Historically present | |
Between 2000 and | |
Last 10 years |
Goal: Protect, enhance, and restore vernal pool habitat on Conserved Lands in the MSPA that supports or has the potential to support VF and SL species (i.e., California Orcutt grass, Otay mesa mint, San Diego button-celery, San Diego mesa mint, spreading navarretia, Riverside fairy shrimp, San Diego fairy shrimp, and western spadefoot) so that the vegetation community has high ecological integrity, and these species are resilient to environmental stochasticity and threats, such as altered hydrology, climate change and invasive plants, and will be likely to persist over the long term (>100 years).
Management units: 3, 6
Beginning in 2018, conduct annual surveys for San Diego button-celery in occupied, historically occupied and potentially suitable vernal pools to determine cover clases in each basin and cover of each nonnative species using a standardize protocol as defined in the VPMMP (City of San Diego 2015). Nonnative cover classes will be combined to determine if management triggers for Level 1, 2 or 3 management are met. Management recommendations will be made, noting individual nonnative species that pose a threat to direct specific management actions. Management actions will be implemented annually as part of the general vernal pool habitat management objectives for different management levels (ML1, ML2, ML3).
Action | Statement | Action status | Projects |
---|---|---|---|
IMP-1 | Submit project metadata, monitoring datasets and management recommendations to the MSP Web Portal. | On hold |
Criteria | Deadline year |
---|---|
Annual Surveys Completed with Management Recommendations | 2021 |
Threat Name | Threat Code |
---|---|
Altered hydrology | ALTHYD |
Climate change | CLICHN |
Human uses of the Preserves | HUMUSE |
Invasive plants | INVPLA |
Urban development | URBDEV |
Proctor Valley Vernal Pools and Uplands Habitat Restoration Project
The Proctor Valley Vernal Pool and Uplands Habitat Restoration Project will complete restoration of 19 acres of vernal pools and coastal sage scrub in Proctor Valley on the City of San Diego's Otay Lakes Cornerstone Lands, a biological core area under the San Diego MSCP. The Project includes restoration of vernal pools and coastal sage scrub habitat and establishment of occurrences of two high-priority Management Strategic Plan (MSP) plants with seed collection, seed bulking, propagation, planting and seeding, and maintenance. The Project also includes restoration of habitat specific to the needs of several MSP animal species through seeding and planting of host and nest plants, construction of artificial burrows, and other measures.
Project partially funded by SANDAG TransNet EMP Land Management Grant #5001972 and #5004955.
|
File name | Lead Author | Year | Type |
---|---|---|---|
City of San Diego Vernal Pool And Quino Habitat Restoration Project Implementation Report | 2010 | report | |
County of San Diego MSCP Monitoring Summary Report January 1998 - June 2007 | County of San Diego | 2007 | report |
Final Report: Vernal Pool Habitat Restoration at Otay Mesa Open Space | 2020 | report | |
MSP Roadmap Dec 31, 2016: VF Species and Vegetation Goals, Objectives, and Actions | San Diego Management and Monitoring Program | 2016 | other |
Revised Final City of San Diego Vernal Pool Habitat Conservation Plan Management and Monitoring Plan | 2020 | report | |
Vernal Pool And Quino Habitat Restoration Project Implementation Report | 2010 | report | |
Vernal Pool Management and Monitoring 2019 | Berninger, Mark | 2019 | powerpoint presentation |
Vernal Pool Restoration Final Report | 2018 | report | |
Weed Control on the Vernal Pool Restoration Areas of the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge: Jamul, California | 2013 | report |
Southwestern California south to a few occurrences in coastal northwestern Baja California, Mexico near San Quintin [1, 2].
Ten regional locations include Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Carlsbad, San Marcos, Ramona, Carmel Mountain, Del mar Mesa, Kearny Mesa, Otay Lakes, and Otay Mesa [3]. Within the MSPA it is known from MU2 (Kearny Mesa, Clairemont Mesa, Tierrasanta), MU3 (Otay Lakes, Otay Mesa), MU5 ( Ramona), MU6 (Del Mar Mesa, Carmel Mountain, Mira Mesa), MU7 (San Marcos, Carlsbad) [4].
FE and CE [5].
San Diego button-celery is a clay soil, surface and non-surface hard pan, vernal pool obligate species but can also occur adjacent to and around vernal pools [1]. It occurs across various types of vernal pool soils but doesn't appear to be tied to any particular soil type [6]. Specifically adapted to surviving in vernally wet conditions due to the presence of aerenchyma tissue (air channels in the roots) that facilitates necessary gas exchange in submerged plants [7].
