Meadowland Threats
Text by Grey Hayes
Photo by Mark Oatney

Habitat
Meadows and coastal prairies of UCSC, Grey Whale Ranch, Wilder Ranch State Park and Pogonip City Park.

Threats
In the past, urbanization and agriculture. Currently, and perhaps more insidiously, lack of appropriate disturbance regimes (grazing, burning, etc).

Declining or locally extinct species
artist’s popcornflower, bearded clover, Bigelow's plantain, blue mariposa lily, cream cups, goldfields, grassland whisker brush, night-scented owl’s clover, Ohlone tiger beetle, Pacific Grove clover, Pacific panic grass, Point Reyes horkelia, paintbrush-flowered owl’s clover, Santa Cruz clover, Santa Cruz dandelion, Santa Cruz tarplant, San Francisco popcornflower, tiny pimpernel, and wetland miner’s lettuce.


Conservation
Santa Cruz County contains the last extensive example of endangered coastal prairie habitat remaining, but, despite being protected by public agencies, the prairie is not safe. California has lost around 99% of its native grasslands to urbanization and agriculture. Remaining grasslands, such as our coastal prairie, are threatened by a more insidious threat: lack of appropriate disturbance regimes. Coastal prairie evolved being grazed by huge herds of relatives of our modern horse, camel, elephant, sloth, and bison. Only 10,000 years ago, these went extinct and Native Americans maintained the prairies through frequent burning.

Recently, local land management agencies have neglected the need of the prairies for appropriate disturbances of fire and/or grazing, and the 100 or so prairie dependent species are disappearing to be replaced by a handful of weedy species. Especially threatened are the native annual wildflowers that were once common and provided nectar to a diverse assemblage of now-disappearing native butterflies and bees. Thanks to mismanagement of our public lands, we are saying a sad farewell to local populations of many wildflowers.