Newsletter Vol 23 Issue 1, 2015 – California Invasive Plant Council

Vol. 23, No. 1

Winter 2015

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

Two rare species: Myrtle silverspot butterfly on
a coyote mint plant adjacent to an area where
European beachgrass was removed. Photo by
Point Reyes National Seashore.

INSIDE
European beachgrass removal at Point Reyes p. 4
Cross-border collaboration in the State of Jefferson p. 6
Delta collaboration p. 7
Report from Tamarisk Beetle Workshop p. 9
Arundo on the Salinas River p.10
EDRR reports from around the state p.12

From the Director’s Desk

Intrinsic or Instrumental?
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, education, and policy.
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

DIRECTORS
Jason Casanova, President
Council for Watershed Health
Jennifer Funk, Vice-President
Chapman University
Steve Schoenig, Treasurer
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Jutta Burger, Secretary
Irvine Ranch Conservancy
Morgan Ball
Wildlands Conservation Science
Tim Buonaccorsi
RECON Environmental, Inc.
Gina Darin
California Department of Water Resources
Jason Giessow
Dendra, Inc.
Elise Gornish
UC Davis, Dept. of Plant Sciences
Shawn Kelly
Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project
Drew Kerr
Invasive Spartina Project
Annabelle Kleist
Capitol Impact
Dan Knapp
Los Angeles Conservation Corps
John Knapp
The Nature Conservancy
Virginia Matzek
Santa Clara University
David McNeill
Baldwin Hills Conservancy
STUDENT LIAISONS
Marina LaForgia
UC Davis
Justin Valliere
UC Riverside
Affiliations for identification purposes only.

By Doug Johnson

he modern conservation movement is rooted in an ethical belief that the intrinsic
value of wildlife and wild places—those “area[s] where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man” as the National Park Service’s Organic Act puts
it—make them worth protecting.
And during the last century, philanthropic foundations funded environmental
organizations to do just that: protect wildlife and wild places. But in recent years, it has
become clear that traditional conservation, important as it is, only gets us so far. The
problems are so large, from climate change to population growth, that conservation
efforts need to be orders of magnitude stronger to be successful. At the same time, our
cultural relationship with wild places is evolving, and not necessarily in a way that supports traditional conservation. We need to engage today’s and tomorrow’s Californians
in the work that needs to be done. But how?
A recent report (“Conservation Horizons”, www.calandtrusts.org) examines
everything from how Millenials differ from previous generations to trends in pollination. A key finding: “Conservation may be best positioned to receive funding when it
helps solve other public priorities and problems—urban parks, improved health, food
security, climate adaptation.” These are the issues people care about.
These issues represent our collective self-interest in a healthy environment, what is
termed “instrumental” value as opposed to the intrinsic value of traditional conservation. Speaking in terms that tap into our self-interest does help people understand how
conservation impacts their life. And putting conservation into economic terms can
help politicians decide to do the right thing. But does that backfire when it comes to
protecting wildlife or a wild place where there are no clear practical benefits?
The debate has consumed plenty of energy over the years. In a recent opinion piece
in the journal Nature (Nov. 5, 2014), 240 signatories proposed that we stop arguing
the relative merits of these approaches: “We propose a unified and diverse conservation
ethic; one that recognizes and accepts all values of nature, from intrinsic to instrumental, and welcomes all philosophies justifying nature protection and restoration, from
ethical to economic, and from aesthetic to utilitarian.” Cal-IPC agrees—all arguments
are valid, and we need them all—and this will be an evolving part of our messaging in
the future.

CNPS Turns Fifty!
Congratulations to the California Native
Plant Society for 50 strong years of conservation. Their recent Conservation Conference
in San Jose drew close to 1,000 attendees and
featured a range of exciting talks. We look
forward to decades of continued collaboration on behalf of California’s wildlands!

Cal-IPC News

Winter 2015 – Vol. 23, 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.

Cal-IPC News Winter 2015

CNPS celebrated its 50th anniversary during
the conference in San Jose, featuring stimulating
speakers, field trips, and a banquet with delicious
desserts. Photo by Dana Morawitz

Cal-IPC Updates
Symposium 2015 set. Mark your
calendars for Oct. 28-31 at the San Diego
Convention Center! We’ll have a special
concurrent track on Habitat Conservation
Planning. Call for abstracts in April,
registration open in June.
Northwest submits eradication proposal. Working with Cal-IPC, partners
in Humboldt and Del Norte counties
completed an application for funding to
the state’s Wildlife Conservation Board.
The project eradicates knotweeds and
other incipient weeds from the region.
National standard for weed lists. At the
April meeting of ASTM International,
Cal-IPC will lead
a team from the
National Association
of Invasive Plant
Councils in presenting
a draft standard for
assessing environmental impacts of invasive
plants.
Wildland-safe
landscaping. For CALGreen, the state’s
building code, Cal-IPC proposed a tiered
structure for keeping invasives out of
landscaping. Builders would get credit for
not using species listed by PlantRight, and
additional credit for not using any species
listed by Cal-IPC.
New eucalyptus assessment completed.
Cal-IPC’s Tasmanian bluegum assessment
has been updated. Though impacts are
moderate, overall invasiveness (capacity
for spread) is limited.
Cal-IPC on the road. Lots of conferences
this spring! Cal-IPC staff and members
organized the Invasives track at the CNPS
Conservation Conference in January,
exhibited at the Society for Range
Management conference in February, and
will be at the California Council of Land
Trust’s conference in March.
Online WHIPPET released. WHIPPET
provided two National Wildlife Refuges
with prioritization for invasive plant
eradication. Try it yourself at whippet.
cal-ipc.org, or hire Cal-IPC to help you
(see announcement at right).

