Type: report

Article abstract: This project is aimed at assessing the status and genetic diversity of populations of six species of rare plants in San Diego County including Acanthomintha ilicifolia (San Diego thornmint) and Monardella viminea (willowy monardella) in the Lamiaceae, Chloropyron maritimum ssp. maritimum (salt marsh bird's-beak) and Dicranostegia orcuttiana (Orcutt's bird's-beak) in the Orobanchaceae, and Baccharis vanessae (Encinitas baccharis) and Deinandra conjugens (Otay tarplant) in the Asteraceae. The results of this project should directly contribute to the conservation and management of these rare plant taxa in the San Diego MSPA. For each of these species, information on the genetic makeup and diversity across its range is needed to inform potential management actions such as establishing new populations and enhancing existing populations. Previously, verification and scientific voucher specimens were lacking from many occurrences of these six target species across San Diego County. Therefore, the goals of this task are to collect genetic material from as many species’ occurrences as possible and to collect voucher specimens to serve as a long-term resource for studying the populations associated with this project. These collections are useful for future genetic and morphological work to help inform management action. The genetic analyses of these collections will be performed by USGS.