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Charismatic
megafauna:
A term
used to refer to large and appealing animals, e.g. otters,
egrets, whales. Environmental groups often feature "charismatic
megafauna" in their materials because, well, they're
more appealing to people than what some might call "repulsive
microfauna."
Conservation
easement: A legal agreement between a landowner
and a land trust or government agency that permanently protects
land while the landowner continues to own it. Donating the
easement can result in reduced inome or estate taxes. More
than 17,000 conservation easements protect 4.7 million acres
of land in the United States.
Degraded
or disturbed soils: Soils
that have been altered by human activity, which makes them
less capable of supporting native plant communities and sometimes
more susceptible to non-native invasion. In the Elkhorn Slough
watershed, the dominant forms of disturbance are the cultivation
of steep slopes, erosion, and overgrazing.
Used
in a planned disturbance regime, cattle, like these
on Porter Ranch, can help native plants thrive
and reduce
invasive non-natives.
Disturbance
regime:
The disturbance of the soil and plant communities in ways
that are natural or mimic natural disturbance and thus foster
healthy ecological conditions. The grazing of cattle at the
Porter Ranch is an example of a disturbance regime designed
to mimic the grazing patterns of wild herds and thus benefit
native bunch grasses and grassland-dependant species such
as badgers, gopher snakes, white-tailed kites, western bluebirds,
bobcats, and burrowing owls.
Ecotone:
The
transition zone between communities, such as between uplands
and wetlands. These transitional areas can be unusually rich
in flora and fauna, with elements from both of the adjoining
communities.
Elkhorn
Highlands: The sandy hills lying to the east of
Elkhorn Slough. Because these hills drain into the slough,
what happens on them is vital to the health of the slough.
The upper ridges of these hills are covered with maritime
chaparral, a rare plant community in California.
The
Brown Pelican is one of six endangered or threatened
species found in the Elkhorn Slough watershed.
Endangered
or
threatened species: A plant or animal species facing
the danger or threat of extinction. The state and federal governments
have separate lists of "endangered" or "threatened"
species. An endangered species is one already facing the danger
of extinction. A threatened species is one that is likely to become
so in the foreseeable future. Endangered or threatened designation
makes it illegal to "take" a species, a term which includes
harassment or making significant modification to its habitat.
Endangered animals enjoy significantly more protection than plants.
Endangered or threatened species in the Elkhorn Slough watershed
include: Western Snowy Plover,
Brown Pelican, California Sea Otter, Monterey
Spineflower, and Santa Cruz Tarplant.
Erosion:
The wearing away by, or as if by, abrasion. Soil erosion in
the Elkhorn Slough watershed occurs most dramatically on steep
sandy slopes where disturbance leaves the soils exposed. The worst
soil erosion west of the Mississippi has been measured on slopes
in this area. The 1999 Elkhorn Slough Watershed Conservation Plan
identifies erosion and sediment runoff as “the most serious
threat” to the ecosystem.
Fallow
ag: Farm land not currently in cultivation. ESF has
acquired 271 acres of fallow agricultural land this year, almost
all of it on steep slopes not suitable for sustainable, environmentally
sensitive farming. Such lands could also be called "restorable
hillsides," because that is what we will do with them.
Furrow
alignment: A furrow is the shallow trench between rows
of crops. Furrows aligned running up and down a slope increase
water runoff and soil erosion. Furrow
alignment that cuts across the slope, following the contours,
reduces runoff and erosion.
Holistic
grazing: Planned grazing that attempts to mimic natural
grazing patterns by varying the intensity, duration, and frequency
of grazing – with the desired result being healthier grasslands.
A
curlew in the pickleweed, no doubt looking for
invertebrates, not far from the ecotone that can
be
protected by good furrow alignment.
Invasive
non-native: A
plant that did not evolve in a particular region but aggressively
grows there, altering natural processes and crowding out native
plants.
Invasive
species: A non-natime species of plant or animal that
crowds out the native species. Only 10% of non-native species
are considered invasive. In the Elkhorn Slough watershed, pampas
grass (jubata grass) is particularly threatening to the maritime
chaparral plant community.
Invertebrate:
An animal lacking a spinal column. There are more than 550 species
of marine invertebrates (clams, shrimp, crabs, worms) in Elkhorn
Slough, including the Fat Innkeeper
Worm, world famous among biologists as a zoological oddity.
Land
trust :
A nonprofit organization that actively works to conserve land
by undertaking or assisting in land or conservation easement acquisition,
or by its stewardship of such land or easements. The 1500 land
trusts in the U.S. have protected 9.4 million acres of land.
Linkage:
Interconnection. ESF uses the term to refer to the stitching
together of parcels of land to create large blocks that will help
sustain a greater diversity of species. Some animals, like bobcats,
need the considerable room to roam that can be provided by linked
lands.
Bobcats,
like this one in Long Valley, benefit from
a healthy environment of linked lands, including restored
hillsides (often fallow ag lands) free of invasive species.
