Spenceville Wildlife Preserve

Spenceville Wildlife Preserve

Last week my friends and I drove down to the Spenceville Wildlife Preserve in the foothills and spent the day hiking on the trails. Spenceville is an 11,213 acre wildlife preserve and recreation area run by the California State Department of Fish and Wildlife, at approximately 338' in elevation.  It was a gray, cloudy day, with beautiful even light on the spring-green, grassy hillsides and oak woodlands. The wildflowers were just starting to flourish and the trees were leafing out! It was gorgeous and peaceful!

The CDFW allows cattle to graze freely in the reserve.  The following information from their website https://wildlife.ca.gov explains this policy.

"Management on the Hoof"

"Have you ever wondered why there are livestock on some CDFW ecological reserves? We use them as a management tool to control unwanted plants. Many of the grasses and broad-leaved weeds you see in the Central Valley were introduced into California in the nineteenth century. These plants (which may be called “non-native,” “introduced,” “alien,” or “exotic”) came from Europe and Asia. They made their way to California in the hair and guts of livestock or in their feed. Non-native plants found the climate and soils of California very hospitable. Few of their natural enemies found their way to California, so non-native plants became firmly established and now overrun our natural lands. Perhaps you have heard of some non-native grasses such as ripgut brome, Italian ryegrass, or foxtail barley, or their broad-leaved compatriots which include yellow star-thistle and tumbleweed (AKA Russian thistle).

California native species and natural land suffer a variety of problems due to non-native plants. One problem arises because non-native plants grow in dense stands, whereas our native plants are often more widely spaced. Small critters such as lizards and kangaroo rats need bare ground to run away from predators, but the dense grasses slow them down and make them more vulnerable to predation. Another problem occurs because non-native plants tend to start growing earlier in the season than most natives. The non-native plants deplete precious moisture from the soil, causing the native plants to die before they bloom. In addition, non-native grasses also make natural lands more vulnerable to wildfire because they leave behind so much dry fuel after the rainy season ends.

We can’t hope to eliminate most non-native plants because they are so widespread and so firmly established. Instead, we try to minimize their impacts through management. That’s where the livestock come in. Cattle, sheep, and in some cases, goats, are used to graze back the non-native plants beginning early in the growing season. Timing of livestock grazing is critical to ensure that native plants have a chance to complete their life cycles before the growing season ends. We determine the grazing seasons for each area and each year based on annual rainfall as well as the type of non-native plants and native species present. Livestock grazing is not appropriate in all circumstances. For example, livestock may do more harm than good in areas that are moist year-round, such as springs.

How ironic that livestock, which facilitated the invasion of non-native plants into California, are helping us to keep them under control 150 years later."

California Poppies - Eschscholzia californica

Spenceville Wildflowers!

We were a bit early for a big show of wildflowers, but as we hiked toward Fairy Falls the wildflowers became more abundant. To our delight we came across one slope that was ablaze with hundreds of California Poppies!  Such beauty!  Here are a few of the wildflowers we saw. Enjoy!

Common Fiddlenecks - Amsinkia intermedia

Red Maids - Butter and Eggs/Johnny Tuck - Caterpillar Phacelia 

Calandrinia menziesii - Tryphysaria eriantha - Phacelia cicutaria

Blue Dicks - Dichelostemma capitatum

Blue Oak and Popcorn Flowers

 Qurecus douglasii - Plagiobothrys nothofulvus

Scrub Jay - Lark Sparrow

Aphelocoma californica - Chondestes grammacus

Spenceville Birds!

We didn't see as many birds as we hoped, perhaps because it was overcast and fewer bugs were out.  The highlight of the day happened when we saw a small flock of beautiful little Lark Sparrows on our way home!  They are so strikingly feathered!

Acorn Woodpecker - Western Meadowlark

Melanerpes formicivorus - Sturnella neglecta

Alder Tongue Gall on Alder cones - Galls on Willows

Taphrina occidentalis - unknown sp.

Galls!

While I was looking closely at our local Alders and Willows, I noticed that there were several galls on some of the plants! I don't have a book on galls, so I wasn't able to identify some of them.  However, The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada, by John Muir Laws, features two pages of galls. That's where I found a picture of the Alder Tongue Galls that I'd seen on some of the older, wooden, female Alder cones.  These galls are formed by a fungus!  Galls can also be formed by mites, midges, aphids and plant lice! The following information on galls is from http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/fieldbio/galls/galls.html.

"Galls are abnormal growths that can arise in all parts of a plant resulting from the work of usually immature insects and other organisms. In a way, they are basically "plant tumors." Unlike human tumors, galls usually do not injure their hosts to the point where the entire plant is debilitated. The few injurious galls appear only to attack pears, wheat, grapes, and roses.

There are over 1500 species of gall producers. However, most galls are produced by plant mites, gall midges, and gall wasps. These creatures produce galls to provide food and shelter for themselves. Galls can be simple deformities consisting of a rolled leaf edge or a pouch-like growth on the plant, or complicated structures made out of seemingly unrelated plant tissue that are highly organized.

The principal gall producers include:

1. Plant mites - microscopic, pale yellow or translucent organism with a slender, pear-shaped body and transverse ridges or lines. The gall producers are in their larval stage and have 4 legs, while adult mites have 8. Mites produce simple galls ranging from leaf deformities such as pouches or pockets with erineum [an abnormal felty growth of hairs from a leaf epidermis] that it winters under. They're not actually insects, but they managed to wheedle their way onto this page with claims that they'd be terribly lonely if we had an entire 'Mite Galls' page devoted to them. How could we resist?

