Wednesday, April 26, 2023 — 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Examining Assumptions: Impacts of Coastal Scrub Encroachment on the Diversity of Native Grasslands in the Bay Area
Wednesday, April 26, 7:30 pm
Speaker: Gregory Arena
Register to attend (registration is necessary to join the meeting)
Coastal prairie in Marin County. Photo ©Gregory Arena.
Hosting roughly 90 percent of the state’s rare and endangered life, and 40 percent of the state’s native vegetation, California’s coastal prairies are an important carbon sink, and a valuable natural and cultural resource. But over the past 150 years, native grasslands have been dramatically impacted by the interruption of historic ecological patterns such as herbivory and fire and the introduction of invasive species.
A chief concern for land managers has been the impacts of encroachment by coastal scrub, a native woody plant community dominated by coyote brush. While attention has been focused on the effects of scrub encroachment on the physical dimensions of coastal prairies, the impacts of these woody plants on native and introduced grass and forb diversity has received less focus. Through his work, our speaker, Gregory Arena, has characterized a relationship between coastal scrub and prairie diversity. He is also working to characterize the effects of coastal scrub canopy on prairie micro-climate and the physiological response of native bunchgrass.
Gregory Arena is a lifelong Californian and a PhD candidate at UC Berkeley, where he studies the physiological ecology of California’s coastal grasslands. Prior to his time at UC Berkeley, Gregory worked in restoration ecology and rangeland systems at Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Point Reyes National Seashore.
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Our CNPS East Bay speaker programs are currently presented as online meetings. If you have questions, contact Sue at prog…@ebcnps.org.