Wildland
Weed News
“Bioinvasions in a Changing World.”
Cal-IPC served on the team of authors
publishing this new report for the
National Invasive Species Council. The
report describes linkages between invasive
species and climate change, with implications for natural resource management.
www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/docs/toolkit/
bioinvasions_in_a_changing_world.pdf
PlayCleanGo. Cal-IPC joined the
PlayCleanGo campaign to make hikers
and other recreationists aware of preventing the movement of invasive species.
www.playcleango.org
CalWeedTalk. Post job announcements,
weed alerts, or questions to our revived
email discussion list. Sign up at www.
cal-ipc.org/resources/listservs.php.
New board members. Gina Darin (CA
Dept. of Water Resources), Drew Kerr
(Coastal Conservancy’s Invasive Spartina
Project) and Steve Schoenig (CA Dept. of
Fish and Wildlife) join the Cal-IPC Board
of Directors. Many thanks to departing
board members Doug Gibson (San Elijo
Lagoon Conservancy) and Kim Hayes
(Elkhorn Slough Foundation). New student liaisons Marina LaForgia (UC Davis)
and Justin Valliere (UC Riverside) step
in for Bridget Hilbig (UC Riverside) and
Meghan Skaer-Thomason (UC Davis).
Facebook. Another way to stay in touch
with news from Cal-IPC. We recently
surpassed 1000 “Likes”.

Other News
Invasives in President’s agenda. Invasives
received high visibility in the President’s
climate resilience plan for natural resources, released in October. (See excerpt
on p. 8.)
Water hyacinth thrives in California’s
drought. The Delta’s water hyacinth
problems are even worse this year, with
higher water temperatures and slower

currents. The Governor’s proposed budget
would increase funding for hyacinth
control by $3 million. Contra Costa Times,
Jan. 26.
Smartphone training works. Citizen
scientists trained using smartphones are
as effective at invasive plant recognition
as those trained in person, according to
a recent study. Smartphone training also
has a broader reach and is less expensive.
Public Library of Science (PLOSOne),
Nov. 2014.
Guidance for early detection. A new
report from the National Park Service
and US Geological Survey guides natural
resource managers in detecting new invasive plant populations through an active,
directed monitoring program. Decision
trees and flow charts help determine
which methods to choose and when to
use them. USGS Scientific Investigations
Report 2012-5162.

Tried out online
WHIPPET yet?
The powerful tool for prioritizing
invasive plant populations is now
available in an online version. Select
population data from Calflora, define
your area of concern, and set parameters for your situation. WHIPPET
will rank the species based on their
impact, isolation, proximity to
vectors of spread, effectiveness of
control, and other factors. Try it for
yourself, or stay tuned for Cal-IPC
webinars on using the tool!
Need a prioritization but don’t have
time to do it yourself? Hire Cal-IPC
to do it. Contact us for details at
mapping@cal-ipc.org.

www.whippet.cal-ipc.org.
Remember to check your membership status on the mailing label of
this newsletter. You can renew online
or with the enclosed envelope. Thank
you for your membership!

Cal-IPC News Winter 2015

Removing European beachgrass at Point Reyes
By Lorraine Parsons, Point Reyes National Seashore. Photos by Point Reyes National Seashore.

here are many subtle – and notso-subtle – threats to our native
ecosystems. Dense stands of European
beachgrass (Ammophila arenaria) have become a common sight to visitors at Point
Reyes National Seashore’s Limantour
Beach and are perhaps even considered a
part of the natural landscape. (I will even
admit to once taking a holiday photo of
our son amidst the seemingly very scenic
flowing tussocks of green grass — something which I am chagrined to admit
now!) However, this non-native, invasive
species from Europe and its succulent
counterpart, iceplant (Carpobrotus edulis)
have insidiously encroached over the years
upon some very threatened dune habitats
at the Seashore. These areas are key to
survival for many common and rare species, including some that are threatened
or endangered.
These species were already at Point
Reyes when the Seashore was established
in 1963. But it wasn’t until the park developed its first large-scale vegetation map
in the 1990s that the park recognized
the extent of the problem. By that time,
areas dominated by European beachgrass
and iceplant accounted for more than
60% of the 2,200 acres of coastal dune,
bluff, and scrub in the Seashore (NPS
2009). The continued encroachment of
these species not only resulted ultimately
in dense monocultures that supported
fewer native dune plant species, but it
had potential repercussions on other
species as well, including the federally
endangered Myrtle’s silverspot butterfly
(Speyeria zerene myrtleae) that feeds on
the nectar on many dune plants and the
federally threatened Western snowy plover
(Charadrinus alexandrinus nivosus) that
nests in unvegetated shorelines along the
foredunes. Beachgrass can creep out into
foreshore areas, and it provides cover for
potential predators of eggs, chicks, and
adults. In addition, beachgrass indirectly
impacted endangered dune plants such as
Tidestrom’s lupine (Lupinus tidestromii)

Cal-IPC News Winter 2015

Biggest sand toys ever. Excavators were used to remove rhizomes and to bury sand
contaminated with rhizomes deeply enough that it could not regenerate.
by supporting much higher densities of
native deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus)
that have been shown to eat as much
as 82% of this species’ seed, thereby
threatening long-term viability of many
of the Seashore’s lupine populations
(Dangremond et al. 2010).
In 2001, the Seashore embarked
on a program of dune and coastal bluff
restoration at Abbotts Lagoon. Initially,
removal efforts focused on manually
digging up European beachgrass, which
has deep rhizomes that can extend more
than 12 feet. Because it was difficult to
dig deeper than 1.5 to 3 feet manually, the
beachgrass rapidly regrew. In 2007, one
park staff member estimated that 20%
of the treated area re-grew within as little
as six months, and some areas required
as many 15- 20 repeat treatments before
control appeared to be achieved (Charles
2007, Peterson 2004).
These issues encouraged the Seashore
to explore other approaches for removing
European beachgrass. In 2004, a 20-acre
mechanical project was conducted in the
same vicinity as the hand removal ones
and appeared to be more practical – and

