg), Rebecca Waegell
(Sacramento), Wendy West (Placerville),
Nancy Wilkinson, Andrea Williams (Corte
Madera), Bill Winans (San Diego)

New Members
As a Cal-IPC Member, you join a powerful
network of land managers, researchers,
volunteers, and concerned citizens. Welcome!
Joan and Kevin Bockman (Buena Vista
Native Plant Club, Oceanside), Greg
Bringelson (Santa Clara County Parks &
Rec.), Alejandro Dominguez, Jr. (Santa
Clara Valley Water District, San Jose),
Christian Eggleton (Forester’s Co-Op,
Grass Valley), Charles Fry (Ft. Jones),
Jackie Heyneman (Fallbrook Land
Conservancy, Carpinteria), Elizabeth
Kellogg (Tierra Data, Inc., Escondido),
Joel Kramer (San Elijo Lagoon
Conservancy, Del Mar), Kathryn
McEachern (US Geological Survey Channel
Islands, Ventura), Dietrick McGinnis
(McGinnis & Associates, Reno, NV), Lisa
Paterson (Livermore), Melissa Reslock
(McGinnis & Associates, Reno, NV),
James Rexroth (Lodi), Tule River Tribal
Reservations

Northern California Botanists 2011 Symposium

he 4th Northern California Botanists Symposium took place
at Chico State University, January 10-11. Over 270 attendees
enjoyed NorCal Botanist President Linnea Hanson’s welcome and
introduction to the symposium.
Speakers presented on topics ranging from managing rare
plants on public lands, using fire to restore ecosystem health,
field implications of Jepson Manual changes, using fire to restore
ecosystem health, pollination biology, California lichenology and
climate change.
Lawrence Janeway, curator of the Chico State Herbarium, led a
tour of the herbarium and discussed online data and storage space
limitations. Following a delicious banquet, Bob Patterson, San
Francisco State University, gave a presentation about the history of
the Phlox family. His humor and knowledge was quite engaging.
Next year, the NorCal Botanists Symposium will defer to the
CNPS conference, San Diego, January 12-14, 2012, but the NorCal
Botanists Symposium will return in 2013.
NorCal Botanists also give $1,000 student research grants.
Applications are due March 31. www.norcalbotanists.org

Cal-IPC hosted an exhibit booth where staff showed off our
online quad mapping tool (www.calweedmapper.org). We also
presented research on current invasive plant habitat and how it
will likely change based on climate change.

Weed Alert: Small smutgrass, Sporobolus indicus
by Glenn Nader, UC Advisor, Livestock and Natural Resources, Butte, Sutter, and Yuba Counties

mutgrass has been found invading
irrigated pastures of the Sacramento
Valley, and sandy substrate along riparian corridors in San Diego, and has been
reported in San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and
Merced counties. Smutgrass is unpalatable
to livestock and can quickly dominate
pasture causing significant reduction in
grazing capacity.
Small smutgrass, Sporobolus indicus,
is a tufted, perennial grass that is native
to tropical America. Smutgrass occurs as
a weed in many different regions of the
world including Australia, S. Europe, and
Chile. One smutgrass plant can produce
45,000 seeds per year. These seeds become
sticky and gelatinous when moistened,
facilitating distribution.
The results of a Weed Management
Area research mini-grant on the control of
small smutgrass were presented at a field
meeting on October 30, 2010. Chemical,
mechanical, grazing control methods were
tested, as well as enhanced irrigation.

The meeting highlighted
the 95% control
attained with the
use of a midJuly rotary wiper
application of
30% glyphosate
(4.5 lbs/gallon).
Treatments later
in the year were
less effective unless the rate of the
glyphosate was increased to 75% of
the wiper applied
solution.
For this treat- Small smutgrass, Sporobolus indicus, has a distinct spike-like inflorescence that is obviously not branched. This characteristic makes it easy to
ment method to
work it is critical distinquish from other irrigated pasture grasses. Photo: Joe DiTomaso.
that the desirable
Please read the full report for an
plants be lower than the target weeds;
in-depth discussion and analysis of the
grazing animials can be used to reduce the results. cesutter.ucdavis.edu/Livestock_and_
height of desirable vegetation.
Range_Management/Smutgrass.htm

Cal-IPC News Winter 2011

Readings &
Resources
Know of a resource that should be shared
here? Send it to edbrusati@cal-ipc.org.
Managing grassland weeds
The USDA-ARS Ecologically-Based Invasive Plant Management program produces
materials related to managing invasive
annual grasses. They focus on cheatgrass
and medusahead in the Great Basin, with
information on adaptive management,
revegetation, and biology. www.ebipm.org
Mexico strategy
“National Strategy on Invasive Species in
Mexico – Prevention, Control, Eradication” is now available in English. www.
conabio.gob.mx/invasoras/images/e/e4/
Invasive_species_Mexico_dec2010.pdf
Distinguishing Phragmites
The Plant Conservation Alliance’s Alien
Plant Working Group has a fact sheet and
detailed guide to distinguishing between
native and introduced forms of Phragmites

