Sometimes it's hard to get kids enthused about plants when there are snakes around. "Vertebrates are cute and fuzzy, and we're vertebrates, so it's easy to relate," says plant ecologist Jocelyn Holt. Nurturing a child's sense of kinship with plants requires some effort.
Jocelyn works with the National Park Service to bring EcoHelper students from the Los Angeles Unified School District to hike, pull weeds, and replant healthy native plant species. Students get hooked on plants and keep coming back. "Sometimes I wonder if we're getting through," says Jocelyn. "It can take years, but you can tell when it really sinks in, and the students say 'Hey, I understand this! Plants are cool!'"
The Mediterranean climate that accounts for today's perfect weather also allows more than 1,200 native plant species to flourish in the Santa Monica Mountains. This natural diversity is threatened by some 70 species of prolific non-native plants.
Why does it matter? Exotic "invasives" like eucalyptus, storksbill, and horehound get a head start in the growing season, towering over native species in no time at all, shading them out of their territory and sucking up more than their share of water. Adding insult to injury, when some invasives die, they create thick mats of organic material that prevent native species from getting established. What's more, many invasives increase the rate and intensity of fires in these tinderbox hills.
Photograph of Julian McCoy with invasive mustard grass by Phil Crosby
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Native plant species identified so far: 302
Non-native plant species identified so far: 107
POSTED BY EMILY LANDIS AND FORD COCHRAN/BIOBLITZ TEAM AT 11:07 AM