perhaps more effective – than hand
removal ones, particularly for larger
areas. Excavators were able to dig deeper
and than bury and “cap” the rhizomecontaminated materials with clean sand.
Because of this success, the park submitted a proposal to the federal government
to fund a much more ambitious restoration project that would mechanically
remove 132 net acres in an approximately
300 gross acre project area just south of
Abbotts Lagoon. Unfortunately, bids for
the project came back extremely high, so
the project area was reduced to 80 net
acres (190-acre gross).
The first phase of the Abbotts Lagoon
Coastal Dune Restoration Project moved
forward in early 2011. Additional phases
were conducted in fall 2011 and 2012
under a separate compliance effort to
try and complete the remaining 52 acres
of the original 132-acre project area:
these focused on chemical treatment of
European beachgrass, with mechanical or
manual removal in or adjacent to wetlands
and adjacent to pastures managed by
ranchers as organic.
Pre- and post-restoration monitoring

show that the project appears to be
successful from an ecological standpoint.
In mechanical areas, average cover of
European beachgrass in restoration areas
plummeted from more than 80% to 0%,
with the very sparse amount of nonnative cover now remaining being largely
European sea rocket (Cakile maritima).
However, native species cover also
dropped precipitously immediately postrestoration from an average of 31% to 0%
and has increased little in the three years
since. While it rained considerably during
construction in 2012, subsequent years
have been very dry. In addition, spring
winds have been quite high. The net
result is that areas restored mechanically
have very little plant establishment even
after three years, with beach pea (Lathyrus
littoralis), beach evening primrose
(Camissonia cheiranthifolia), beach bursage
(Ambrosia chamissonis), Douglas’s bluegrass (Poa douglasii), and the non-native
European sea-rocket among the hardy few
to persist. Winds have buried most of the
park’s attempts at revegetation, as well as
even some of the adjacent native dune,
wetland, scrub, and grassland habitats.
However, one species appears to
have adapted to this harsh environment
quite well. By August 2012, biologists
found one of the endangered dune plants
germinating in the restored areas well
before any fall or winter rains. By 2012,
15,884 Tidestrom’s lupine (Lupinus
tidestromii; FE) individuals were counted,
covering approximately 15.8 of the 80
mechanically restored acres in varying
densities (Johnson et al. 2012). These
numbers continued to grow in subsequent
years to approximately 20,500 individuals in 2013 and approximately 74,000
in 2014, 23,000 of which were adult
plants. Lupine also expanded in areal
extent, colonizing most portions of the
mechanically restored dunes and several
of the areas treated with herbicide. While
other rare plants did not respond quite as
dramatically to the restoration, in 2014,
approximately 900 beach layia (Layia carnosa, FE) and 1,500 curlyleaf monardella
(Monardella sinuata ssp. nigrescens; CNPS
List 1B.2) established within both the
mechanical and herbicide treated areas.
The project has not only boosted the
park’s endangered species recovery efforts

by creating new habitat, but it appears to
have benefitted existing populations of
endangered species. Most of the European
beachgrass-dominated mechanical
removal areas surrounded a large area of
native dunes that supported one of the
largest Tidestrom’s lupine populations.
Prior to restoration, many of the racemes
or flowering stalks of Tidestrom’s lupine
at Abbotts were eaten by deer mice,
with consumption ranging from 38%
to 94% across a six-year observation
period (Pardini and Knight 2013).
Following restoration, raceme predation
rates dropped substantially (Pardini and
Knight 2013, E. Pardini, pers. comm.).
While rates had dropped slightly prior to
restoration, these results do suggest that
removal of beachgrass from the perimeter
of this population has reduced predation pressure. Numbers of Tidestrom’s
lupine in this area have increased from
approximately 150,000 plants in 2011 to
approximately 200,000 plants in 20132014, with 20% of the 2014 plants being

three of those were located either in or
adjacent to the restoration area (Campbell
2012). In 2013, the nest attempts in or
directly adjacent to the restoration area
climbed to six of the 21 that year, and,
in 2014, those numbers jumped to 20 of
45 nests (Campbell, in press). However,
hatching and fledging success continue to
be problem in general, with only 10 of the
20 nests hatching and only three of the
10 fledging chicks (Campbell, in press).
Ironically, in 2014, one of the plovers
decided to lay its eggs directly on top of a
Tidestrom’s lupine!
Ultimately, it’s too soon yet to make
a prognosis on the long-term success of
this project. So many factors can affect
success, and many of them are completely external to the restoration process,
including short-term and long-term
weather patterns and regional trends in
plover abundance and population health.
However, park staff are certainly delighted
with preliminary results of this project
and hope to build on its seeming success

Seaside wallflower (Erysimum concinnum), a CNPS-listed rare plant, with construction
equipment in the background.
seedlings. This increase appears to have
happened even though some of the lupine
plants have been buried by remobilized
sand from adjacent restored areas.
Another species that may have benefitted from dune restoration is the snowy
plover. In general, nesting attempts at the
Seashore are believed to have generally
declined since a record high of 74 nests
in 1987. The years prior to and during
restoration saw only 15 nesting attempts
for the entire park. In 2012, nesting
attempts plummeted to seven, although

through implementing other management
actions to benefit listed species, as well
as through proceeding with future dune
restoration efforts in the Seashore.

Literature Cited

Campbell, C. 2012. Monitoring Western
snowy plovers at Point Reyes National Seashore,
Marin County, California. 2012 Annual Report.
Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/SFAN/
NRTR.

