Vol. 24, No. 1

Spring 2016

Cal-IPC News
Protecting California’s Environment and Economy from Invasive Plants
Newsletter of the California Invasive Plant Council

Stopping the spread

Protecting Sierra meadows 4
25 years of Cal-IPC! 6
Managing Sahara mustard 8
National EDRR framework 11
Cal-IPC wins IPM award 11
Protecting San Diego wetlands 12
Identifying emerging weeds 13
Tall whitetop (Lepidium latifolium):
The weed that tried to win the
West. Deputy Agricultural Biologist,
LeeAnne Mila, works along Highway
50, a prime noxious weed nursery
corridor, in El Dorado County. Photo
by Jessica Honeycutt.

From the Director’s Desk

Getting it done on the ground
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

Protecting California’s environment and economy
from invasive plants
STAFF
Doug Johnson, Executive Director
Elizabeth Brusati, Senior Scientist
Agustín Luna, Director of Finance & Administration
Bertha McKinley, Program Assistant
Dana Morawitz, Program Manager
for GIS and Regional Conservation

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Jutta Burger, President
Irvine Ranch Conservancy
Gina Darin, Vice President
California Department of Water Resources
Steve Schoenig, Treasurer
Independent Consultant
Tim Buonaccorsi, Secretary
RECON Environmental, Inc.
Morgan Ball, Wildlands Conservation Science
Jason Casanova, Council for Watershed Health
Jennifer Funk, Chapman University
Jason Giessow, Dendra, Inc.
Elise Gornish, UC Davis
William Hoyer, US Navy
Shawn Kelly, Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project
Drew Kerr, Invasive Spartina Project
Ed King, Placer Co. Ag. Commissioner’s Office
Dan Knapp, Long Beach Conservation Corps
John Knapp, The Nature Conservancy
Laura Pavliscak, Tejon Ranch Conservancy
Heather Schneider, UC Santa Barbara
Lynn Sweet, UC Riverside
STUDENT LIAISONS
Marina LaForgia, UC Davis
Amanda Swanson, UC Riverside

Affiliations for identification purposes only.

Cal-IPC News

Spring 2016 – Vol. 24, No. 1
Editors: Doug Johnson & Elizabeth Brusati.
Published by the California Invasive Plant Council. Articles may
be reprinted with permission. Previous issues are archived at
www.cal-ipc.org. Mention of commercial products does not
imply endorsement by Cal-IPC. Submissions are welcome. We
reserve the right to edit content.

2

Cal-IPC News Spring 2016

By Executive Director Doug Johnson

I

t’s been five years since the State of California cut its weed programs. We’re saving about 5 cents a person each year by not funding the work of county Weed
Management Areas, by not having district biologists and not distributing biocontrol
agents But the economy got better and the budget crisis loosened, so why have the
programs not been restored?
Basically it’s bureaucratic gridlock. The California Department of Food and
Agriculture, which has the historic mandate to manage invasive plants, has a sharp
focus on protecting agriculture and the economy, and plenty of work to do to fulfill
that primary mission. They reserve their political capital for funding programs thtat
protect high-walut crops from major pests.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is charged with protecting the
state’s biodiversity. Their Wildlife Action Plan makes clear how much of a threat
invasive species are to the state’s wildlife. They have a program to address quagga and
zebra mussels because a funding source was developed via boater fees. But they do not
have a funding source to address weed work. And like CDFA, they have lots of budget
needs that rank higher than addressing invasive plants.
While we continue to look for openings to advocate for these programs (or a new
version of them), we have also looked to access other funding to make on-the-ground
work happen. We funded priority weed removal in the Sierra for the last three years
with grants from private foundations and the US Forest Service. We will be mapping Arundo donax (giant reed) across the Central Valley using restoration funding
from the Prop. 1 water bond (a source which is also funding the Monterey Resource
Conservation District to remove Arundo from the Salinas River).
The Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project funded invasive sea lavender
removal in San Diego wetlands last year, and a new National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation grant is funding invasive sea lavender removal in San Francisco Bay salt
marshes this year. The California Wildlife Conservation Board is funding knotweed
removal on the north coast.
There are lots of areas and lots of weeds that still need attention. We have plans in
various stages of development for most parts of the state. And grants, even five-year
grants, are just a start. Our goal is to get the work done on the ground, funded one way
or the other.
Cal-IPC board members
remove Moroccan knapweed (Volutaria tubuliflora),
an early eradication target,
in Borrego Springs at their
annual strategic retreat
this spring. Photo by Gina
Darin.

