Environment170′s Weblog

I participated in the Stone Creek Canyon restoration on April 18th and found it to be a rewarding experience. Several students of all ages showed up in support of restoring native vegetation to this beautiful part of campus. The entire day was spent performing manual labor by removing invasive grasses that had overrun the entire area surrounding the creek and hillside. From start to finish, a lot of progress was made by clearing a large patch of land in order to restore native vegetation. It was a little discomforting to hear that the invasive grasses might only take another couple of weeks before they return, but this removal was an important intermediate step for long-term survival of the native vegetation. My participation included removal of non-native grasses using a pitchfork and my bare hands. It was especially rewarding to see how much effort went into the process and the resulting natural landscape that was much more beautiful. Having had some background information from a presentation earlier in the quarter, I was able to understand the process of invasive species removal, however, there were several students that did not have this information and they did not understand why it was so important to restore the native vegetation. It would have been a more beneficial experience if the project leaders had started the day with an introduction of why native vegetation filters pollution, increases animal biodiversity, or promotes a healthier ecosystem. It was strange that this wasn’t the first thing that was addressed because education on these topics helps to spread knowledge of why the environment is so important to our own health and a sustainable future. It is extremely important that organizations like Santa Monica Baykeeper exist, but if there is no education on background information, it is almost as if the effort exerted to restore native vegetation has no meaning behind it. People must understand why weeds are not vital components of a healthy ecosystem and why it is necessary to exert the extra effort to eliminate these weeds. In the future, I would suggest spending time at the beginning identifying native vegetation and non-native vegetation by introducing advantages and disadvantages they pose on the ecosystem. At the end of the cleanup, it would be more rewarding to see how much progress was made if there was an explanation on the importance of the invasive species removal. Overall, it was a gratifying experience to see young and old alike join in an effort to undo damage to the beautiful Stone Canyon Creek by plowing the tough Earth and exerting some sweat so that future generations might enjoy this natural area.

I attended the Stone Canyon Creek Restoration on Saturday April 18, and though it was my second time participating in the restoration, much has changed over the course of a few months. When I first attended the creek restoration in the fall, we were primarily removing the Algerian ivy that covered the entire east side of the creek. This ivy was introduced as a way to keep the creek looking “neat” as it can provide a ground cover, keeping litter out of sight. This ivy was difficult to remove, as it was not only firmly rooted in the soil but was also heavily layered, so we had to remove layers one at a time. This time around however, volunteers focused their work on the west side of the creek, where we did less intensive invasive weed removal. The idea behind this is that once these non-native plants are removed we can add in native plants that will increase the biodiversity (non-native species tend to out compete the native ones) and in some cases will favor the soil and the habitat more than the non-native species did. It was somewhat frustrating to learn that after we removed the non-native weeds, they may grow back again within weeks, however with repetition of this process eventually the roots of the grass will be removed and their presence on the creek bed will be eradicated.
It may be a long process to restoring the Stone Canyon Creek to what it originally was, but by going through and repeatedly removing the invasive species, Heal the Bay is slowly making an impact on the area. Once these species stop regrowing in the area, new species can be planted. The goal in invasive species removal is to ultimately plant species that will compliment the environment, and are naturally suited to grow here. I found from reading Meg Sullivan’s graduate thesis, as well as from the Heal the Bay talk in lecture, that some of the plants to be later introduced in the area are pittosporum, loquat, and fluid amber. Also from this document I learned about UC Berkeley’s Strawberry Creek, which is something like the equivalent of the Stone Canyon Creek to the UCLA community. This brought to my attention the impact that having a creek like this near campus could have as an educational tool for students in the sciences, especially ecology and environmental science. As of now the Stone Canyon Creek, to the best of my knowledge, remains a completely untapped resource in terms of education (besides our class’ and other organizations’ removal efforts) however hopefully in the future more students can become aware of what we have right in our backyard!