…continued page 14

Cal-IPC News Winter 2015

Cross-border collaboration in the State of Jefferson
By Carri Pirosko, Noxious Weed Program, Oregon Department of Agriculture
Carri served northern California as a state
Agricultural Biologist (and Cal-IPC as a
board member) before moving north. She
is now the Integrated Weed Management
Coordinator for Southwestern Oregon.
he power of cross-border collaboration is alive in the State of Jefferson,
an area in the far reaches of northern
California and the southern-most
counties of Oregon. Self-proclaimed
Jeffersonians still have aspirations of
forming the 51st state, autonomous from
what is perceived as urban-focused legislation from the capitols in Sacramento
and Salem.
Natural resource managers along the
California and Oregon border see opportunities in working together despite
separation by a state line, differing state
laws, and varying weed priority lists.
Partners from Roseburg to Redding have
formed an “I-5 Working Group” that
meets annually to discuss cross-border
invasive and noxious weed issues. Other
partnerships are cultivated to help stem
the tide of further invasion.
Biological control is one area that has
rallied partners. (Cross-border collaboration has become even more crucial due
to the loss of California’s Weed Biological
Control Program in 2011.) Two examples,
one from either side of the border,
exemplify this partnership.
First, the Siskiyou County Agricultural
Commissioner’s Office in California
has secured permits to conduct a spring
trial release of a pathogen that attacks
dyer’s woad, a major weed in the region.
Should the pathogen become established
in California, Oregon will follow with
releases north of the border.
Second, the mother lode of rush
skeletonweed emanates from the Roseburg
area southward into California. Several
biocontrol agents have been released on
the Oregon side of the border; the latest
is a moth that has shown results in other
western states.
At California’s northern border, CalIPC has been working with the Siskiyou

Cal-IPC News Winter 2015

Alyssum species (A. murale and A. corsicum) are the light-colored (actually bright yellow)
plants in the foreground, near Cave Junction in 2008 prior to initiation of the eradication
campaign. The Oregon State Weed Board listed the species as A-rated weeds in 2009.
Photo by Kelly Amsberry, Oregon Dept. of Agriculture, Native Plant Conservation Program.
and Del Norte Weed Management Areas
to prioritize weeds for early detection
watch lists. Cal-IPC is seeking funds for
early detection and control of these and
other early invaders, partially based on
distribution and impacts documented
across the border in Oregon. Japanese
knotweed and garlic mustard have devastated many western Oregon waterways,
elevating these species for management
status in northern California. Likewise,
Southern Oregon partners are addressing
several early-stage Arundo and Cape-ivy
patches, based on decades of lessons
learned from California partners.
Beyond the I-5 Working Group,
partners attend Weed Management Area
meetings in both states, keeping the
communication flowing. Email communication throughout the year helps to
keep early detection and rapid response
timely. Battles in southern Oregon with a
new aquatic invader, yellow floating heart,

and a very invasive mustard, yellowtuft
alyssum, have resonated with California
partners. Likewise, tales of leafy spurge
and perennial pepperweed challenges have
registered with western Oregon partners.
Looking towards the future, crossborder I-5 partners have developed a list
of long-term prevention ideas, including: an outreach campaign to promote
regular washing of Departments of
Transportation mowing equipment; mapping of weed-free areas for staging of fire
camps along the I-5 corridor; strategicallyplaced equipment cleaning stations;
yellow starthistle and rush skeletonweed
push-back campaigns; and a dyer’s woad
border patrol campaign. Exactly which
of these concepts takes root will be played
out in the years to come.
As the saying goes, “Weeds know no
boundaries,” and neither should crossborder collaboration.
Contact Carri at cpirosko@oda.state.or.gov.

Early detection leads to collaboration in the Delta
By Shakoora Azimi-Gaylon, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy

n 2013, a large-leaved plant was
reported growing along the banks of a
State Parks property near Walnut Grove,
CA. Samples were collected in 2014
and confirmed to be taro root (Colocasia
esculenta). This plant had not been previously collected in the wild in California,
so a weed alert was prepared and sent
out to determine if the species is more
widespread in the San Joaquin Delta or
elsewhere in California. At that time there
was no organization or agency tracking
invasive plants throughout all the counties
in the Delta which could be notified.
In order to address this gap,
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Conservancy (deltaconservancy.ca.gov)
convened a workgroup to coordinate
and share information for effective
invasive species management in the
Delta. In California no one agency has
lead responsibility for managing all
invasive species. Several agencies work to
control the different species. The Invasive
Species Council of California represents
the highest level of authority in the
state government regarding the invasive
species. The Council is an inter-agency
organization that provides guidelines for
cost effective and environmentally sound
state activities regarding invasive species.
The Department of Fish and Wildlife is
responsible for preventing introductions
of alien species into the ecosystem and
for managing non-native fishes that may
harm native populations. The Division
of Boating and Waterways of California
State Parks is responsible for controlling
certain aquatic weeds. The US Coast
Guard regulates shipping and, in theory,
ballast water discharge (as does the Marine
Invasive Species Program of the California
State Lands Commission). A California
Aquatic Invasive Species Management
Plan was adopted in 2008, but it requires
complex coordination among agencies for
its implementation and no implementation has occurred yet.
The goal of this coordination is to provide a forum for connecting agencies and

organizations
to facilitate
discussions
of invasive
species issues
including
information
management,
data gaps,
research
priorities,
and when
possible,
leverage
funding and
resources to
benefit all
participants.
Participating
Taro root (on right) can be confused with the native arrowroot
agencies
(Sagittaria spp., on left). Below, taro root at Delta Meadows. Photos by
include
Ramona Robison, California State Parks.
the Delta
Conservancy,
Department
of Water
Resources,
Department
of Fish and
Wildlife,
California
State Parks
Division of
Boating and
Waterways,
Department
of Food and
Agriculture
(also representing the
focus is data management and sharing
Invasive Species Council of California),
data sharing with scientists, resources
US Department of Agriculture, US Fish
managers and the public to facilitate
and Wildlife Service, and UC Davis.
effective control, public education, and
The coordination group met twice
outreach.
in 2014 and plans quarterly meetings in
For more information please contact
2015. To date the group has discussed
Shakoora Azimi-Gaylon at sagaylon@
objectives of this coordination effort
deltaconservancy.ca.gov or 916-375-2086.
which include: strategic planning, education and outreach, funding, research and
data management. The group’s current