Cal-IPC Updates
2016 Symposium set. Our 25th annual
Symposium will be held at the Tenaya
Lodge near Yosemite, November 2-5.
Abstract submission and registration are
open. See pages 6-7.
New projects. Cal-IPC is kicking off
several new efforts in 2016. We will be
mapping giant reed (Arundo donax) along
Central Valley waterways, developing a
index for rating the vulnerability of Sierra
meadows to invasive plants, and working
with Calflora to develop functionality that
further supports landscape-level earlyeradication planning. Funding for this
work comes from the California Wildlife
Conservation Board, the National Fish
and Wildlife Foundation and the US
Forest Service/State and Private Forestry,
respectively.
Weed identification cards. New
identification cards for
90 species are available
for download. The
cards are designed to
help non-botanically
trained staff or
volunteers detect
species of local
importance, with
photos, brief
description of
the plant and
its habitat, and
removal method
for small
populations.
Made to be printed and laminated
for fieldwork. www.cal-ipc.org/ip/edrr/
Landscaping guidelines for building
codes. We have posted a guide that shows
how CDFA noxious weeds, PlantRight
voluntary recommendations, and Cal-IPC
Inventory relate to each other for plants
potentially found in horticulture. The list
flags those species that have benefits as
food, forage, or turf. With water-efficient
landscaping now included in California’s
building code, including the mandate to
avoid the use of invasive plants, we will be
using these guidelines to inform designers
how to comply.

Wildland
Weed News
Herbicide BMPs read far and wide.
Cal-IPC’s Best Management Practices
manual for protecting wildlife when using
herbicides for invasive plant management
has been downloaded over 2,000 times,
from 45 states and 32 countries. See story
on our IPM Innovator award on page 11.
New board members. Welcome Bill
Hoyer (US Navy), Laura Pavliscak (Tejon
Ranch Conservancy) Heather Schneider
(Santa Barbara Botanic Garden) and Lynn
Sweet (UC Riverside). Amanda Swanson
(UC Riverside) joins Marina LaForgia
(UC Davis) as our student liaisons. www.
cal-ipc.org/about/staff.php
Lowe’s and OSH join PlantRight.
Lowe’s and Orchard Supply Hardware
have agreed to avoid PlantRight’s list
of invasive plants in their California
stores and stock non-invasive alternatives.
Cal-IPC is a partner of PlantRight, a
program of Sustainable Conservation.
www.plantright.org.

Other News
National EDRR Framework released.
Federal agencies released a framework
for addressing invasive species through
EDRR. Cal-IPC served on the stakeholder
advisory committee. See page 11.
North American herbaria are withering
away. Collections of preserved plant
specimens that have been accumulating
for a century or more are being closed
and consolidated as tight budgets and
competition for space put pressure on
universities to direct resources to facilities
such as labs. www.nature.com/news/plantcollections-left-in-the-cold-by-cuts-1.17875
LCCs survive budget scare. Cal-IPC
joined other organizations in protesting
a proposed 50% funding cut for
the nation’s network of Landscape
Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs),
regional collaborations funded through
the US Fish & Wildlife Service. (The
California LCC helped Cal-IPC develop

CalWeedMapper and design landscapelevel invasive plant management strategies
across the state.) Signatures from
hundreds of conservation groups like CalIPC, as well as a new National Academy
of Sciences report concluding that
landscape-level approaches are essential
for addressing today’s conservation
challenges, resulted in the LCC budget
being restored. See lccnetwork.org/about/
national-academy-sciences-review-lccs for
more information on the NAS report.
Climate-smart restoration. Point Blue
has resources to help land managers
design projects that address the
impacts of climate change, including a
restoration checklist, riparian restoration
design database, and resources on
climate change projections. www.
pointblue.org/our-science-and-services/
conservation-science/habitat-restoration/
climate-smart-restorationtoolkit/
Water primrose management report.
Creeping water primroses (Ludwigia spp.)
are aggressive aquatic plants. This new
report presents an overview of the biology
and ecology of these invasive plant species,
along with management case studies
and research efforts. It proposes research
priorities and gives resource managers
recommendations for how to prevent and
prioritize management of these aquatic
weeds. acwc.sdp.sirsi.net/client/en_US/
search/asset/1048352
UC Restoration Research Information
Center (RIC). UC Davis is setting up a
RIC website for restoration practitioners,
similar to the existing Weed RIC. If you
have good restoration-related photos to
share, such as before-after, restoration in
progress, or completed sites, send with
captions to Elise Gornish at egornish@
ucdavis.edu.

