FRIENDS OF EDGEWOOD NATURAL PRESERVE
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FRIENDS OF EDGEWOOD NATURAL PRESERVE
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HABITAT RESTORATION 2005 IN REVIEW By Ken Himes
Volunteers contributed 2,762 hours towards controlling invasive plants at Edgewood County Park and Natural Preserve in 2005. This amount surpasses our previous high of 2,549 hours in 2004. But are we making progress? The answer varies depending on which species are considered. Abundant rainfall, well spaced and occurring over a long season made for ideal growing conditions for native and non-native species in 2005. Although, it was one of the better wildflower viewing seasons, Italian and yellow star-thistle plants rebounded with densities not seen in several years. We definitely lost ground to Italian thistle, Carduus pycnocephalus, as we didn’t cover all four treatment sites in spring 2005. Canceled sessions due to late spring rains were one factor. In addition, Italian thistle continues to increase in densities. It is also shade tolerant and occurs in woodland areas and at Edgewood is becoming more widespread than yellow star-thistle. We worked on yellow star-thistle, Centaurea solstitialis, in summer and made a modest advance. We covered 27 acres of continuing treatment sites and removed most plants. One site, which had no plants in 2004, had one plant in 2005. Sharp-eyed Paul Heiple removed it before it could produce seed. In addition to 27 acres we advanced into a new treatment area approved for our 2005-2007 permit. Dense stands of YST made for slow going but good attendance allowed us to advance and remove plants in another two acres. Another positive was our late season sweeps for YST plants that were missed in our earlier site visits. We probably archived near zero densities on most sites with these additional sweeps.
In the fall, we worked in the complex of seasonally moist meadows near the west kiosk. Bristly ox-tongue, Picris echioides, and bull thistle, Circium vulgare, continue to have reduced densities. There are now vigorous stands of native California oatgrass, Danthonia californica, visible from the Edgewood Trail near the site of the west kiosk. The verdict is still out regarding our efforts to control French broom, Genista monspessulana. Five to ten years after removing adult plants at sites in Edgewood, germinated seedlings are still coming up like corn in an Iowa field. I have heard that seeds can remain viable for up to 70 years. Although we have cleared a total of five and one half acres of broom plants, these sites are by no means restored. We do hope to continue these efforts at Edgewood for years to come. This is critical if we are to be successful in our eventual control of French broom. I want to thank all those volunteers who helped out at Edgewood Preserve in 2005 and look forward to working with you in 2006. See you at Edgewood. |
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