Cal-IPC News Winter 2015

Mark your calendar for the…

2015 Cal-IPC Symposium
San Diego Convention Center
Oct. 28-31, 2015

www.cal-ipc.org/symposia

President’s plan for climate resilience cites invasives

resident Obama formed a Council on
Climate Preparedness and Resilience,
and tasked them with identifying priority actions. Their report was released in
October. of 2014. The excerpt below
commits to a coordinated Early Detection
and Rapid Response plan with an emergency fund within the next year. Cal-IPC
will be working with other groups to
support federal agencies in fulfilling this
mandate.
“One of the most pervasive threats to
resilience is the establishment and spread
of invasive species – these non-native
plants, animals, and pathogens not
only displace native species and disrupt
ecosystems, but also cause economic

Cal-IPC News Winter 2015

harm. A program designed to identify
and find invasive species before they have
spread, and eliminate them before they
have caused significant harm, is both
ecologically effective and cost effective.
Within twelve months, the Secretary of
the Interior, working with other members
of the National Invasive Species Council,
including Department of Commerce
(NOAA), EPA, and USDA, will work
with states and tribes to develop a framework for a national Early Detection and
Rapid Response (EDRR) program that
will build on existing programs to assist
states and tribes in forestalling the stress
caused by the establishment and spread
of additional invasive species populations,

thereby improving the resilience of
priority landscapes and aquatic areas. This
will include the development of a plan
for creating an emergency response fund
to increase the capacity of interagency
and inter-jurisdictional teams to tackle
emerging invasive species issues across
landscapes and jurisdictions.”
The report, “Priority Agenda:
Enhancing the Climate Resilience of
America’s Natural Resources,” is available
from the White House website at www.
whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/
enhancing_climate_resilience_of_americas_natural_resources.pdf.

Biocontrol of saltcedar: Tamarisk Beetle Workshop
By Bill Neill, Riparian Repairs

n January 21, the Tamarisk
Coalition, based in western
Colorado, sponsored a Tamarisk Beetle
Workshop in Phoenix. The audience of
about 85, mostly from Arizona, attended
to learn about the history, introduction,
spread and monitoring of the tamarisk
leaf beetle, a biocontrol agent introduced
by USDA a decade ago. (See cover article
in the Winter 2008 issue of Cal-IPC
News. ) The USDA research unit that
developed the biocontrol is located in
Albany, CA, and is partnering with
Cal-IPC on development of biocontrol
agents for other invasive plants. Major
topics at the workshop included the
potential effects of the beetle on wildlife,
including endangered bird species that
nest in tamarisk, and successful riparian
restoration techniques.
I encourage readers to view the
Tamarisk Coalition’s colorful map, posted
at www.tamariskcoalition.org, showing
the beetle’s spread across the western
United States during the past decade.
Since introduction to the Colorado River
watershed near Moab in 2004 and St.
George in 2006, the beetle has spread
downstream through the Grand Canyon
and along Lake Mead to the southern tip
of Nevada; and it been introduced to the
Arkansas River, Pecos and Rio Grande
watersheds to the east. Though not
shown on the map, the beetle has been
introduced in the Cache Creek watershed
in northern California as well.
The Tamarisk Coalition’s website also
shows photos of tamarisk trees defoliated
by the beetle after three to four years of
activity. The persistent defoliation reduces the tree’s vitality, curtails flowering,
and may eventually cause death, allowing
native shrubs and trees to re-establish.
The tamarisk leaf beetle has not been
introduced to the Gila River watershed
of southern Arizona, out of concern
over the impact on endangered birds
that nest in tamarisk, including the
Southwestern Willow Flycatcher and

Tamarix biocontrol moving
toward southern California

Beetles climbing along a tamarisk
branch. Photo by Tom Dudley
Yellow-Billed Cuckoo. But because the
beetle is expected to move into southern
Arizona from adjacent areas within several
years, planning is underway to clear some
tamarisk infestations mechanically and
then plant native trees that will provide
nesting habitat after the beetle arrives.
This concern for endangered bird
species in southern Arizona has also
precluded federal approval for introduction of the beetle to southern California;
but after the beetle reaches California
along the Colorado River near Needles,
possibly as early as next year, transporting
the beetle to coastal and desert watersheds
of southern California should become
feasible.
Among the information I learned at
the conference:
• A successful introduction requires
hundreds of beetles, collected and
transported as adults, not as eggs or
larvae.
• Some native leaf beetles are similar
and not easily distinguished from the
tamarisk beetle (Diorhabda sp.)
• Collecting tamarisk beetles involves
brushing them off green foliage, so
that they drop into buckets or onto
tarps.
• Tamarisk foliage suffering herbivory
emits chemicals, and feeding adults
emit pheromones, that attract beetles
to green foliage from long distances.
…continued page 14

by Tom Dudley, UC Santa Barbara
During the 2014 field season
the tamarisk beetles originally
introduced in 2006 to the Virgin
River in St. George, UT, had made
it to Laughlin, NV, just below Davis
Dam on the lower Colorado River.
They had progressed fairly slowly
along Lake Mohave owing to a sparse
distribution of their host plants, and
beetles over-wintered adjacent to Big
Bend State Park in Nevada. Below
this point extensive stands of tamarisk start up again, so I anticipate
that the beetles will build up very
large populations in the 2015 season,
the over-wintering adults probably
coming out in March or April and
this year’s generations building up
probably in May or early June. This
southward establishment is the result
of the beetles synchronizing their
diapause—insect-style hibernation—with day length at increasingly
southern latitudes.
Big Bend State Park is only about
10 miles from the California border
(near Avi Casino and Ft. Mojave)
so I anticipate that we will have
establishment on the lower Colorado
River within California this year,
and possibly through the whole of
Mojave Valley to the Needles area,
including Topock Marsh.
We have developed the maleproduced aggregation pheromone
which attracts both male and female
beetles, and have been using that
compound on sticky traps to detect
new movements of beetles. I’ll be setting those up again in May or June at
sites along the lower Colorado (and
in other areas, including the Owens
River, Ivanpah and the Mojave
…continued page 14

