Rare Plants - City of San Diego [ds455]

The Biological Monitoring Plan (BMP; Ogden 1996) for the Multiple Species Conservation Program (MSCP) was developed in 1996 and is a component of the City of San Diego's MSCP. The BMP sets forth monitoring requirements for a variety of species, including rare plants, which are covered by the City's MSCP permit in order to assess regional changes in habitat conditions and wildlife. The City of San Diego began rare plant monitoring on its MSCP lands in 1999. Monitoring has been conducted by City staff or by its subcontractors. In 2001, the City expanded the number of MSCP species and localities it monitored and conducted both quantitative and qualitative monitoring (MBC & CBI 2002). Reconnaissance surveys were conducted in areas that had a high potential for target species in attempt to establish baseline data to be used in conjunction with future monitoring. Since then, the City has worked to develop its own methods based on the general parameters set forth by Ogden Environmental and by the Conservation Biology Institute in a 2001 review of the MSCP monitoring program. The City's monitoring methods are described in the City's annual plant monitoring reports and in MSCP Rare Plant Monitoring: Field Monitoring Methods Manual published in 2005. These documents are available for download from the City of San Diego MSCP website (2007 and 2008 reports should be available by September 2008): http://www.sandiego.gov/planning/mscp/biomonitor.shtml. From 2001-2005, monitoring methods generally included mapping a plant population with a sub-meter GPS and conducting a full census of plant populations along transects. If a population was too large for a complete census, it was estimated by sub-sampling using one square-meter quadrats. If a plant population could not be reached due to factors such as steep terrain, the population is mapped on an aerial photograph and later digitized. Additional data on number of flowering and non-flowering plants or number of juvenile and adult plants as well as presence of associated species were also collected. Basic survey information, primary vegetation types, potential to support the target species, as well as information on disturbances and maintenance issues were also recorded (MBC and CBI 2002). Beginning in 2006, the City switched to conducting Habitat Assessment/ Photomonitoring at its study sites based upon recommendations from an outside review of the MSCP rare plant monitoring program (McEachern et al. 2006). Photo plots were established and are visited each season. Photographs were taken of each direction where the target species occurs.