Keep current!
Remember to check your Cal-IPC
membership status on the mailing
label. Keep your membership current
so you don’t miss out on any of the
new happenings in the field. Renew
online or with the enclosed envelope.
Thank you for your membership and
the support it provides for our work!

Cal-IPC News Spring 2016

3

Weeds and climate resilience in Sierra meadows
By Elizabeth Brusati and Doug Johnson, Cal-IPC

T

hanks to funding from the Wildlife
Conservation Society’s Climate
Adaptation Fund over the last two years,
Cal-IPC has worked with local partners
in the Sierra Nevada to begin invasive
plant eradication efforts in a set of Sierra
meadows, while developing guidelines
for incorporating climate resiliency into
invasive plant management.
Meadows play a vital role in the lives
of almost every wildlife species in the
Sierra Nevada, from songbirds to frogs
to bears. The resiliency of these meadows
to environmental change is critical to
protecting the region’s wildlife. With a
warming climate, the Sierra Nevada will
see increasing pressure from invasive
plants, even at high elevations. Invasive
plants degrade meadow habitats by
replacing native plants on which wildlife
depends. Some invasives may also alter
processes such as water flow.

guidelines on climate resilience to help
other land managers.

eventual eradication of these species from
these meadow sites as the goal.

Cal-IPC worked with local partners
to identify the set of meadows to use for
this pilot project. Meadows were selected
in Sierra, Nevada, Placer, El Dorado, and
Alpine Counties. Treatment was recorded
on the Calflora website and land managers
prepared long-term management plans for
each site to describe plans for full eradication. Over all sites, 87 populations of 11
invasive plant species were removed, with

In addition, we compiled guidelines
for land managers with suggestions on
how to incorporate climate resilience
into invasive plant work (and vice versa).
We also wrote a report on the impacts
of invasive plants and climate change on
Sierra meadows. These are available on the
Cal-IPC website at www.cal-ipc.org/ip/
climateadaptation.

The National Fish, Wildlife and Plants
Climate Adaptation Strategy recommends
addressing existing threats such as invasive
species as an immediate no-regrets action
that we can take to help wildlife adapt
to climate change (www.wildlifeadaptationstrategy.gov). The California State
Wildlife Action Plan lists invasive species
as one of the major threats to wildlife in
California (www.wildlife.ca.gov/SWAP/
Final).
Cal-IPC formed partnerships
with county agriculture departments,
the US Forest Service, the California
Conservation Corps, California
Department of Fish and Wildlife, and
Truckee River Watershed Council to
conduct field work in 2014 and 2015
towards eradicating invasive plant
populations from a set of high-value
meadows. Some of these species have
limited distribution in California. Others
are more widespread but can be prevented
from reaching high-altitude meadows by
targeting populations that are likely to
spread into these areas. We also developed

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Cal-IPC News Spring 2016

Meadows: Sites ranged from Sierra County in the north to El Dorado
County in the south, and from 2400 to 6100 ft elevation.

Smithneck Creek State Wildlife Area: The
sagebrush-bitterbrush habitat at Smithneck
Creek, in Sierra County, is a critical winter-range
area for migratory deer and also supports goshawks, falcons, a variety of warbler species, and
snowshoe hares. California Conservation Corps
crews worked with California Department of Fish
and Wildlife staff to remove musk thistle and
Canada thistle, continuing work underway since
2009. Musk thistle (Carduus nutans) is encroaching upon the rare Sierra valley mousetail (Ivesia
aperta). Photo by Joel Trumbo, CDFW.

Bear Valley: Bear Valley sits along the Bear River
on the border of Nevada and Placer Counties,
on property owned by Pacific Gas and Electric
Company. It provides habitat for trout, willow
flycatcher, and yellow-legged frog as well as a
migration corridor and winter range for deer. Placer
County Department of Agriculture crews removed
rush skeletonweed (Chondrilla juncea), yellow
starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis), Scotch broom
(Cytisus scoparius), and Scotch thistle (Onopordum
acanthium). Photo by Ed King, Placer Department of
Agriculture.

Truckee River: Meadows along the Truckee River
provide habitat for numerous birds and are a migration corridor and summer range for regional deer
populations. The Truckee River Watershed Council
used contractors and volunteers to work on a complex
of meadow sites along the Truckee River near the
town of Truckee, including the Truckee River Wildlife
Area. Species removed included musk thistle, bull
thistle (Cirsium vulgare), perennial pepperweed/tall
white-top (Lepidium latifolium) and Russian knapweed
(Acroptilon repens). Photo by Jeannette Halderman,
TRWC.