Cal-IPC News Winter 2015

Canes of Wrath: Farmers and conservationists
working together to transform the Salinas River
By Ilima Segoviano and Paul Robins, Resource Conservation District of Monterey County; Jason Giessow, Dendra, Inc.

he Salinas River is a
Ana, Carlsbad, Ventura, San
dynamic hydrological
Dieguito, San Diego and
system that ranks as the
others) follow this model.
ninth largest in California,
With support from
running 175 miles from
MCAC, RCDMC engaged
San Luis Obispo to
Dendra, Inc. to set this apMonterey Bay. Along the
proach in motion by obtainway it meanders through
ing mapping data (from
vast tracts of agricultural
Cal-IPC surveys), permits,
row crops supporting one
and funding. This process
of the largest agricultural
took three years and included:
centers in the state, as well
•
Program development
as numerous rural towns
through careful coordinaand urban centers.
tion with relevant local
The river is also, unfororganizations, agencies and
tunately, the second most
landowners,
Arundo-invaded watershed
•
Pursuit of numerin the state with over
ous grant sources (ARRA
1,470 gross acres (Cal-IPC
stimulus, Integrated Regional
mapping data 2012). As is
Water Management, Natural
widely recognized, Arundo
Resources Conservation
causes severe flooding and
Service (NRCS)) and finally
fluvial modification of
acquisition of $1.1 million
invaded riverine systems,
in grant funding from the
particularly when stands
Wildlife Conservation
reach the size of those
Board (matched by local
found on the Salinas River.
government and landowner
No one knows this better
resources),
than those that live and
•
Posting CEQA docuwork on the river.
mentation (for a Mitigated
Addressing the issue
Negative Declaration) and
clearly requires a collabacquiring a range of necessary
orative approach, and the
permits and authorizations
Resource Conservation
Dense Arundo donax stands in the Salinas River (above) and stream including: Army Corps of
Engineers (consultation),
District of Monterey
land management crew confering next to the arundo mower with
US Fish and Wildlife Service
County (RCDMC),
widespread mulched arund canes (below). Photos by Paul Robins
(Technical Assistance Letter),
Monterey County Ag
to initiate and represented two separate
National Oceanic and
Commissioners office
but complimentary programs. The first
Atmospheric Administration/National
(MCAC), Monterey County Water
program, led by the RCD, is based on
Marine Fisheries Service (Technical
Resources Agency (MCWRA), California
what
is
becoming
a
standard
approach
Assistance Letter), State Water Resource
Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB), and
for watershed-based Arundo control:
Conservation Board (National Pollutant
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) came
develop a watershed-scale plan, and then
Discharge Elimination System permit),
together to work with local landowner
get programmatic permits to start work
and Cal. Dept. Fish and Wildlife (1600
and agricultural industry groups.
at the top and work your way down. A
Lake and Streambed Alteration permit).
This past year a substantial portion of
number of programs in other watersheds
Then, what is usually a difficult task—
the river (>15 miles) had initial Arundo
(San Luis Rey, Santa Margarita, Santa
getting permission from landowners along
treatments. This achievement took years

Cal-IPC News Winter 2015

10 miles of river—took only days! This
was a positive outcome of the long-standing collaborative approach maintained
during program development. The RCD
had already built relationships with key
landowners and farmers who wanted the
improved flow conveyance that Arundo
control provides. Besides, there’s not
much love lost on Arundo.
The second program is a demonstration project of the Salinas River Stream
Maintenance Program (SMP), which
focused on improving channel flows with
managed secondary channels and Arundo
control, in coordination with the RCD’s
Arundo program. This program, fully
funded and implemented by landowners
(with permits and planning funded by
TNC and MCWRA), was launched by a
collaboration between TNC, MCWRA,
Conservation Collaborative, the Salinas
River Channel Coalition (landowners)
and the Grower Shipper Association of
Central California. The program worked
on 11.5 miles of river in the first year at
various downstream locations.
Working together, the two programs
will build and expand to cover the entire
river at a faster rate than has ever been
achieved by an Arundo control program.
The entire river could be under active
treatment in five to ten years!
In fall 2014, the RCDMC initiated
reduction efforts on private lands in the
Greenfield area of the Salinas River using
ACS Habitat Management and Washburn
Grove Management. Foliar herbicide
applications were originally planned, but
due to the severe drought conditions and
resulting dormancy and early dieback
of aboveground biomass, the first year
treatment method was shifted to mowing
to reduce standing growth. Being flexible
in treatment approach is critical, and one
has to build this into permits beforehand.
The dieback of aboveground Arundo
biomass is an opportunity comparable to
a fire where biomass is ‘reduced for free’.
Here the program got three years of extreme plant stress resulting in dead canes.
This was a good time to start work—hit
the Arundo when it’s weak.
Approximately 109 acres of Arundo
and some individual tamarisk plants were
mowed along 4.5 miles of the Salinas
River. During the next growing season

