Reclaiming the Land: Prescribed Grazing, Indigenous Resilience, and Data-Driven Management Solutions
- Marian Walker
- Jun 14, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 19
Marian S. Walker, Aaron Kreisberg, Dr. Liz Carlisle
Channel Islands Restoration
This project came as an idea after co-leading the "Isla Vista Buy-Back San Marcos" fundraising collective in response to anti-development protests at the site in 2021. Through community-donated art, clothing, and baked goods sales, we managed to donate $10,000 to the Save the San Marcos Foothills. Inspired by this experience, I am currently dedicated to the conservation of the foothills and actively working towards establishing an enhanced land management framework for Channel Islands Restoration. My focus is on implementing prescribed grazing as a restoration technique. The project entails analyzing biogeographical data in RStudio and ArcGIS Pro to assess the effectiveness of grazing in achieving grassland restoration.
Abstract
Prescribed grazing is a land management strategy with the potential to support plant biodiversity and the establishment of native species, aiding in conservation goals for vulnerable grassland ecosystems. Well-managed grazing systems, as highlighted by the US Department of Agriculture, offer benefits such as improved health and vigor of native plants (USDA, 2017). Although, overgrazing can have adverse effects, including decreased native plant cover and the promotion of invasive plant growth.
Channel Islands Restoration, a nonprofit organization focused on habitat restoration in California's Channel Islands and central coast, has been implementing this land management strategy in the Santa Barbara area since 2019. The San Marcos Foothills Preserve, primarily managed by Channel Islands Restoration in collaboration with the Santa Barbara County Parks Division, encompasses 204.6 acres of grassland habitat and is one of the largest grasslands in the central coast region of California.
To assess the efficacy and impacts of a three-year sheep-grazing period from 2019 to 2021, the organization conducted baseline vegetation monitoring at the preserve in 2018 and 2022. This monitoring provides an opportunity to examine the effects of long-term grazing on native vegetation cover and variability, specifically by assessing changes in native vegetation, non-native vegetation, and bare ground cover. Results from 29 sample plots indicate an overall increase in native grass cover by an average of 5.5%, with a notable focus on purple needlegrass (Stipa pulchra) communities. This study aims to gain valuable insights into improved land management practices for prescribed grazing of native grass species at the San Marcos Foothills and assess the effectiveness of grazing in achieving long-term grassland resilience.
ArcGIS StoryMap
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