By Enrique Alfaro
Dates:
May 15 and 16, 2018
Visited places:
- Punta Mazo Nature Reserve
- Punta Azufre Wetlands
- Monte Ceniza Nature Reserve
- El Socorro Dunes
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden participants:
- Heather Schneider, PhD, leader of SBBG’s rare plants program
- Matt Guilliams, PhD, SBBG Plant Systematist and Clifton Smith Herbarium Curator
- Tom Mulroy, PhD, SBBG associate researcher
- Sara Termondt, Sc. M, SBBG Rare Plant Program Technician.
- Adriana Hernández, PhD student at Cornell University
The activities took place as it follows: on May 15, we met them at La Chorera. From there, we started the tour, with the first stop being the southern part of Punta Mazo. Then we followed the Sudoeste volcano and finally we finished the half of our day in the small marsh of Monte Ceniza.
After lunch at the San Quintín Botanic Garden, we continued the day in the southern part of the San Quintín Bay, specifically in the Socorro dunes. There we finished the day.
The next day (Wednesday May 16) we found ourselves starting at 9:30 am in the San Quintín Botanic Garden to continue the tour, now going through the destination agreement marshes of San Simón (protected site and managed by Terra Peninsular). Prospecting was done throughout the wetland, and finally, at 1:00 pm the day’s work ended.
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden focuses, mainly, in native plants, and their research range covers southwestern Oregon to northwestern Baja California. It promotes the conservation of plants native to the California Floristic Province through its garden, research, and education, and also seeks to serve as a model of sustainable practices.
With this as a frame of reference, the team of garden specialists visited the nature reserves managed by Terra Peninsular, with well-defined objectives:
- Search specifically the following species for collection purposes: Dithyrea maritima and Pholisma arenarium in the dune areas of Punta Mazo and El Socorro.
- Look for the species Chloropyron maritimum in the marsh area of Monte Ceniza and Punta Azufre.
Precipitation in the rainy season of 2017-2018 was very low, with only 60 mm throughout the season. Evidently, this was reflected in both the presence and the number of species to observe and collect. In the case of Dithyrea maritima, the result was very good, finding enough plants and in very good condition. For Pholisma arenarium, there is presence, but strongly affected by the low precipitation of the previous rain season. The search for Chloropyron maritimum turned out negative. It is the most affected species by the absence of precipitation. It will be necessary to wait for a period of more abundant precipitation to corroborate the permanence of the species in these habitats.
It is important to mention that in the Punta Mazo Nature Reserve the Dithyrea maritima plants are found in a better state of conservation, with a greater number of individuals, with abundant viable seeds and with better size and vigor. It is therefore a significant value to the biodiversity of the Punta Mazo Nature Reserve and another treasure to protect.
