CRB: Understanding the Regional Distribution of Native Meadow Remnants in Northern California

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9903421HarrisonUnderstanding the nature of refugia for native species in heavily invaded communities is both a scientific challenge and a conservation necessity. For example, California meadow communities are largely dominated by alien annual plants; remnant native species still persist, but there is a lack of quantitative knowledge of where they persist and why. Like many questions in ecology, this one must be addressed at a large spatial scale. This research will determine how soils, topography, land use and spatial isolation interact to affect the distribution of native meadow plants in a 130,000 hectare region of northern California. Two main hypotheses will be tested: (1) The distribution of native diversity is predictable at a regional scale, and (2) native species diversity depends on invasibility and isolation. The first hypotheses will be address by a carefully designed, stratified sampling regime. The second hypothesis will be addressed by highly controlled manipulative experiments. This project will be one of the first attempts to quantify patterns of native and alien species diversity at a regional scale, in a highly invaded terrestrial community. It will also be one of the first studies to examine the role of spatial isolation in creating refugia for native species. Finally, it is designed to contribute to an ecosystem management effort that is currently underway in the study region.