…continued page 10

Cal-IPC News Spring 2016

5

Celebrate 25 years of protecting
California from invasive plants
Join fellow land managers, researchers, and conservationists
for the 25th annual Cal-IPC Symposium amidst the granite of
the Sierra Nevada! We’ll be celebrating in style November 2-5
at Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite.
Special sessions will focus on park stewardship in honor
of the National Park Service’s Centennial, including an
opening plenary session featuring talks by Don Neubacher,
superintendent of Yosemite National Park, and Terri Hogan,
national coordinator for NPS invasive plant programs.

Photo by Dana Morawitz

Natural resource managers will discuss how invasive plant
control can find common ground with protection of cultural
resources, fire protection, and wilderness designation. And
of course lots of talks and posters on the latest in research
and management approaches, discussion groups on hot
topics, trainings to help you do your work better, and the
opportunity to learn from the amazing network of land
stewards in California.
We will apply for Continuing Education credits from the
California Department of Pesticide Regulation.

Important Dates
June 1

Abstracts due

September 15

Early bird discount ends

October 1
Deadline for discounted
room rate
Advance registration ends

November 2-5

Cal-IPC’s 25th Symposium!

Abstract Deadline June 1
Share your work with 300 land managers and researchers. We welcome papers and posters covering diverse
aspects of invasive plant biology and control, as well as related topics of interest to those working in land
stewardship. Contributed papers selected for oral presentation receive a 20-minute time slot. Our designated
poster session allows our attendees to interact with poster presenters. Undergraduates, grad students, and recent
graduates are encouraged to enter our Student Paper and Poster Contest!

6

Cal-IPC News Spring 2016

Photo by J.P. Marie

October 26

2016 Cal-IPC Symposium
Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite
Schedule
Wednesday, November 2
Trainings (day). Separate registration required.
• Using Certified Weed-Free Forage and Mulch (11am-5pm)
• Invasive Plant Management 101 (11am-5pm)
• Calflora’s Weed Manager Applications (1pm-5pm)
Invasive Plant Laws and Regulations (6pm-8pm) –
Continuing Education credits for licensed applicators.
Included with symposium registration.
Thursday/Friday, November 3-4
• Paper and poster sessions
• Discussion groups
• Social hour and raffle
• Awards banquet
Saturday Field Trips, November 5
• Sierra National Forest / Nelder Grove of Giant Sequoias
(half day)

Photo by David Greenwood

• Merced River Canyon (full day)
• Yosemite National Park (full day)
Reach Attendees – Be a Sponsor
Show your organization to 300 land managers and demonstrate your commitment to invasive plant work. Sponsors
help make the event possible. Be a special 25th Anniversary Sponsor and join us in bringing the land management
community together to grow stronger!
Fun Stuff
• Raffle and Auction – Featuring tools, books,
maybe even a European river cruise!

Photo by Frank Row

• Photo Contest – Watch our website for entry
information!
• Awards Banquet – Honor your fellow invasive
plant managers (included with registration).

www.cal-ipc.org
Cal-IPC News Spring 2016

7

New insights for managing Sahara mustard
By Yue Max Li. University of Arizona, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

S

ahara mustard (Brassica tournefortii)
is an invasive winter annual plant
unintentionally introduced to southern
California in the 1920s. Since it was first
recorded in Coachella in 1927, it has
spread widely across the southwest and
raised serious concerns about its impact
on native plants. My first encounter with
Sahara mustard in the Coachella Valley
Preserve in 2006 eventually led me to conduct a
doctoral study to reveal
the nature its invasion.
After years of research,
my colleagues and I are
encouraged to discover
some of the limitations
of this species, which can
facilitate its control.

Research Findings

the range of its suitable climate predicted
by models. Moreover, its suitable climate
in North America largely matched that in
its native range, suggesting that the North
American Sahara mustard had not evolved
to thrive under new climatic conditions.
This first study, published in the
March 2015 issue of Ecography, offers
two important insights for managing this

primarily by self-fertilization. The lack
of gene exchanges between self-fertilizing
individuals, on one hand, would preserve
the unique general purpose genotype that
allows Sahara mustard to grow under
different conditions. On the other hand,
it would also limit the chance of having
new genetic combinations adapted to
a brand new type of environment. To
confirm that Sahara mustard
has indeed limited ability to
evolve, we need further studies
to show that this species has
limited genetic variation
across its populations in
North America.
The second important
insights from the first study is
that we ought to be worried
about its ongoing rapid local
expansions within its climatic
envelope. What can we do
to effectively slow down its
local expansions? A finding
from our three-year field study
brings strong hope for the effective control of this species.