April 18, 2009

It started off as a warm morning, as I began my day with Santa Monica Baykeepers in efforts to help restore stone creek canyon. This canyon believe it or not exists just down near Anderson, the school of business. Hidden away under the many hoovering trees, grows unwanted invasive species and rescue the native species that existed from the previous restoration. This event would make it the second time that I have helped with the this project and even though I spent most of the day helping last time there was still much to be done. From the last time that we were there we were able to take out the unwanted grass and clean up the soil. Soon after we were able to plant 250 native plants. We had Hogwarts, miniature roses, blueberry and oak trees. This time around much of the native plants that we had planted from before needed to be saved from the growth of incoming weeds that had sprouted up. We were able to clear out a good bit of it. For the next few years we must try and make sure that the weeds don’t take over the area again and the native species there are able to survive and be self sustaining.
For me personally in this experience has given me an upper hand in the knowledge of gardening. I currently the garden coordinator up at sun set recreation and I am able to use my skills from that even to the garden. I have also gained a personal feeling of accomplishment that I have at least contributed to do a small part for the creek. I have learned that there aren’t many natural creeks around and this one in particular has a lot of potential with the proper car it could make many inspirations for other locations as well.

On Saturday, May 30th of 2009 I went behind the Anderson School of Business to work with the Santa Monica Bay Keepers, on the Stone Canyon Resoration Project. The event consisted of a bunch of students taking burlap sheets and gloves, with pitchforks. We were instructed to dig up the root of the plant to make sure it doesn’t come back. We collected the the roots and made piles of the invasive plants, and placed them in a big trailer for removal. We were told not to dig up any plants that had flags posted on them, as these were native species that were either there originally or specially planted there for the purpose of the restoration. We used many tools, like pitchforks and rakes, alone with little hammers to help dig up the roots of these plants.
Some plants were easy to remove because they were obviously not meant to be there. Such a plant for example was the mustard plant. With the bright yellow flowers of this invasive plant, it was easy to tell it had to go. However, other plants looked very similar to the Muttle, which was silvery underneath its leaves. This was a good way to make sure you were not remvoing a plant that was wanted!
My role in the event was mostly digging up a lot of crab grass underneath the pine tree, and working on the hill. However I also randomly went around emptying the burlap bags of other people to help out as well. My role was to help out in this goal of restoration.
The science behind this event is to remove these invasive plants because the roots are very small and erosion is occuring and this is not good for Stone Creek. For example, a lot of dirt and pollutants are washed into the stream because the soil is loose in the ground. As a result, pollutants are carried into the ocean. By removing these plants, and putting in native plants this prevents the erosion from happening. This is because many of the native plants have deeper thicker roots that are able to prevent erosion. With more native plants in the area, this will help keep soil from washing away and getting in the water as well as preventing the stream from becoming contaminated. When the stream gets contaminated it is a problem because it carries all of the pollutants down stream.
This project corralated very well with the “policy/rationale” because many good things are resulting from this. Through their research which is conducted using GPS and topographic photography, they have been able to map the areas of the stream into specific portions to ensure accuracy in their research. In addition, bringing back native plants will also provide food for the birds in the area, which will bring back the diviertisty of birds. There are bird watchers that come in through the area and take data on which species they have seen in this remote stream area, to let the researches know weather or not the birds are coming back or not. Many of these invasive plants do not provide thr right food for the birds, hence probably why many of them have left.

On Saturday, May 30, 2009, I volunteered at the Stone Canyon Restoration project hosted by the Santa Monica Baykeeper organization. I arrived at the Anderson School of Management at 10:00 a.m., where director Mark Abramson and helper Heather Burdick instructed us on how to differentiate between native and non-native plants in the creek. The purpose of the restoration project was to remove non-native plants from the area to allow native plants to re-grow. Although there was still some remaining non-native vegetation in the area, most of it had already been cleared during earlier site visits. The newly-planted native flora was marked with colored flags, and volunteers were briefed to avoid uprooting these specific plants; otherwise, we were told to dig up the rest of the vegetation. With about 20 total volunteers, the team cleared away the non-native plants to make room for native plants to be planted in their place. Non-native plant species were found on the creek beds and on the nearby hills on either side.
We wore provided gardening gloves and shared gardening tools to help us uproot the plants. I picked a small garden spading fork as my tool, and then proceeded to dig up the unmarked plants. Over the course of three hours, I uprooted weeds with the fork and a smaller weed tool, careful to avoid the flagged native plants. I even donned rubber boots and wadded into the creek to cut at the grasses growing along the bank. Although I grew tired from bending and cutting the roots, near the end of the event I enjoyed being in the creek and breathing fresh air.
The main concepts in the project were the overabundance of invasive non-native plants and the restoration of native plants. The definition of a non-native plant is one that is not from the local area, but is able to effectively invade a new environment. This is because the native plants are unfamiliar with the new species and have not evolved adaptations to address the new threat. Meanwhile, the native plants have difficulty in competing against this unknown species, and therefore lose territory to the new plant. This reduces their numbers in their native habitat, making the spread of invasive non-native plants quick and efficient.
The public policy rationale for the event comes from trying to return the environment to its native state. It is believed that removing non-native plants would eliminate a threat to the competition, and planting new trees would restore the ecosystem. This would allow the return of native birds to the area, although 46 had already become extinct as a result of the changing landscape. Removal of the non-native plants would reduce the number of invasive species in California and allow the native plants to reclaim some of their lost territory.
From the event, it was evident that clearing out the banks of the creek of the non-native species allowed room for the native plants to grow. On the nearby hill, some newly-planted native plants were growing tall and healthy, signifying that with reduced competition, the native plants were able to survive. Should there be further non-native plant removal at Stone Canyon creek, along with the planting of native vegetation, there should be more success and evidence that native plants can make a comeback and reclaim their native soil.