San Diego button-celery is one of three varieties of Eriastrum aristulatum and belongs to Apiaceae family. It is separated from Eryngium aristulatum var. aristulatum by having styles in fruit that are about the same length as the calyx (outer whorl of protective structures around the flower) and is separated from Eryngium aristulatum var. hooveri (Hoover’s button-celery) by having bractlets (modified leaves) without callused margins [8].The majority of populations once associated with E. aristulatum var. parishii on Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base have been placed under a recently described species: Eryngium pendletonensis [9]. San Diego button-celery is distinguished from E. pendletonensis by a combination of leaf and flower structures. Chromosome number is 2n = 32 [10].
Gray-green perennial herb with a persistent tap root [3]. Spreading to erect from 1 to 8 dm in length and 41 cm or more in height [10].
Blooms from April to June; the tiny white flowers vary in length from 1.5 to 2.5 mm, occur on short stalks with rigid spiny bracts, and are found in 1 to many flowered heads in cymes [10, 11]. Stems are gray-green with toothed leaves giving it a prickly appearance [10].
Thought to be insect pollinated, with potential pollinators including bee flies (Bombyliids) and solitary bees (Apoidea) [12, 13]. Relies completely on ephemerally wet conditions associated with seasonal wetlands (vernal pools, swales) to reproduce [3]. Reproduces entirely by seed.
Threatened by habitat loss and degradation, urbanization and agricultural conversion, off-road vehicle use, livestock grazing, trampling/foot traffic, watershed alteration (drainage), and competition with non-native species throughout much of its range [3, 14] . Habitat loss remains the primary threat.
Although it can be common where found, it has a patchy distribution making it more susceptible to local extinction [1]. Conservation is dependent on maintaining hydrology and the surrounding watershed for the occupied vernal pools, as well as protecting adjacent upland habitats for pollinators [12]. Extant populations need to be managed to reduce stressors from on-site and adjacent activities [14]. Regular monitoring is essential to gauging population trends and stressor effects. Currently, the level of synecological relationships between pollinators and E. a. var. parishii is unknown. If a close ecological relationship exists with E. a. var. parishii and its pollinators, conservation of the pollinators at all life stages in habitat proximal to the vernal pool may be needed to preserve the efficiency of the pollination service [13].
[1] California Natural Diversity Database. 2016. Eryngium aristulatum var. parishii, unpublished report, Natural Heritage Division, California Department of Fish and Game, Sacramento, California.
[2] Reiser, C.H. 2001. Rare Plants of San Diego County. Imperial Beach, CA: Aquafir Press.
[3] U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2010. Eryngium aristulatum var. parishii San Diego button celery 5-Year Review: Summary and Evaluation. Carlsbad, CA: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office
[4] MSP-MOM. 2014. Management Strategic Plan Master Occurrence Matrix. San Diego, CA. Available: http://sdmmp.com/reports_and_products/Reports_Products_MainPage.aspx
[5] U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1993. Determination of Endangered Status for Three Vernal Pool Plants and the Riverside Fairy Shrimp. Federal Register 58: 41384–41392.
[6] U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1998. Recovery Plan for Vernal Pools of Southern California. Portland, OR.
[7] Keeley, J.E. 1998. CAM Photosynthesis in Submerged Aquatic Plants. Botanical Review 64:121-175.
[8] Constance, L. 1993. Apiaceae in The Jepson Manual, Higher Plants of California, J.C. Hickman, edit. Berkeley: University of California Press.
[9] Marsden, K. and M. Simpson. 1999. Eryngium pendletonensis (Apiaceae): a New Species from Southern California. Madroño 46:61-64.
[10] Preston R.E., M.S. Park, and L. Constance. 2016. Eryngium aristulatum var. parishii, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, Accessed Nov. 8, 2016.
[11] California Native Plant Society. 2016. Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants (online edition, v7-09c). California Native Plant Soc. Sacramento, CA. Available: http://www.cnps.org/inventory.Accessed on November 8, 2016.
[12] Schiller, J.R., P.H. Zedler, and C.H. Black. 2000. The Effect of Density-dependent Insect Visits, Flowering Phenology, and Plant Size on Seed Set of the Endangered Vernal Pool Plant Pogogyne ambramsii (Lamiaceae) in Natural Compared to Created Vernal Pools. Wetlands 20:386-396.
[13] Thorp, R.W. 2007. Biology of Specialist Bees and Conservation of Showy Vernal Pool Flowers. A review. In: R.A. Schlising and D.G. Alexander (Eds.). Vernal Pool Landscapes. Studies from the Herbarium, # 14. California State University, Chico.
[14] Bauder, E.T. 1987. San Diego Vernal Pools, Recent and Projected Losses; Their Condition; and Threats to Their Existence 1979-1990, Volume 1. Endangered Plant Program, California Department of Fish and Game, Sacramento, CA.