Our first finding was
that Sahara mustard had
reached the boundaries
of its suitable climate and
had stopped its inter-state
spread in North America. The view of the Mohawk Valley from the Mohawk Mountains. Photo
My collaborators and I
by Yue Max Li.
With team support, I
synthesized all historical
studied both seed banks and aboveherbarium records of Sahara mustard in
species over North America. First, the
ground growth of Sahara mustard and
North America to reconstruct its expanconfinement of Sahara mustard by its
other winter annual plants in the Mohawk
sions on a wide range of spatial scales (5
climatic envelope and the match between
Valley, about 40 miles east of Yuma,
km – 500 km). Expansions on a relatively
its suitable climate over North America
Arizona. Desert annual plants are usually
small scale (e.g. 5 km) would imply the
and its native range hint that this species
known to maintain highly persistent seed
species was filling local landscapes,
may have limited ability to evolve. Sahara
banks. A long-lasting seed bank can be
whereas expansions on a relatively large
mustard is known to occupy a wide range
an impenetrable barrier for eradicating an
scale (e.g. 500 km) would imply the
of environmental conditions, ranging
invasive annual species. Killing the abovespecies was crossing states and foraying
from coastal dunes to mountain slopes
ground growth would do little to reduce
into other parts of the continent. We
besides its typical habitat of desert sandy
an annual plant population if the majority
found that Sahara mustard experienced
flats and dunes. Many people are worried
of it remains below the ground.
rapid expansions both locally and over
that the wide range of its habitat may
long distance between the 1960s and the
Attacking the Seed Bank
indicate its strong ability to evolve.
1980s. But in the 2000s, it experienced
A persistent seed bank requires two
However, a species need not evolve
almost no long distance expansion but
essential factors: a low rate of germination
readily in order to thrive under various
quite rapid expansions on smaller scales
and a high survival rate of dormant seeds.
environments. Instead, it can be highly
(5 – 50 km).
The first factor is necessary because the
plastic through having a “general purpose
We also found that its recorded
genotype”. Many weedy species have such desert environments are highly unpreoccurrences almost exclusively fell within
dictable. Good germination conditions
a genotype. Sahara mustard reproduces

8

Cal-IPC News Spring 2016

often are not followed by good growing
conditions. By having seeds stay dormant, regardless the current condition, an
annual species can hedge against adverse
growing conditions. High survival of these
dormant seeds then ensures that they will
germinate some day in the future to find
their odds for successful reproduction.
We found these two factors were true
for all native winter annual plants and
the introduced Schismus arabicus in the
Mohawk Valley. Sahara mustard, on the
other hand, had very high germination
rate and very low seed survival, resulting
in ephemeral seed banks.
An ephemeral seed bank should lead
to large swings of plant abundance as
growing conditions change from one
year to the other. This was indeed what
we observed in the Mohawk Valley. The
Sahara mustard population plummeted
after three years of dry growing seasons. In
contrast, all native winter annual species
and the introduced Schismus arabicus
maintained a healthy population either
above or below the ground.

years when
the population of Sahara
mustard is
overall declining, there
will be spatial
strongholds
for this
species over a
heterogeneous
landscape.
These
strongholds
can be washes
or roadsides,
where the ac- Basic tools used for surveying Sahara mustard and other winter
cumulation of annual plants in the Mohawk Valley: a notebook, sampling ring, and
water would
Trimble GPS unit that led me to randomly selected locations. Sahara
consistently
mustard individuals (upper right corner) were intermingled with native
provide favor- annual plants on the dune. Photo by Yue Max Li.
able growing
conditions
Sahara mustard between its populations in
for adult plants. These persisting patches
California and Arizona.
would be the key for the return of Sahara
mustard dominance over a landscape
Despite this caveat, the high rates of
when wet winters come back. Eliminating germination of Sahara mustard likely
these strongholds
applies to its populations everywhere.
should, therefore,
Studies from Nevada, Australia and
effectively reduce
Greece showed similar results of very high
the chance for
germination of Sahara mustard seeds.
this species to
If a high percentage of seeds germinate,
persist over large
eliminating these germinated individuals
landscapes.
should effectively deplete an existing

