Goal: Maintain large populations, enhance small populations, and establish new populations of San Diego thornmint or pollinator habitat to buffer against environmental stochasticity, maintain genetic diversity, and promote connectivity, thereby enhancing resilience within and among MUs over the long-term (>100 years) in native habitats.
Management units: 3, 4, 5, 6
In 2018, begin preparing a section for San Diego thornmint in the MSP Seed Collection, Banking and Bulking Plan to preserve genetic diversity and rescue occurrences in case of catastrophic disturbance. The plan should incorporate best science and management practices (Wall 2009, KEW 2016) and recommendations from the 2016-2017 genetic study to provide guidelines for collecting and storing seeds over the long term at a permanent, established conservation seed bank (e.g., Institute for Conservation Research Native Plant Seed Bank, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden Seed Conservation Program) and for providing sources of seeds for management purposes. The plan should include recommendations for: collecting and storing seeds for conservation banking; management oriented research; rescuing occurrences after catastrophic disturbances; and seed bulking and out-planting to augment extant occurrences or to establish new occurrences with consideration of genetic implications for population sustainability.
| Action | Statement | Action status | Projects |
|---|---|---|---|
| PRP-1 | Consult the San Diego County Rare Plant Working Group made up of plant ecologists, geneticists, rare plant experts, land managers, restoration practitioners, seed banking and bulking practitioners, wildlife agencies, and other stakeholders to provide input and recommendations for the San Diego thornmint section of the MSP Seed Collection, Banking and Bulking Plan. | waiting for precedent action | California Plant Rescue (CaPR) - San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance's Native Plant Seed Bank |
| PRP-2 | Prepare a seed collection plan to collect seeds over multiple years, collect seeds several times within a season, accumulate seeds across populations, and to sample among habitats and ecological niches. Include guidelines for collecting and storing seeds along maternal lines from small occurrences (<1,000 plants) and to provide propagules to be used in management experiments, enhancement of existing occurrences, and establishment of new occurrences. | waiting for precedent action | California Plant Rescue (CaPR) - San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance's Native Plant Seed Bank |
| PRP-3 | The seed collection plan should include guidelines for collecting seeds from occurrences of sufficient size to accommodate harvest and based on genetic studies as available. Include provisions for collecting seed from unconserved populations planned for development. | waiting for precedent action | California Plant Rescue (CaPR) - San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance's Native Plant Seed Bank |
| PRP-4 | Include protocols and guidelines for collecting voucher specimens and submitting to the San Diego Natural History Museum (McEachern et al. 2007). | waiting for precedent action | California Plant Rescue (CaPR) - San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance's Native Plant Seed Bank |
| PRP-5 | Include guidelines for testing seeds for viability and to obtain information on dormancy and germination rates. | waiting for precedent action | California Plant Rescue (CaPR) - San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance's Native Plant Seed Bank |
| PRP-6 | Submit project metadata and MSP Seed Collection, Banking and Bulking Plan to MSP Web Portal. | waiting for precedent action | California Plant Rescue (CaPR) - San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance's Native Plant Seed Bank |
| Criteria | Deadline year |
|---|---|
| By 2019, Completed Section for San Diego thornmint in the MSP Seed Collection Banking and Bulking Plan | 2021 |
| Threat Name | Threat Code |
|---|---|
| Altered fire regime | ALTFIR |
| Climate change | CLICHN |
| Human uses of the Preserves | HUMUSE |
| Invasive plants | INVPLA |
| Loss of connectivity | LOSCON |
| Urban development | URBDEV |