Working on a school project that helps restore an ecosystem and will endure for years to come is not something most students have time to squeeze in between math and spelling, but the Flowery Elementary 3rd graders in Sonoma are doing just that. Begun in the 2008-09 season as part of LandPaths' In Our Own Backyard (IOOBY) program, and continued this year with a grant from the EPA and the Sonoma Valley Fund, Flowery students are restoring a native grassland with far-reaching implications.
Last spring, Flowery students collected native purple needlegrass, California brome, and blue wild rye seeds from Glen Oaks Ranch, a Sonoma Land Trust property in Glen Ellen. This year's 3rd grade planted the seeds in their school's greenhouse in September. By November the seedlings were robust and ready to be transplanted back at Glen Oaks to an oak meadow over-run by thistle and non-native grasses. Students planted the seedlings, mulched and watered them, and marked each one with a flag so that they could be located later in the year. On subsequent visits to the property, they kept their grasslings watered and mulched, and their plots weeded. By June, most of the grasses had grownseveral feet, and even produced seeds of their own! Next year's third grade will repeat the process, steadily increasing native grass populations on the property.
There are several differences between the non-native, annual grasses that were introduced to the California landscape from the Mediterranean by European settlers and thnative, perennial grasses that comprised our grasslands for hundreds of years. Perennial grasses are more drought tolerant than their annual counterparts. In fact, when only native grasses grew here, the hills of Sonoma County used to stay green all year long!
Perennial grasses live for several years, and are able to establish deep root systems (purple needle grass has been reported to have roots 16 ft deep!) that can absorb water from deep underground. In contrast, annual grasses complete their entire life cycle in one season, and only grow roots a few inches deep, dying as soon as the rains stop.
Annual grasses lose most of their nutritional value after the rainy season and turn brown. In contrast, native grasses persist as high-quality forage for native animals throughout the year, providing food for deer, birds, insects, and rodents.
Settlers both introduced annual grasses and suppressed wild fires to protect settlements and livestock. As a result, annual grasses spread quickly. However, published research in Ecology (2004) shows that, once reintroduced, perennial grasses hold their own against non-native annual grasses (more on CA grasslands at www.cnga.org).
By working to strengthen native grass populations, Flowery students are acting as positive role models and ecological stewards in their community, providing valuable food and habitat for native California wildlife, and creating a legacy of environmental education that will continued as a Flowery 3rd grade tradition for years to come.
In Our Own BackYard (IOOBY) is LandPaths' school-based education program. If you'd like to be a part of this wonderful work, contact Bree Benton at Bree@LandPaths.org and register to become an IOOBY volunteer.
This article was written by Lansia Jipson, LandPaths Assistant Education Director. It appeared in the Summer 2010 edition of LandPaths Calendar / Newsletter.
Related Documents
|
LandPaths Summer 2010 Calendar - web version |
RSS Feed