Dear Friend,

This March, we at Marin Park Stewardship are feeling warm and optimistic. With daylight saving time beginning this month, we urge readers to make the most out of their extra hour of glorious afternoon sun.

In this spirit, and in this newsletter, we attempt to improve the conversation around climate change and to find natural predators to do our work for us. Enjoy!

In This Newsletter

• A[n Even More] Local Volunteer
• Talk of Change
• Volunteer Program Schedules and Locations

A[n Even More] Local Volunteer

 By Ailsa Harju

In Oakwood Valley a few weeks back, Maria and I met our veteran volunteer of around 40 years, the genista moth (Uresiphita reversalis). Through its small contributions, it almost seems like it’s actively protecting our native grasslands, just as we do, focusing on the same species that our volunteers work on.

http://nathistoc.bio.uci.edu/lepidopt/Pyralidae/Uresiphita.htm

Found only on this continent, Uresiphita reversalis is the lone member of its genus in North America, confined for the most part in areas that do not easily freeze. Its distribution is increasing, arriving in Central and Northern California only in the 1980s.

The adult moth has brown forewings and orange hind wings, is nocturnal, and lays eggs (up to 80 in a cluster) on the topside of leaves. Larvae grow through five instars, and eat mostly leaves and flowers. As caterpillars, genistas are aposematic, meaning they sport bright colors to mark their toxicity. The quinolizidine alkaloids in their leafy prey give them this toxicity, which deters predators. You can find both caterpillars and moths in our parks throughout the year.

Genista moths lay their eggs on a variety of species, but very often land on Genista monspessulana (French broom), as well as many species of lupines. This creates an interesting cross-section for local conservationists, who wish to preserve lupines as habitat for the endangered Mission blue butterfly, while simultaneously managing the 100,000 acres in California already consumed by invasive French broom.

A reader might gasp at this point, thinking that replacing French broom for lupines might tilt the moth’s appetite toward lupines, and potentially harm our endangered butterflies.

Luckily for the Mission blues, it seems that the moths do most of their damage (at least in the Bay Area) in late summer and early fall. This is when the summer lupines we plant senesce, meaning the above-ground portion of the plant dies back. So far, it appears the moth has not heavily impacted our lupines in that critical time frame when Mission blue butterfly caterpillars rely on them as a food source.

Additionally, though we (humans and moths together) remove a ton of French broom from the parks, there is still quite a lot left! French broom is so numerous and resilient that any damage from the genista moth is quickly regenerated. Unfortunately, this means genista moths are not a viable control method for French broom to replace hand-pulling. Bummer!

Sources:

https://savesutro.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/twinpeaksprogressreportnov2014.pdf

http://images.peabody.yale.edu/lepsoc/jls/1990s/1995/1995-49(2)163-Leen.pdf

http://www.cal-ipc.org/docs/ip/research/biocontrols/broom/pdf/SelectionTesting.pdf

Talk of Change

 By Maria Pezza

We love to talk about our parks (you might have noticed). The Golden Gate National Recreation Area hosts a veritable army of scientists, naturalists, and cultural resource experts, who together wield a vast sum of knowledge about the plants, animals, and ecosystems that make our park the beautiful place it is.

But the fact is: our parks are changing. With each passing year, we set new global temperature records¹, and this has not left California ecosystems unscathed. So, as people who love to talk about our parks, we are naturally interested in talking about these changes.

How do people talk about climate change? Most of us hear about it in the news from time to time, or even discuss it on social media. Some of us may even be talking about it in our personal lives, although maybe not enough, according to a 2016 article from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication³.

While the majority of Americans report being interested in global warming, as the article states, and while many claim that the issue is personally important to them, “fewer than one in five…hear people they know discussing global warming at least once a month.”

We tend to hear about climate change in the news more often, but sometimes there are so many voices that it can be hard to know who to listen to. How do we know which sources are reliable?