On May 30, the Santa Monica Bay Keeper a restoration project of Stone Canyon Creek located behind the Anderson School Of Business and Management. The project is very practical and I hope that its efforts are noticed and will attract more attention. It is important that Stone Canyon Creek receive this attention in that it is essentially the last remaining piece of natural habitat on the UCLA campus. It is currently under attack by invasive species such as, mustard plants, non-native grasses, etc. In order to battle this issue certain steps must be followed so you don’t cause more damage then harm. An inventory should be done to identify what plants are considered native and what plants would be considered alien. This has already been done to where our role as volunteers essentially was to pluck out all plants identified as alien species.
My role in the event involved a pitchfork, a burlap sack, and brute force. Although this role may sound gruesome by the tools necessary to accomplish my task, I assure you any damage done by myself was geared towards the non-native species, which I personally consider bullies of the plant kingdom. The native species need someone to stick up for them against these weedy plants trying to crowd them out and take over their turf. So, that is exactly one of the primary tasks asked of all of the volunteers in today’s restoration project. And by doing this these shallow rooted alien plants will no longer cause stress on the habitat. Where if this goal is accomplished, then the overall goal of restoring the natural riparian habitat will be restored.
Analyzing the political components to an event such as this should be geared on the fact that the actual restoration is not being done by the government at all. Although the UCLA is considered a public Institution, the actual restoration of an area that lies within its property is not being done by campus efforts at all. The restoration is being accomplished voluntarily by students and others affiliated with the Santa Monica Bay Keeper. The science behind the event is to prevent water contamination of the stream, which runs through stone canyon creek. It was important to exterminate the non-native species because most of them had shallow roots this was producing changes to the soil structure in turn causing a greater potential for contamination of the water within the stream. Therefore, pulling weeds and removing alien species was also protecting the water running through the area.

Suza Khy

I attended the Stone Canyon Creek Restoration community service event this past Saturday, May 30, 2009. In unison with roughly fifty volunteers from UCLA and the Santa Monica Baykeepers, our goal was to clear the Creek from invasive species, weed and grass. With garden gloves, heavy duty tools, and the diligence of fifty volunteers, in roughly two hours, Stone Canyon Creek transformed from a negligent water way behind the Anderson School of Management to a beautiful creek hidden and lost from the university.

As a volunteer for this community service, my role extends beyond my physical labor – pulling weeds and grass from the slopes of the Creek. I hope to share my new knowledge of distinguishing between an invasive weed and native plants. In coming to the community service, I was clueless to the procedures and role I played. However as the day progressed I slow began to learn how to work as a collective group to achieve our goal of restoring the creek. The community service event brought a sense of accomplishment and energy to me being an Environmental Science major. I hope to bring the same sense of renewed enthusiasm to my fellow peers. Thus, as we are providing our manual labor and clearing the Creek of these persistent weeds and grass, we are also empowering ourselves and our community to be more conscious of the environmental needs on our campus.