However,
there is a caveat of
finding low seed
bank persistency
from the Arizona
Sonoran Desert.
The high mortality of Sahara
mustard seeds in
Mohawk Valley
A clump of newly emerged Sahara mustard seedlings on the sand was due to fungal
flat of the Mohawk Valley. The clump was most likely a product of infection. High
a seed-cashing rodent worked hard for its food stock. Photo by Yue heat and humidity
Max Li.
of soil during the
summer monsoon
season
perhaps
encouraged
fungal growth
We are in the process of publishing
to
kill
the
seeds.
The
monsoon
regime is
this second study. The low seed bank
much
weaker
in
California.
Without
high
persistency brings hope to the effective
humidity,
fungi
would
be
less
active
in
containment of this species through eliminating its above ground growth, especially killing mustard seeds. We need a followup study to compare seed mortality of
over poor growing seasons. Even in bad

population.
In summary, we found that Sahara
mustard had been confined within its
climatic envelope in North America.
Moreover, seed banks of Sahara mustard
were ephemeral due respectively to very
high germination rates and low survival of
ungerminated seeds. These two findings
bring hope to the effective control of this
species. Sahara mustard is unlikely to
spread everywhere and eliminating adult
plants before seed production should be
highly effective in reducing its population.
Contact the author at liyue@email.arizona.
edu.

Cal-IPC News Spring 2016

9

Sierra meadows, continued
Eldorado National Forest: These meadows provide
habitat for spotted owls, great gray owl, western pond
turtle, northern goshawk, western bumblebee habitat,
fringe-tailed bat, pallid bat and Townsend’s big-eared
bat, wild turkeys, black bear, and mule deer. Yellow
starthistle, Maltese starthistle (Centaurea melitensis),
Scotch broom, French broom (Genista monspessulana),
barbed goatgrass (Aegilops triuncialis), and medusahead
(Elymus caput-medusae) were removed from Fleming
Meadow and Traverse Creek in summer 2015. At right,
a Boy Scout shows off barbed goatgrass. Below, a crew
from the Forest Service Generation Green program
handpulls yellow starthistle at Traverse Creek during
follow-up treatment for the spring string trim. Photos by
Matt Brown, USFS.

“This funding has really helped us to do
more comprehensive surveys in the meadow
areas. We found new populations last year
and two new Canada thistle populations this
year (2015). This is especially important
since the majority of the meadows have water
sources flowing through them, natural conduits for weed movement.”
~ LeeAnne Mila, Deputy Agricultural
Commissioner, El Dorado and Alpine
Agricultural Commissioner’s office

South Tahoe meadows: The Lake Tahoe Basin is home to many
native and a few endangered species. The meadows provide habitat,
biological corridors and protected areas or buffers for many species, including the mountain yellow-legged frog, willow flycatcher,
and the Tahoe yellow cress. The El Dorado/Alpine Agricultural
Commissioner’s staff surveyed meadows in El Dorado and Alpine
Counties for invasive plants. These meadows contain flowing water,
which creates a conduit for weed movement to new sites. Sites
included Kirkwood Meadow, Hope Valley, Angora Meadow, Trout
Creek Meadow, Cold Creek Meadow, and Tahoe Keys Meadow. All
populations of perennial pepperweed, diffuse knapweed (Centaurea
diffusa), Canada thistle, and other noxious weeds were treated. Photo
by LeeAnne Mila, El Dorado Ag. Commissioner’s Office.

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Cal-IPC News Spring 2016

Eradication in the central Sierra

O

ver the last three years, Cal-IPC has
partnered with county agricultural
departments in central Sierra counties of
Tuolumne, Calaveras, El Dorado, and
Alpine to work toward eradication of
three target species: purple starthistle
(Centaurea calcitrapa), diffuse knapweed
(Centaurea diffusa), and Canada thistle
(Cirsium arvense). Agricultural department personnel have visited every known
site as well as any site that had been
reported in Calflora over the last 30 years.
Seventeen sites were treated and are being
monitored each year toward the goal of
full eradication. Another 29 reported sites
were visited and determined to not have
the weed.
Partners also treated outlier
populations of plumeless thistle (Carduus
acanthoides), spotted knapweed
(Centaurea maculosa), French broom
(Genista monspessulana) and gorse (Ulex
europaeous).

In addition, a major leadingedge infestation of Spanish
broom (Spartium junceum) was
mapped along Highway 120
near Groveland, on the way to
Yosemite. Of the 61 populations found, 43 have been
treated. These are along county
right-of-way or on Bureau of
Land Management land. The
other 18 are on private property
or US Forest Service land, and
will be addressed as the project
progresses.
This work was funded primarily by the National Fish and
Wildlife Foundation, through
their Pulling Together Initiative.
Funding from the Sierra Nevada
Conservancy supported work
on an environmental assessment
by the BLM’s Mother Lode field
office to allow control work on
Spanish broom.
A Calaveras Department of Agriculture worker
controls plumeless thistle.