australis (common reed), with diagrams of
morphological characteristics. www.nps.
gov/plants/ALIEN/fact/phau1.htm
Calflora invasives interface
Calflora has a new page dedicated to
collecting invasive plant mapping data in
California, with links for uploading your
data and observations. www.calflora.org/
entry/invasives.html
Weeds Across Borders
Presentations and proceedings from the
2010 Weeds Across Borders conference
are now available.WAB brings together
weed managers from the U.S., Canada,
and Mexico in a bi-annual conference.
www.weedcenter.org/wab/2010/index.html
Gender and invasive species
A new report from the Global Invasive
Species Programme examines the effect
of gender differences on issues related to
invasive species management worldwide.
“Mainstreaming gender into prevention
and management of invasive species”
describes how differences in the management and utilization of resources between

men and women translate into differences in the impacts and effectiveness of
control for invasive species. www.gisp.org/
whatsnew/docs/GISP_GenderIASA4.PDF
Conservation Biology for All
A conservation biology textbook with
chapters by eminent ecologists is available
free of charge as an electronic download.
Topics include conservation challenges
and possible solutions worldwide. Download the full book or individual chapters
as pdfs. This may be a limited time offer.
www.mongabay.com/conservation-biologyfor-all.html
Weedy weekly planner
Montana’s Ravalli Co. Weed District put
together a noxious weed and native plant
2011 weekly planner. Get yours today
for only $12 by calling 406-777-5842 or
emailing Melissa Maggio: melissa.rcwd@
yahoo.com.
Weed busters song
If you need something to sing while
hiking to your field site, just belt out the
Weed Busters Theme Song. www.nps.gov/
plants/ALIEN/weedsong.htm

In memory of
Les Mehrhoff

fter years of service to the
conservation community, Dr.
Leslie J. Mehrhoff passed away in
December. He is recognized as a
national leader in early detection and
rapid response and was the Director
and life force behind the Invasive
Plant Atlas of New England. IPANE
tracks the distribution and spread
of more than 100 invasive plants
throughout New England. Les was a
passionate and charismatic spokesperson for the flora of New England,
and he devoted his life to protecting
and preserving nature. Les’ family
has requested that those wishing
to honor him “perform an act of
kindness for the preservation of our
environment.”

Cal-IPC News Winter 2011

Les Mehrhoff examines invasive plant specimens in the biology collections facility
at the University of Connecticut. Photo by Frank Dahlneyer.

The WILDLAND WEED CALENDAR
February – April
National Invasive Species Awareness Week
February 28 – March 4
Washington, DC
www.nisaw.org
Western Society of Weed Science
March 7-10
Spokane, WA
www.wsweedscience.org
Invasive Spartina Forum
March 10-11
Oakland
HybridForum@spartina.org
Invasive Weeds Awareness Day at the Capitol
March 16
Sacramento
www.cal-ipc.org/policy/state/ciwad.php
Western Aquatic Plant Mgmt Society Mtg
March 28-31
Denver, CO
www.wapms.org
Cal-IPC Bio & ID and Control Courses
April 13 & 14
San Luis Obispo
www.cal-ipc.org

Noxious Weed Short Course, WSWS
April 18-21
Loveland, CO
www.wsweedscience.org

May – July

California Invasive Weeds Awareness Week
July 18-22
Sponsor an event!
www.cal-ipc.org/policy/state/ciwaw.php

August & beyond

SERCAL’s 18th Annual Conference
May 10-12
San Diego
www.sercal.org/conference.htm

Cal-IPC Mapping and Control Courses
August 3 & 4
San Diego
www.cal-ipc.org

Cal-IPC Bio & ID and Control Courses
May 17 & 18
Redding
www.cal-ipc.org

Ecological Society of America
August 7-12
Austin, TX
www.esa.org/austin

CNGA Grassland Monitoring Wrksp
May 27
Davis
www.cnga.org

SER Int’l Congress on Ecological Restoration
August 21-25
Merida, Yucatan, Mexico
www.ser2011.org

Cal-IPC Strategic Approaches and Control
June 21 & 22
San Francisco
www.cal-ipc.org

Cal-IPC’s 20th Annual Symposium
October 4-7
Granlibakken, Tahoe City
www.cal-ipc.org

ESRI International User Conference
July 11-15
San Diego
www.esri.com/events

Natural Areas Conference
November 1-4
Tallahassee, FL
www.naturalarea.org

Quotable
“You can see the invading hordes right on the horizon.”
~ Christy Brigham, NPS, discussing the invasion of sand dunes by fountain grass (Pennisetum
setaceum) on “Bad Seeds” by Ilsa Setziol, broadcast on KPCC, www.scpr.org, November 22, 2010

“You could probably stun a bear with it.”
~ Joe Eaton and Ron Sullivan referring to the weighty Jepson Manual, in “Weeding out the bad
plants”, San Francisco Chronicle, December 5, 2010.

“Eat local. Eat wild meat. Eat for habitat. Eat invasive.”
~ Rachel Kesel in a blog post arguing for the “invasive species diet.” From James Gorman,
“Invasivores”, The New York Times, January 2, 2011

Cal-IPC News Winter 2011

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