2. Aphids and plant lice - soft-bodied insects with sucking mouth parts. These insects produce complicated galls, wintering on the bark, then hatching out in the spring and attacking a bud to form their galls.

3. Gall midges - small delicate flies that are about 1/4 inches long, and have antennae. The maggot larvae are what produce the galls. Gall midges winter in galls and emerge in the spring.

4. Gall wasps (also known as Cynipids) - Wasp larvae that are formed usually on oaks.

Although the number of gall producing organisms are numerous, there are only a few host plants available for them to inhabit. This severely limits the types of trees these insects can inhabit. As a result, gall producers are very plant specific, and most of them reside among willows, oaks, goldenrod, and asters. Galls vary in shape, size, and complexity. "

Downy Woodpecker feeding on Ruptured Twig Galls

Dryobates pubescens - Callirhytis perdens

In my wanderings I have occasionally seen Woodpeckers feeding on galls in the winter.  Apparently they aren't eating the galls, but rather the larvae inside the galls!  Both the Ruptured Twig Galls above, and the Mossy Rose Galls below were formed by gall wasps.  I was surprised at the size of the grub in the Rose Gall! 

Mossy Rose Gall - Rosa sp.

I find galls to be fascinating, so here's more information about them from the following website,

https://agnr.osu.edu/sites/agnr/files/imce/Chatfield/Galls/Galls%20Part%20II%20in%20American%20Nurseryman.pdf. 

 In this article, they list five main facts about galls (which they call "Gall Laws").

"The First Gall Law: Galls are abnormal plant growths produced under the direction of a living gall-maker; they do not arise spontaneously, nor are they in response to plant wounding that does not involve a gall-maker.

The Second Gall Law: Insect and mite galls are abnormal plant structures that are composed entirely of plant tissue; they’re not part of the gall-maker. 

The Third Gall Law: Galls can only be formed from meristematic plant tissue [plant tissue that has the ability to divide actively throughout its life]  and once plant tissue stops differentiating, galls cannot be formed by a gall-maker

The Fourth Gall Law: Gall structures and locations on the plant are so species-specific that the species of the gall-maker can be identified by the gall structure alone without the need to see the gall-maker itself.

The Fifth Gall Law: Gall-makers are specific to certain hosts."

Scotch Broom - Broom Galls formed by mites

Cytisus scoparius - Aceria genistae (mite)

Scotch Broom is a local, non-native, invasive species that has been exponentially expanding in our neighborhood over the past 20+ years.  Each plant can produce 10,000 seeds, which can stay dormant in the soil for 60-80 years!  Fortunately over the past 8 years a "Broom Gall Mite" has shown up on the plants and is successfully killing them off!  Yay!  The following information about this mite is from http://www.ucanr.org/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=17357, and explains the history and current status of these gall mites.

"Scotch broom was introduced into North America in the mid-1800s from Europe as an ornamental and for erosion control. The bright yellow flowers and rapid growth has made it a prized ornamental however its ability to out-compete native plants and form dense stands has also made it one of California's worst wildland weeds. Since its introduction it has invaded millions of acres throughout the golden state.

The broom gall mite (Aceria genistae) which is actually not an insect but more closely related to spiders and ticks has recently taken residence on the invasive plant Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius). It attacks Scotch broom by forming small growths on the plants buds which greatly reduces the ability for it to grow and reproduce. In some areas, the gall mite has even killed large stands of broom. Native to Europe, the mite was first found on Scotch broom in the Tacoma, Washington and Portland, Oregon regions in 2005. Since that time the mite has become established throughout western Washington and Oregon and even into parts of British Columbia. As of 2013 the mite had been found as far south as Ashland, Oregon with no occurrences in California.

However, beginning in 2014, the mite has been found in many areas throughout El Dorado, Placer and Nevada counties in California. How the tiny insect got there is another mystery. The mites are nearly invisible to the naked eye and only measure about 50-60 µm or roughly the width of a human hair. Mites are known to travel long distances by wind currents or by animals, humans and equipment.

If you suspect evidence of Scotch broom gall mites, the University of California Cooperative Extension asks that you report it on their website http://ucanr/edi/broomgallmite."

Unknown galls on grasses

 I haven't been able to identify these beautifully funny, hairy galls , so I don't know what formed them.  If any of you know what they are, please email me at the address listed at the bottom of this blog!

Raindrops on Rose stems

 Damp Earth Art

It's currently snowing and we got about a third of an inch of rain in the last 24 hours!  Yahoo!  A little more snow/rain is predicted for the next 24 hours! Anything helps!  Please join me in my continuing hope for precipitation! Perhaps our collective efforts may help it happen. Rumor has it that there was an outdoor "Rain Dance" performed in our area this week, just before the storm came! My thanks go out to those who were involved, I'm sure it helped!  Yay!  I'm going to keep posting rain inspired writings, art, etc. on my blog at dampearthart.blogspot.com. Any submissions would be greatly appreciated.

What insects are feeding on the blooming plants?

Is Canyon Creek blooming?

Are the newts out cruising around?

Check back next week for the answers to these questions and more.

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Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated. Please feel free to email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com. Thanks!