Cal-IPC honored as IPM Innovator

I

n January, Cal-IPC received an award
as an “IPM Innovator” for our work
training land managers in integrated
approaches to invasive plant management. The California Dept. of Pesticide
Regulation makes the awards each year
to support Integrated Pest Management
(IPM). Cal-IPC recently released a Best
Management Practices manual on protecting wildlife when using herbicides to control invasive plants as part of an integrated
approach. The manual, which has been
downloaded over 2,000 times by managers
in 45 states and 32 countries, was prepared
in partnership with IPM experts at the US
Forest Service and the California Dept. of
Fish and Wildlife, as well as the Pesticide Research Insitute. Pictured, left to right: Gina Darin, CA Dept. of Water Resources (CalIPC board member); Dave Bakke, US Forest Service; Steve Schoenig, retired from CA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife (Cal-IPC board
member); Susan Kegley, Pesticide Research Institute; Doug Johnson, Cal-IPC; Brian Leahy, Director of the CA Dept. of Pesticide
Regulation; Joel Trumbo, CA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife; Ed King, Placer County Dept. of Agriculture (Cal-IPC board member).

Cal-IPC News Spring 2016

11

Protecting San Diego wetlands
Cal-IPC helped initiate early
eradication work in San Diego wetlands
through a project last year funded by the
Southern California Wetlands Recovery
Project. The San Diego Association of
Governments has a well-developed list
of top-priority invasive plants. This
project addressed Ageratina adenophora
(eupatory), Sesbania punicea (rattlebox),
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife),
Iris pseudacorus (yellow flag iris), and
Limonium ramosissimum and L. duriusculum (invasive sea lavenders).

The effort had three components: professional mapping of known infestation
sites (and surveying the vicinity), training
of volunteers to identify and report and
sightings, and herbicide treatment of high
priority invasive sea lavender populations.
Some 500 people were reached with
trainings, and identification handouts
were widely distributed. All high-priority
marsh areas were surveyed, and 13 new
populations were found and mapped.

The San Diego County Department of
Agriculture treated invasive sea lavender at
the Port of San Diego and Ocean Terrace.
A total of 4.6 acres were treated with 3%
glyphosate, and another 27 acres were
surveyed. This will require follow-up for
several years. The efficacy of treatments
here will help inform treatments to be
conducted on invasive sea lavender in salt
marshes around San Francisco Bay.

EDRR in action: The San Diego County Agriculture
Department controls invasive sea lavender (top left).
Above right: Dave Flietner, volunteer with San Diego
Canyonlands, pulls sea lavender from Shepherd
Canyon. Volunteers have helped by pulling and
bagging plants in areas where the infestation is low,
allowing contractors to focus on areas with larger
infestations and keep costs down. Bottom: Shannon
Quigley-Raymond, program coordinator for the San
Diego River Park Foundation, helps pull and bag
invasive sea lavender along Forrester Creek in the San
Diego River watershed. Photos by Mark Martinez and
Carolyn Martus.

12

Cal-IPC News Spring 2016

Identifying emerging weeds
By Elizabeth Brusati, Cal-IPC

W

hich new potentially-invasive
plants in California have the most
potential to cause harm to our ecosystems? A project underway at Cal-IPC
aims to answer this question by evaluating
200 species from the Cal-IPC watchlist
to develop a list of “emerging invasive
plants.” Not all non-native, naturalized
plants will become invasive so this project
aims to identify those that pose the most
risk to help land managers prioritize their
removal.
The Cal-IPC watchlist contains more
than 300 species that land managers have
reported as potential concerns from their
observations. It’s available as a spreadsheet
download at www.cal-ipc.org/paf. Some
species were reviewed for the Inventory
during our last big update in 2006 but
had insufficient information to make the
Inventory; others are new species waiting
for evaluation. The Inventory is based on
assessing known impacts in California and
is not designed for predicting the impact
of new invaders.
We are using the PRE (Plant Risk
Evaluation) tool developed by UC
Davis, the University of Washington,
and the PlantRight program to screen
200 watchlist species this year, thanks to
funding from the US Forest Service. PRE
uses 20 questions assessing invasiveness
in other areas, impacts, reproductive
biology, and dispersal characteristics to
classify a species as “Reject” (likely to be
invasive in California) or “Accept” (not
likely to be invasive). An intermediate
category of “Evaluate Further”indicates
species whose results are uncertain. PRE
is a shorter, faster screening method
derived from the 49-question Australian
Weed Risk Assessment that has been
used around the globe since 1999. PRE
was developed to help the horticulture
industry identify new cultivars that are
likely to become invasive in order to avoid
those plants. Tests show that PRE is 95%
accurate at classifying species as invasive