A recent article from Climate Feedback, an organization that analyzes climate in the media, attempted to summarize some of the most-shared articles about climate change from the past year—with interesting results². The authors compiled a list of the 25 most popular stories from last year, ranked them according to the number of “comments, shares, and likes on social networks,” and rated them each according to their accuracy and scientific credibility.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the article at the top of the list involves a sensational photo and a somewhat dramatically worded headline. While the story itself contains accurate information, analysts at Climate Feedback worried that the combination of photo and title might have misled readers. In fact, the five most-shared articles on the list all contained some small amount of misdirection, misinformation, or selective reporting.

These factors earned stories a “neutral” to “low” credibility rating, which means that even when we have all the facts, we need to be mindful of how we talk about things like climate change. Or, if words fail us, we can turn to other resources. Marin County planning commissioners even created a board game⁴ about climate change: Game of Floods! If you happen to try out this resource, Ailsa and I would love to hear about the results.

Sources:

¹ NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS).
https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/global-temperature/

² Most popular climate change stories of 2017 reviewed by scientists.
https://climatefeedback.org/most-popular-climate-change-stories-2017-reviewed-scientists/

³ Is There a Climate “Spiral of Silence” in America?
http://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/climate-spiral-silence-america/

⁴ ‘Game of Floods’ teaches tough climate change choices for Marin County.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/
Game-of-Floods-teaches-tough-climate-change-12707628.php

Marin Volunteer Program Information and Work Day Schedules

Marin Park Stewardship

Saturdays, 10 am–1 pm, and Wednesdays, 1–4 pm

We alternate between sites, so check the details for each work day. Work day events include a combination of hands-on service and short natural or cultural history lessons.

Click here to learn more or sign up.

Wednesday Programs

March 7: Alta Avenue
March 14: Muir Beach
March 21: Wolfback Ridge
March 28: Muir Beach

April 4: Alta Avenu
April: 11: Muir Beach
April 18: Wolfback Ridge
April 25: Muir Beach

May 2: Wolfback Ridge
May 9: Muir Beach
May 16: Wolfback Ridge
May 23: Muir Beach

Saturday Programs

March 3: Oakwood Valley
March 10: Oakwood Valley
March 17: No program
March 24: Muir Beach
March 31: No program

April 7: Oakwood Valley
April 14: Muir Beach
April 21: Earth Day event, Oakwood Valley
April 28: Oakwood Valley

May 5: Oakwood Valley
May 12: Muir Beach
May 19: Wolfback Ridge
May 26: No Program

Meeting Locations and Directions

Muir Beach – Meet at the parking lot picnic tables. Map

Alta Avenue at Oakwood Valley – Meet at the park gate located at the end of Donahue Street. Map

Wolfback Ridge – Take a right on Bunker Road (immediately before the tunnel). Park in the lot by the bus shelter behind the Marin Headlands sign, only in a designated parking spot (not along the road). We will meet in the parking lot. Map

Marin Headlands Nursery

Wednesdays, 1–4 pm

1st and 3rd Tuesday of every month, 10 am–2 pm

Come grow with us at the Marin Headlands Nursery! Each year, we grow over 30,000 plants to restore natural habitats within the Marin Headlands. The dedication and support of our volunteers are vital in the effort to grow plants, collect seeds, maintain the nursery facility, and much more. Our projects are outdoors, fun, and always hands-on.

For program updates and registration, click here.

Habitat Restoration Team

2nd and 4th Tuesdays, 10 am–2 pm

Sundays at 9:30 am–2:30 pm

Help restore and monitor critical natural areas from the Marin Headlands to Bolinas Ridge. Volunteers and staff meet at different scenic locations each week to restore native habitat throughout the Golden Gate National Parks. Come out and explore beautiful areas while assisting in invasive plant removal, winter planting, and seed collection. For more information, click here.

Invasive Plant Patrol

Wednesdays, 10 am–2:30 pm

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Invasive Plant Patrol volunteers hike throughout the Marin Headlands to find new invasions of exotics and remove localized infestations before they get out of control. Get to know the park trail systems and learn to identify plants, both native and invasive. Hikes will last approximately four hours. Locations vary from the Marin Headlands to Bolinas Ridge. For locations and to register, click here.

Thank you for supporting the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy!

- Marin Park Stewardship