Maritime
chaparral: A rare plant community that occurs within
the central California coastal zone. The California Native Plant
Society has designated over a dozen species in this habitat as
"species of concern." The plants of this community require
cool, foggy summers and well-drained, sandy soils. Maritime
chaparral occurs on the ridges and south-facing slopes in
the Elkhorn Highlands. At one time maritime chaparral covered
extensive areas in the Elkhorn watershed. During the past forty
years many south-facing chaparral slopes were converted to agriculture
and housing. At the present time there are 1700 acres of maritime
chaparral in the 45,000-acre Elkhorn Slough watershed.
Native
bunch grass: Generally, the perennial grasses which
have grown here for tens of thousands of years. Native grass grows
in clumps or bunches, providing a rich habitat for animals and
wildflowers. Imported European grasses are more evenly spread,
choking out native wildflowers and providing a less hospitable
habitat for small animals. Elkhorn Slough's best stand of native
bunch grasses is on the Porter Preserve. ESF has extensively planted
native bunch grass at Azevedo and Blohm Ranches.
Native
plants: Plants which evolved in and grow naturally
in a specific region.
Northern
Crescent:
The term used in the Elkhorn Slough Watershed Conservation Plan
to describe the hills running east and northeast of Elkhorn Slough.
These hills were identified as a top priority for protection both
because soil erosion from farming on steep slopes was a major
threat to the slough, and because the small number of relatively
large parcels made acquisition feasible.
Pickleweed:
Salicornia virginica
is the dominant plant in the salt marshes of Elkhorn Slough. It
is green throughout the summer and turns red in the fall.
Protected
Land: We
call land “protected” when its future use is legally
restricted to protect its natural resource values. Land can be
protected when it is acquired by a land trust, or by entering
into a preservation agreement between a land trust and a private
owner. Most of the 3600 acres protected by the Foundation is land
we have acquired, but in some cases (Triple M Ranch, for example),
the land is owned by others with a preservation agreement held
by ESF that protects the land from certain uses.
Raptor:
A bird of prey, characterized by a hooked bill and strong talons.
Raptors commonly found in the slough watershed include White-Tailed
kites, Northern Harriers, and Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks.
Habitats
restored
with native bunch grasses are ideal
for raptors like this red-shouldered hawk.
Restore:
To bring back into existence or use, to return to original condition.
Restoring land in the Elkhorn
Slough watershed means planting native vegetation, opening up
streams and ponds
filled with eroded soil, returning the land to its natural ecological
complexity as a habitat for animals and plants.
Riparian corridor:
The bank of a natural course of water, home to a wide variety
of reeds, bushes, trees and animals, the natural route for the
watershed's drainage. The Elkhorn Slough watershed has 1200 acres
of riparian corridor, including Carneros Creek which supplies
70% of the slough's fresh water. The Elkhorn Slough Foundation
protects 1600 acres of land which drain into Carneros Creek.
Sediment
basin: A small dam which catches runoff water, allowing
soil to settle to the bottom and cleaner water to flow into a
nearby waterway, thereby reducing soil runoff. Later the sediment
is removed from the basin.
Tidal
barriers :
Barriers that partially or fully limit the flow of tide waters,
such as levees, dikes, road or railroad beds, and tide gates.
By the 1950s more than 37 miles of tidal barriers had been built
in and around Elkhorn Slough, reducing tidal flow to more than
half the former marsh lands of Elkhorn Slough. Today many of these
barriers have failed or been removed.
Tidal
erosion : The process by which tidal flows erode banks
and channel beds, sometimes called tidal scour. The average rate
of bank erosion along the slough's main channel is twenty inches
a year in the upper slough and twelve inches a year in the lower
slough. The average width of tidal creeks has increased from eight
feet to over forty feet in the last 70 years.
Tidal
volume: The volume of sea water that comes on a tide.
The tidal volume of Elkhorn Slough has doubled since 1970. Increased
tidal volume and current velocity lead to a wider and deeper channel,
which, in turn, increases tidal volume.
Watershed:
1) The region draining into a body of water. The Elkhorn Slough
watershed comprises 45,000 acres, from the Parajo Valley south
to Castroville, and from Monterey Bay east into San Benito County.
2) A critical point that serves as a dividing line. In 2002 the
Elkhorn Slough Foundation announced that it would double the amount
of land it protects – a watershed moment for the watershed.
By
protecting wetlands from soil erosion, ESF is
also
protecting habitat for birds like this Snowy Egret.
Wetland:
Alow-lying
area that is saturated with water, including tidal canals and
mudflats, as well as freshwater, brackish, and saltwater marshes.
The wetlands of Moro Cojo Slough include coastal salt marsh, alkali
grasslands, freshwater marsh, and freshwater herbaceous wetlands.
Wetlands provide critical habitat for a variety of plant and animal
species, including more than half of California’s threatened
or endangered species.
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