By Megan Roy The Los Cerritos Wetlands Stewardship Program is based on learning from hands-on experience immersed in nature. The people involved with the program are fortunate enough to be exposed to a wide range of plants and animals all of which present opportunities to learn lessons daily. Great egrets, snowy egrets, great blue herons, belding-savannah sparrows, osprey, long billed curlews, terns and more fly, nest on-site and expose viewers to fascinating bird behavior. Osprey along with several other bird species perform a "kiting" behavior in which they fly above the water about 15-20 ft in the air and stay in one spot. When they find a fish they swoop down, they do this so fast that their feathers do not get wet. Snowy egrets have orange skinny feet that resemble worms. A fish will attempt to eat a "worm" but instead it is eaten by the egret. Each of the plants also unveil botany and adaptation secrets and can be arguably more interesting than the animals sometimes. The most dominant species found in the salt marsh is common pickleweed (Salicornis pacifica). This plant has a remarkable adaptation to tolerate salt exposure. The succulent plant excretes all of the salt into the tip turning it red and that tip will fall off. Each plant in the Mediterranean chaparral also exhibits drought-tolerant adaptations such as leathery leaves to survive in warm weather coastal-sage scrub communities. This is only a taste of the wealth of knowledge nature provides. By Megan Roy What has rhizomes, stems, distichous growth and colonizes the low marsh? Pacific Cordgrass (Spartina foliosa) of course! Spartina means cord in Latin and foliosa means leafy at the top. Distichous is a botany term meaning "two-ranked leaf arrangement." Lastly, the flowering part of the plant is called inflorescence, which is defined as a cluster of flowers on a stem. Not only does this native plant dominate the entire low marsh zone of salt marshes, but it is also necessary for endangered light-footed clapper rail nesting. According to restoration ecologist, Joy Zedler, Pacific Cordgrass must grow to be over 90cm or 3 feet to support the light-footed clapper rail. Currently, Cordgrass is a propagation priority so that it may be installed during planting season at the Colorado Lagoon. By Megan Roy
The endangered green sea turtle can be found not only in the tropics but in our very own San Gabriel River. Researchers have a theory that they are attracted to the warm water expelled into the river by the Haynes Generating Station.To learn more about our local turtles join us for Turtle Trek at 8am this Saturday at 1st and PCH, Seal Beach. By Jade Dean What on earth is a diurnal raptor? It is a raptor (the bird, not the dinosaur) that is active during the day. Chances are, you have seen these birds around your neighborhood soaring above the treeline or perching on a telephone pole. Diurnal raptors include 34 species, such as the Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, and Northern Goshawk. Some of the species found at the Los Cerritos Wetlands and Colorado Lagoon include: Let us know which of these diurnal raptors you have seen in your neighborhood in the comment section!
By Jade Dean We have officially started our monitoring project with SMBRF this past week! While the SMBRF team was conducting a CRAM survey at Hellman, Tidal Influence was responsible for collecting detailed vegetation data using three methods: percent cover, line intercept, and laser quadrat. See the image below to better understand our methodology and check back here for more updates as the surveys continue! By Megan Roy
These pictures show the transformation of the East Bank of the lagoon form invasive iceplant (Carpobrotus edulis) to native wetland and coastal sage scrub species. The conversion is remarkable! By Megan Roy
It is incredible the change the marsh has undergone in just one year thanks to the restoration effort. Note: Don't see a notable difference? In fact, the observed area is a success considering the salty and silty conditions this site bared -the growth is tremendous. The pictures did not capture all transformations. In these pictures we can observe natural change as the native coastal sage scrub plants mature and become a more suitable habitat for endangered birds and other creatures, By Megan Roy
In the past two weeks, we have had the great pleasure of leading several tours both at Los Cerritos and at Colorado Lagoon.. Click "Read More" To see all of the tour descriptions. |
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