Because of our immigration and migratory paths and trading between various world nations, we are faced with a destructing environmental crisis, the introduction of invasion species to non-native ecosystems. The systems within ecosystems are crucial to maintain the function of that particular environment. However, the amount of available resources to the organisms is finite and limited. In a stable ecosystem, there exists an equilibrium of the utilization of available resources by the native organisms. Ecosystems are flexible and dynamic, but the system needs time to recover from the cases of a disturbance and reach a new equilibrium. In the case of introducing new species, these species tend to have no systematic balance within the ecosystem, thus they proliferate and multiply more quickly than native species. The equilibrium and balance is changed and the availability for resources narrows as the competition for the same resources increase. As a result this drastically affects the ecosystem by changing its composition of species which changes the function and role of the ecosystem to the larger biosphere. Therefore invasive species are threatening to the very composition and structure of our local, regional, and global environment. The United States has been able to recognize the plight of our ecosystems by signing Executive Order 13112 on February 1999 which calls on Executive Branch agencies to work to prevent and control the introduction and spread of invasive species. In a political climate that favored decentralization of government due to the rise of skepticism and fraudulent governmental activities, President Clinton has cross political boundaries to resurge a sense of governmental accountability to this environmental crisis. As invasive species continue to plague our ecosystems and niches, actions such as the community service hosted by the Santa Monica Baykeepers delivers a powerful message of a commitment to community environmental engagement and demonstrates our resilience to the powerful forces and inconsistencies of nature and U.S. environmental policy.

On May 30th, 2009 at approximately 10:00 AM, I volunteered for the Santa Monica Bay Keeper, Stone Canyon Creek restoration project. The creek was located behind the UCLA Anderson School of Management, and very much hidden in the UCLA campus. The project aimed to restore the natural area surrounding Stone Canyon creek as well as shed light on important environmental issues such as invasive species and urbanization. Stone Canyon creek was once a large river that flowed through the UCLA campus many years ago however, construction and the lack of prioritizing natural habitat eventually lead to the small hidden creek it is today. Thus, to work on this project was an issue personal for it would contribute to my experience as a UCLA student.
When my classmates and I got to the event, we began right away with uprooting and weeding out invasive species. At first glance, we noticed a large hill right above the creek that was filled with invasive species. I honestly was not sure how much we could get done because it looked like a lot of work. However, with the help of about 20 other people on the same hill, we managed to clear away a very large portion of it, reviving a new hill for native species to thrive. It was really interesting to mark species that were native and flag them, while uprooting all of the plants that were consuming all the natural resources.
It was also interesting to do an environmental project that required us to uproot plants, however the significance of removing these plants was an issue of conservation. Invasive species are a major issue and threat to natural habitat. It is able to colonize areas, deplete surrounding resources, and eventually kick out native species. Thus, keeping these plant species under control is an issue because native species play a major role in the biodiversity and overall health of the affected area.
The science and policy rationale for this event was to restore a natural habitat that has been altered heavily by construction on the UCLA campus. The river, having once flowed through the campus, is now a small section that empties into a storm drain. In a densely populated city such as Los Angeles, the local community as well as UCLA students, found it important to restore native habitats, such as Stone Canyon. In the larger environmental movement, the restoration project may lead the way for more environmental policies around Los Angeles.

Saturday May 30th i joined about 40 other volunteers at the Stone Canyon Creek behind the Anderson School of Business. I had participated in creek restoration in November of 2008 and have not see the state of the creek until this May restoration. I was initially shocked at how intensely the invasive vegetation and the weeds had come back. The entire area that we had cleared was once again covered with vegetation. I mentioned this to one of the coordinators and she told me that this had happened because of the showers we had had in the last months.

I started to work in a corner area by pulling out the weeds. In the last restorations after the land was cleared native vegetation was planted in that are and most of them were flagged as an indication that they should not be removed. However, because of the height and the density of the weeds many of the native plants that had been previously planted were not visible were being pulled out by some of the volunteers. It is important to note that not all of these plants were flagged in the first place.

A suggestion I would make to the organizers of the Stone Creek restoration events would be to make sure that the volunteers are well informed about how to adequately help with the restoration. Most if not all of the volunteers are there with the good will of helping the restoration so in order to make the most value out of this event I believe it is essential to make sure that the volunteers understand how to help in the most effective manner. Another suggestion would be creating teams amongst the volunteers and assigning each team a specific area or task. This would help focus the volunteers and would avoid situations where volunteers do not know what to do or are just wandering around looking for work.

The restoration of the creek is important because by removing the invasive vegetation and planting native plant species we enable the possibility of creating a habitat where native animal species will be able to return and flourish. Not only that, but it is also important to note that proper vegetation in the creek can help improve the water quality by absorbing and filtering out pollutants.

Nonetheless, volunteering at the Stone Creek Canyon restoration has always been a fun and enjoyable experience. I highly recommend attendance to this event for future community service projects and also just for those that wish to give back to their community.

