Sonoma Land Trust publishes coastal prairie herbarium book for Estero Americano Preserve
ID guide will help evaluate effectiveness of cattle grazing for grassland management
SANTA ROSA, CALIF., March 31, 2011
The Sonoma Land Trust is pleased to announce the release of the 2011 edition of the Herbarium Book for the Estero Americano Preserve, a property located near the town of Bodega in southwest Sonoma County. The book displays plant specimens for more than 130 species that occur on the coastal grassland preserve as well as in the surrounding region.
The herbarium book was developed as a plant identification guide for participants of an annual grassland monitoring project designed to evaluate the effectiveness of cattle grazing for coastal prairie enhancement. The herbarium book is available for download on the Sonoma Land Trust Web site at: www.sonomalandtrust.org.
Given the dominance of invasive grasses, the grassland monitoring team was pleased to learn that the Estero Americano Preserve has a phenomenal amount of native perennial grass, rush and sedge species, which together comprise on average over 20 percent of the vegetation cover in the grasslands. "During the spring, tall stands of California hairgrass, purple needlegrass and California brome undulate across the hillsides as coastal breezes sweep in from the Estero," describes Dr. Caroline Christian, author of the grassland monitoring plan. "Some notable native wildflowers also found in the spring include bulbs, such as ground brodiaea, blue-eyed grass, and Ithuriel's spear, and forbs, such as California acaena, lupine, and a multitude of clovers."
"The Land Trust's herbarium book is an excellent plant identification guide for ranchers and other land managers working in coastal grassland sites. We are thrilled to be a part of the coastal prairie management and monitoring project currently underway at the Estero Americano Preserve," states Lisa Hulette, executive director of Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District.
According to Shanti Wright, stewardship project manager for the preserve, "The monitoring project and herbarium book would not have been possible without all the strong partnerships with local agencies, academia, volunteers — and our livestock operator, Joe Pozzi." The grassland management and monitoring project and herbarium book is the result of a collaboration between the Sonoma Land Trust (SLT), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District (RCD), Sonoma State University (SSU), and the Milo Baker Chapter of the California Native Plant Society (CNPS). NRCS provided cost-share assistance for the livestock grazing infrastructure improvements on the Preserve, and Gold Ridge RCD generously supported development of plans for grazing management and ecological monitoring for the coastal prairie grassland found on the property. Dr. Christian, faculty with SSU, authored the grassland monitoring plan and provided guidance for its implementation. Members of Milo Baker CNPS, SSU interns, and Gold Ridge RCD and SLT staff participated in the annual grassland data and plant specimen collection effort. SSU interns provided assistance with specimen labeling and scanning for the Herbarium Book and all specimens were verified by Peter Warner, botanical consultant.
The 127-acre Estero Americano Preserve is comprised of a mix of grasslands, scrub and brackish water marshes flanking the Estero Americano — a scenic tidal estuary that forms the Sonoma-Marin border south of Bodega Bay. The preserve was acquired in 1997 and 2001 by the Sonoma Land Trust, in partnership with the California State Coastal Conservancy and the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District. The Estero Americano is part of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and is one of the most important biological areas on the entire Northern California Coast. The tidal estuary supports a diversity of flora and fauna, including resident and migratory waterfowl, raptors, salt marsh, brackish marsh and historic runs of steelhead.
About the Sonoma Land Trust
The Sonoma Land Trust preserves scenic, natural, agricultural and open land for future generations. Since 1976, the Sonoma Land Trust has protected more than 26,000 acres of beautiful, productive and environmentally significant land. For more information about the Sonoma Land Trust, please visit www.sonomalandtrust.org.