or non-invasive. More information on PRE is available from
the UC Davis Center for Urban
Horticulture at ccuh.ucdavis.
edu/Publications/pre.
The trickiest questions to
answer on PRE are those that
require answering whether a
species is naturalized or invasive
in another region “with similar
climate to California.” To develop a consistent way to answer
these questions, we consulted
with the US Department of
Agriculture’s weed risk assessment staff and decided to use
a variation on their method.
Locations are classified based on
three factors: USDA
Plant Hardiness
zones (familiar to
gardeners), average
annual precipitation,
and Global Ecological
Zones (from the
United Nations). Areas
that count as similar
to California must
have a combination
of those three factors
that match a combination found within
California.
We will be evaluating species through
2016. A committee of invasive plant
biologists are reviewing draft evaluations
for accuracy and consistency. PlantRight
is allowing us to use their online system at
UC Davis for scoring evaluations, which
will save us much time and provide a way
to store the results. We plan to unveil
preliminary results at the Symposium in
November, followed by posting results to
a public website in early 2017.

The next big invaders?
Top: Chrysanthemoides monilifera, called
bitou bush or boneseed, is such a problem
in Australia it’s rated a Weed of National
Significance. Populations have been found
spreading in Orange County.
Bottom: Taro (Colocasia esculenta) is
grown for food in tropical areas and is
expanding in the Delta. These species are
among those that will be evaluated using
PRE this year. Photos by Ron Vanderhoff
and Ramona Robison.

Cal-IPC News Spring 2016

13

National EDRR framework released
By Doug Johnson, Cal-IPC

A

coalition of 15 federal agencies
released “Safeguarding America’s
Lands and Waters from Invasive Species:
A National Framework for Early
Detection and Rapid Response (EDRR)”
in March. The work was requested by the

2014 “Priority Agenda: Enhancing the
Climate Resilience of America’s Natural
Resource” from the White House Council
on Climate Preparedness, which identified invasive species as one of the most
pervasive threats to ecosystem resilience.
Cal-IPC and other non-federal entities
contributed through an advisory panel.
Top-level recommendations from the
document include establishing a national
EDRR coordinator, coordinating agency
programs, advancing key initiatives on
particular species, and developing better
analytical approaches.
Funding is needed for
preparedness as well as
response.

pace of insect pests or aquatic organisms,
the key concept of addressing them before
they spread is the same. In the end, the
agency team decided to stick with a strict
definition of EDRR, in which immediate
response follows detection of a new pest.
The staff of the National Invasive
Species Council worked hard bringing
together the many entities needed to
prepare this framework. Now it’s up to the
many agencies involved to dedicate the
necessary resources for implementation.

Cal-IPC pushed
for consideration of
invasive plant earlyeradication efforts as
part of an EDRR
approach. Though
terrestrial plant species
rarely spread at the

Lake Forest, CA
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Cal-IPC News Spring 2016

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Cal-IPC News Spring 2016

15

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The WILDLAND WEED CALENDAR
CNGA Hedgerow Farms Field Day
April 22, Winters
www.cnga.org
SERCAL
May 11-13, Kings Beach
www.sercal.org
Wetland & Riparian Plant Identification
May 18-20, Ojai
www.cnps.org
California Invasive Species Action Week
June 4-12, statewide
www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Invasives/
Action-Week

Plant Camp – Florida Invasive Plant
Education Initiative
June 20-24, 2016, Gainesville, FL
plants.ifas.ufl.edu/education/plantcamp/
application/
North American Congress for
Conservation Biology
July 17-20, Madison, WI
www.conbio.org/groups/sections/north-america

Natural Areas Conference
October 18-21, Davis
www.naturalareasconference.org
Cal-IPC Symposium
November 2-5, Tenaya Lodge, Yosemite
www.cal-ipc.org
Central Coast Invasive Weed Symposium
November, Monterey County
www.cciws.org

Botany 2016
July 30- August 3, Savannah, GA
www.botanyconference.org

“In Half-Earth I propose that only by committing half of the planet’s surface to nature can we hope to
save the immensity of life-forms that compose it…

“I cannot stress enough the menace of invasive species… Allowing the entry of alien species of any kind
is the ecological equivalent of Russian roulette. How many cylinders spin in the barrel of the extinction
gun?”
~ E.O. Wilson, from Half Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life, 2016.