Archive for date: January 29th, 2016

In Fall 2015, I started my capstone project on vegetation distribution on Water Canyon Watershed on Santa Rosa Island. Prior to this project, I knew a very minimal amount of plant species. I spent many days both on the main land and island researching and learning different plant species. The beginning of the semester was a challenge. I barely knew any plants, so I was taking pictures of every species I found. I was then going back to plant experts, as well as looking them up online, to find out what the species were. I am now confident when identifying species in my transect, with the exception of annual grasses. While conducting research, I identify the species to the genus and sometimes the species. To keep my accuracy of identifying species high, I categorize annual grasses in a group.

After visiting the island five times during the fall semester, I ventured out again for a week over winter break. During this week long trip, I was able to finish up surveying the watershed. I have 25 sites throughout the watershed, starting at the upper reaches and ending near the ocean. At each site, I capture data for two terraces and anything that falls between them, floodplains, stream channels, etc. Prior to this trip, I was unsure with some of my previous data collected. I was able to go back to those sites and resurvey with my modified methods. I now have a complete set of transects for the watershed. 

I have one more week long trip planned for spring break. During this time, I will double check my transects and make sure I have all the correct data. I will also be putting in rebar, so future studies can find my sites. In the mean time, I will be entering and completing my data sheet. I am now moving towards the process of writing my methods and processing my current data.

 

While I was out in the field for the week long trip, I was looking through all the plants I came across and I took detailed photos of those plants that I didn’t recognize in order to learn the flora of the island a little more and also properly catalog them if they turned out to be invasive plants. I took a photo of a very thick unusual looking plant that I found a large concentrated population of near one of the historical buildings. Later on, I was looking at Calflora to see if there was a difference in the iceplant species that are on the island due to differences in their flower colors. While scrolling through the iceplants, I saw the thick leafy plant I had earlier photographed! I would never have suspected that to be Crystalline Iceplant; it just looks so different from the iceplant we see everywhere else. I later confirmed that it was crystalline iceplant by comparing it to Sean Clark’s pressings of the plants on the island. I then got some good data about the location and spread of the Crystalline Iceplant. Hopefully since they’re mostly young growths, this is being caught early enough to manage before it gets out of control.

I had the opportunity to spend a week out on the island to work on my capstone so I was there from January 12th through the 19th. As much as I thought I’d be able to get everything done in a week, I realistically only had enough time to finish up one of my sampling sites which was Point of Entry 1 (see previous post for map). This was the area around the pier, the bunkhouse, and the historical buildings. Who knew picking through grass would take so long?

The above image is a very close up shot of Shortpod Mustard (Hirschfeldia incana). This is one of the invasive plants I was looking out for while sampling my site. In the close up you can see the white/gray hairs on the stem of the plant.