this approach will force mowed plants
to re-sprout with lush new growth that
will respond much better to the herbicide
when it is treated in late summer/fall.
Being as persistent as it is, Arundo was
observed re-growing in the early parts
of December after mowing ended, but
nature provided extra bang for our buck
because these re-sprouts were killed off
by a short bout of frost in January 2015,
meaning further reduction in energy
reserves in the below-ground root tissues
for no extra cost!
The SMP operated in two ‘River
Management Units’ along 11.5 river miles
and included treatment of over 20 acres
of Arundo in the cleared bypass channels
and another 30 acres as mitigation for
early successional willow scrub removed
in those channels. The RCD and Dendra

consulted with the SMP on Arundo
treatment methods and provided the
coordination of biological monitoring for
that work in addition to the monitoring
required for the WCB-funded work.
This program will expand to cover
much of the river and will aid in long
term re-treatments of Arundo, a critical
component in achieving eradication at the
watershed scale.
Over the next five years the grant
with the Wildlife Conservation Board
will directly support follow-up herbicide
treatment on the acreage mowed in 2014
and additional acreage between the San
Luis Obispo-Monterey County line
and Soledad for cumulative treatment
…continued page 14

Cal-IPC News Winter 2015

Early detection/rapid response around the state
South Coast

Desert

Spotting Bitou bush (Chrysanthemoides moniflifera
ssp. moniifera. Only the second population known
in the state, found near the mouth of Aliso Creek in
Orange County by Ron Vanderhoff, Orange County
Chapter of CNPS. The plant is native to South
Africa, and has become invasive in Australia and New
Zealand.Photo R. Vanderhoff.

Central Sierra

Hunting Canary Island knapweed at Anza-Borrego State Park.
Volutaria canariensis has been spreading in Borrego Springs for five years,
doing well despite the drought. The plant is native to the Canary Islands,
and not known to have been found elsewhere in the world. Volunteer
Mac McNair searches out plants in a fallow field where the species has
been spreading. Photo by Frank Harris.

Controlling Scotch thistle in Calaveras County.
Work to eradicate incipient weed populations such as
this one is funded by Cal-IPC through a grant from the
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Scotch thistle
has become a major weed in northeast California.
Photo courtesy of Kevin Wright, Calaveras County
Agricultural Commissioner’s Office.

Cal-IPC News Winter 2015

We all know that EDRR is cost-effective. It’s being put into action
across California as land managers and volunteer stewards identify
and control new problems right away. Cal-IPC serves as an important hub for this work, connecting those on the ground with others
who can verify identification or help with removal. Got your own
EDRR story? Let us know!

Report from Vegas: Western Weed Coordinating Committee
By Doug Johnson, Cal-IPC

know, what happens in Las Vegas is
supposed to stay in Vegas. But for the
annual meeting of the Western Weed
Coordination Committee it makes more
sense to share the information. Here are
some highlights from the three-day meeting in late November, attended by state
weed coordinators from 15 western states,
including Dean Kelch of the California
Department of Food and Agriculture.
HR 3994 – the “Federal Lands
Invasive Species Control” bill, authored
by Rep. Bishop of Utah, now chair of the
House Committee on Natural Resources,
proposes that 75% of all funding to
federal land-managing agencies must be
used for on-the-ground management,
and that invasive species management
get a Categorical Exclusion from NEPA.
Though Cal-IPC would like to see
additional resources for on-the-ground
management and more streamlined NEPA

compliance, we have joined others in asking for a more thorough study of which
program areas could lose funding under
the proposal, and what the implications of
such a NEPA exclusion could be.
Biocontrols – Wyoming and other
states have opened direct channels with
weed biocontrol researchers at CABI labs
in Europe to develop tools for controlling their weeds. These states send some
$500,000/year abroad for this research
and development. Biocontrols are key
for getting a handle on widespread
weeds across the west, and are a focus
of the North American Invasive Species
Managers Association (NAISMA, www.
naisma.org).
Oregon economic study – The
Oregon Dept. of Agriculture published
a study on the economic costs of top
invasive plants. The bottom line – 25
weeds cause an estimated annual loss of

$83.5 million to the state’s economy. The
figure could be well over a billion dollars
without current control efforts by state,
county, and federal weed programs. The
study examined two widespread weeds,
Scotch broom and Himalayan blackberry,
plus 23 species with more limited distribution. Factors considered include impact
on agricultural commodities and loss of
fishing and hunting opportunities. (www.
oregon.gov/ODA/programs/Weeds/Pages/
WeedsResources.aspx)
Greater Sage Grouse – There was
much energetic dialogue about the
anticipated listing of the Greater Sage
Grouse under the Endangered Species
Act. Management of the bird’s leks, or
breeding grounds, is already a primary
factor in land management throughout
the Great Basin, but federal listing will
add new requirements and protocols.

Rangeland conservationists meet in Sacramento
By Dana Morawitz, Cal-IPC

he 10th Annual Rangeland Summit
of the California Rangeland
Conservation Coalition was held in
conjunction with the Annual Meeting of
the Society for Range Management
(SRM), Jan. 31 to Feb. 6 in
Sacramento. SRM is is the professional society dedicated to supporting those who work with rangelands
and have a commitment to their
sustainable use. The Rangeland
Coalition brings together ranchers,
conservationists, and state and
federal agencies to find common
ground for conserving working
rangelands and the plants and
animals that depend on them.
Cal-IPC attended the trade
show and 2.5 days of this actionpacked annual meeting. In addition
to learning the latest in rangeland
management technologies and honoring achievements in rangeland

careers, there was a strong emphasis
on welcoming high school and college
students who will lead the rangeland
profession in the future.

