Type: report

Article abstract: San Diego Audubon’s Coastal Dune Vegetation Enhancement Project addressed the region’s Management Strategic Plan (MSP) goal to maintain and expand extant populations of Nuttall’s Lotus, an MSP SO species, within Mission Bay Park, while enhancing associated coastal dune areas that have the potential to support this species in the future. The strategy was two-fold: leveraging volunteer effort to carry out targeted hand removal of nonnative invasive plants, supported by well-timed spot-spraying of herbicides (a relatively novel approach) vs. eliminating nonnative invasive species via mechanized scraping and broadcast herbicide applications (the more traditional method of management at these sites). The use of two different management regimes (scraping vs. hand pulling) allowed for comparisons in efficacy for the enhancement of coastal dune habitat to support native plants such as Nuttall’s Lotus. Vegetation monitoring revealed dramatic shifts in native versus non-native plant cover during this time, with hand management resulting in much higher native plant cover and richness than mechanized scraping.