On April 18, 2009, I volunteered for the Stone Canyon Creek restoration put on by the Santa Monica Bay Keepers. I, along with many other UCLA students and volunteers, was involved in the removal of non-native species from behind the Anderson School of Business at UCLA. By the time my roommates and I showed up to the site at about 9:50 am that morning, there were only a handful of people and we thought that at least we were going to have a lot to do. So we signed in, grabbed our gloves, sacks, shovel, and pitchforks and headed down to the site.
The main idea of the project was to remove non-native and invasive species from Stone Canyon Creek surrounding the Anderson School at UCLA. We not only removed the plants themselves, but there roots as well so they could not grow back. We also were told that all of the flags next to some plants meant that they were native and not to remove those so that they could flourish after we had removed the invasive species. They also told us to bring back the plants that we had ripped out to a disposable unit they provided so that we were not only removing the invasive plants, but so they could also be put to good use as compost biomass for plant food. It felt good to help with a cleanup and to help the native species of California thrive and survive amidst the many invasive species that were there, especially since our studies in school do not usually have too many hands on experiences. As an MIMG major, you don’t really ever deal with how the environment is being affected by plants, only invasive pathogens, however, as the day progressed and talking with the Santa Monica Bay Keeper’s, I came to realize that not just pathogens from world travel do harm to our environment.
People were spread out all over the place and as we were walking over to what we identified as an open spot, we picked up on how to remove quite quickly. So, we set down the burlap sack and went at removing the tall grass first. As we looked around each time we had filled a sack and my one roommate took it back to the disposal unit each time (because he felt it would be easier by himself), my other roommate and I looked around at how other people were doing in their spots. We thought we made everyone else look like they were standing still. Each time we took a full sack back to the disposal unit, a lot of other groups, especially student groups, were in the same spot they were 20 minutes before. We were out there to do a job, and they were out there to socialize and take pictures. The frustration drove us to work even harder.
Once we were done with the tall grasses, we moved up the hill towards the parking lot and started taking out the much larger, more plant-like weeds. As we were tearing and ripping out all of the plants that did not have the native flag designating those that were not to be ripped out, the Santa Monica Bay Keepers came over to us and told us that we were doing a great job and that we should not miss anything, including the plants the bushes lining the fence were covering. They told us that this was because if we left any plants that were non-native, they could spread like wildfire again, destroying what we had done here today. So, my roommates and I, after finishing with the large and easy stuff on the hill, got on our hands and knees and started tearing out all the small plants underneath the bushes.
The Santa Monica Bay Keepers’ mission is to restore native habitats to the native ways, especially focusing on water system quality. This allows for a natural ecosystem to recollect itself and return to the way that it ran before the invasive species. This creek has been almost completely diverted into drainpipes because of the expansion of UCLA, especially for the Anderson School. Since the portion that we worked on is the only spot in which it is above ground, it has a profound impact on the rest of the ecosystem downstream. Thus, when all of the invasive and non-native species are dilapidated and diluted enough, then the native flora can be rekindled and hopefully allow for the native fauna to also return to help it thrive.
The idea behind this even was to help restore natural habitats to their native, natural state. The removal of these invasive species allows for the rebound of not only native species of plants, but native species of animals too because they depend on many of the resources that the native plants bring and the invasive species can contaminate water and other vital resource supplies. This was a very systematic approach to reviving many species because utilizing volunteers, the Bay Keepers can continuously remove non-native and invasive species until the original flora is strong and abundant enough to maintain the original balance of the ecosystem.

On May 30, 2009, I participated in the Stone Canyon Creek Restoration. I also participated in the restoration in Fall 2008, so I was happy to see how beautiful the creek has become. I was impressed by all the native plants, marked by colorful flags, the Santa Monica Bay Keepers put back in. However, there was still a large area with weeds and other invasive species. The work I did this time was no different from last time. We pulled out weeds and other invasive species making sure we took out all the roots so they cannot grow back. We had to take out the invasive species, because they compete with the natural vegetation for resources such as nutrients and living space. The invasive plants also had shallow roots, so they cannot hold onto the soil as well as native plants. When it rains, there is a higher chance of erosion, leaving the soil in places they should not be. UCLA had many creeks, but most of them are gone now due to invasive species and urbanization, so it is very important that we restore this creek. It was a lot of hard work removing the invasive species, but it was a rewarding experience. The Stone Canyon Creek Restoration taught me that is so easy to ruin a natural habitat, but so hard to restore it. We have to preserve natural habitats now, so we won’t have to go through all this labor and resources to restore them later.