Favorite sessions included: Integrating
Ecological and Socioeconomic Factors
into Restoration Decision-Making and
Outcomes; Rangeland Social Science
I: Planning and Economics;
Vegetation Management and
Restoration; Invasive Species
Monitoring and Management;
Invasive Species Management:
Medusahead and Cheatgrass;
and, last but not least, the one
day session that was the 10th
Annual California Rangeland
Coalition Summit, that focused
on Collaborative Conservation.
SRM Annual Meeting: www.
rangelands.org/sacramento2015/
CA Rangeland Summit:
carangeland.org/news-events/
annual-summit/

Cal-IPC News Winter 2015

Beachgrass from page 5
Campbell, C. in press. Draft – Monitoring
Western snowy plovers at Point Reyes National
Seashore, Marin County, California. 2013
Annual Report. Natural Resource Technical
Report NPS/SFAN/NRTR.
Campbell, C. in press. Draft – Monitoring
Western snowy plovers at Point Reyes National
Seashore, Marin County, California. 2014
Annual Report. Natural Resource Technical
Report NPS/SFAN/NRTR.
Dangremond, E.M., E.A. Pardini, and
T.M. Knight. 2010. Apparent competition with
an invasive plant hastens the extinction of an
endangered lupine. Ecology. 91(8): 2261-2271.
Johnson, W. C., S. L. Minnick, and L.
Parsons. 2012. Tidestrom’s lupine (Lupinus
tidestromii) census at Abbotts Lagoon dunes and
B Ranch – July 2012. Revised Nov. 5, 2012.
Point Reyes National Seashore, Point Reyes
Station, CA.
NPS. 2009. Abbotts Lagoon Area Dune
Restoration Plan: Environmental Assessment.
Point Reyes National Seashore, National Park
Service.
Pardini, E. A., and T. M. Knight. 2013,
February 20. Memo: Benefits of dune restoration at Abbotts Lagoon to two federally listed
endangered species, Tidestrom’s Lupine and
Beach Layia.
Pardini, E. Professor. Washington Univ.,
St. Louis, MO. Personal communication dated
August 11, 2014 .
Peterson, B. 2004. The Use of Heavy
Machinery (Excavators) to Remove Ammophila
arenaria (European beachgrass) from Native Sand
Dunes at Point Reyes National Seashore. Pp
58–61 in Proceedings of the California Invasive
Plant Council Symposium.

Contact Lorraine Parsons at Lorraine_
Parsons@nps.gov.

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Cal-IPC News Winter 2015

Tamarisk workshop from page 9
• The lifespan of beetles is five to six
weeks, so Colorado has two or three
generations per growing season,
whereas Texas has five to six generations per growing season.
• In defoliated areas, birds that normally nest in tamarisk trees have been
observed to shift to native trees and
tamarisk shrubs that have retained
foliage.
• Some insectivorous birds feed
on tamarisk beetles (and also on
a non-native tamarisk weevil of
unknown origin that has less impact
on tamarisk abundance).
• The beetles can feed on athel trees, or
evergreen tamarisk (T. aphylla), but
prefer the deciduous, brushy saltcedar
foliage.
• Species of the Diorhabda genus
occupy different latitude ranges in
Eurasia, which affect their placement
on this continent, because latitude
controls day length which determines when the beetles start winter
dormancy.
Thanks to the Riverside/San
Bernardino Chapter of the California
Native Plant Society for contributing to
my travel expenses; and to Tom Dudley
with UC Santa Barbara for additional
information.
Contact Bill Neill at bgneill@earthlink.net.

Beetles from page 9
River). We’ve also started a collaboration
with Jorge Ramirez (University of Baja
California, Mexicali) to establish monitoring stations in the Colorado River Delta
in Mexico.
When the beetles do move into
southern California, land managers may
want to consider transporting them to
other target locations for saltcedar control
but we urge caution to avoid surprises and
unintended cansequences. Over the next
year or so this can be done in a coordinated fashion, with good monitoring.
We will be working with desert WMAs,
Cal-IPC, and state and federal partners to
structure this approach.
Contact Tom at tdudley@msi.ucsb.edu.
Salinas River from page 9
of a minimum of 200 acres of Arundo
distributed across 1,300 acres of riparian
habitat in the upper watershed.
In addition to pursuing continued
investments from grant sources and local
volunteers, we are eager to engage Farm
Bill support through NRCS to extend
our work, given the significant ownership
by agricultural interests in the valley. To
date, aligning local farmers with funding
support from NRCS for Arundo control
has remained a challenge, but based on
successes elsewhere, we hope to build a
pathway to more substantially engage
NRCS in this broad partnership for
work that meets a multitude of resource
challenges in a river system that desperately needs the help and a community so
motivated to do the work.
Contact Paul Robins at paul.robins@
rcdmonterey.org.

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Cal-IPC News Winter 2015

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The WILDLAND WEED CALENDAR
Science for Parks Summit
March 25-27, UC Berkeley
parksforscience.berkeley.edu

South East EPPC and North Carolina IPC
May 26-28, Chapel Hill, NC
nceppc.weebly.com

N. American Invasive Spp. Mgmt. Assoc.
October 18-21, Vancouver, Canada
www.naisma.org

National Wildflower Week
May 4-10, nationwide
www.wildflower.org/nww

California Invasive Species Action Week
June 6-14, statewide
www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Invasives/
Action-Week

Nevada Medusahead Symposium
October 26-29, Reno, NV
agri.nv.gov/Plant-Industry

SERCAL
May 12-14, San Diego
www.sercal.org
National Adaptation Forum
May 12-14, Saint Louis, MO
www.nationaladaptationforum.org

Ecology & Mgmt of Alien Plant Invasions
September 20-24, Waikoloa, HI
www.emapi2015.hawaii-conference.com

Cal-IPC Symposium
October 28-31, San Diego
www.cal-ipc.org/symposia
Tamarisk Coalition
February 9-11, 2016, Grand Junction, CO
www.tamariskcoalition.org

“As we change from looking to the past to preparing for the future in restoration ecology, one
wonders if creating future-proof plant communities is more ‘prestoration’ than restoration. ”

~ K. Havens and co-authors, “Seed sourcing for restoration in an era of climate change,”
Natural Areas Journal, January 2015