2007-12-20

Endangered species in my neighborhood


A recently released EIR for an underground aviation fuel pipeline to LAX calls out Coulter's goldfields among other California native plants as growing in a nearby sensitive area (the circular border of the sensitive area ends only blocks away from my house near the Lawndale / Hawthorne border). I suspect the naturally occurring goldfields are long gone, but if not then I have to suppose that seed that I have strewn about my yard willy nilly may dilute the local wild seed gene pool.

Above is a map of the sensitive areas. Despite its large size it has poor resolution even when viewed within the EIR from which I took it. The conspiracy theorist inside wonders if that's purposeful in order to obfuscate exact locations?

In addition to goldfields, also indicated in my area is San Bernardino aster (asters are in the parent family of sunflowers, I think). The next closest (and somewhat overlapping) sensitive species is California Orcutt grass ("An old report from the junction of Western Avenue and Rosecrans Avenue in Los Angeles around the old municipal airport is apparently an extirpated site." Orcutt grass is associated with vernal pools, now presumably paved over. ). Prostrate navarretia, another vernal pool plant in the flox family, is also located nearby.

According to this map, other endangered plant and animal species observed in the South Bay (LAX to PV, beach to Lomita) include Lyon's pentachaeta, Pacific pocket mouse, Mohave tui chub, coastal California gnatcatcher, tricolored blackbird, southern tarplant, Coast (San Diego) horned lizard, South Coast saltscale (Atriplex pacifica), Orcutt's pincushion (so rare or inconsequential that Calflora.org has no picture?), beach spectaclepod (Dithyrea maritima), spreading navarretia, coastal dunes milk vetch, Parrish's brittlescale, Brand's phacelia (not indexed in Calflora.org under that name).

If I could find some, wouldn't it be cool to propagate seed from some of the local plants?

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