Outline of Quino Recovery Plan - The Xerces Society

additional cost of approximately $500 per hectare ($200 per acre) for herbicide
(to spray the entire area once). The amount of spray required will be reduced as
the season progresses and fewer nonnative plants are present. After the first 2
years, weeding costs decrease each year if the spraying program is timed to kill
the nonnative plants before they set seed. Approximate costs of subsequent
years relative to the first year of restoration activities are as follows: year 3, 75
percent; year 4, 50 percent; year 5, 33 percent. These proportions of decreasing
costs are approximate and will depend on how weedy the site is initially and how
diligently follow-up nonnative plant control efforts are completed. If nonnatives
are not killed prior to seeding, costs will not decrease as anticipated. The
biologist monitoring the project must ensure that subcontractors or volunteers
complete work on schedule and that nonnative plants are controlled prior to seed
set for the effort to be effective.
For Quino checkerspot preserve areas, periodic maintenance will likely be
required at low levels in perpetuity after the area is turned over to a long-term
site manager. The ultimate goal of restoration efforts is to create self-sustaining
Quino checkerspot habitat areas. However, management endowments will
likely be needed indefinitely to fund periodic nonnative plant control activities
and other habitat management tasks.
One restoration planning strategy to reduce long-term management costs is
ensuring that native species occupy the newly opened ground as nonnative plants
are controlled. Established native plants provide resistance to nonnative plant
invasion because the space is already occupied, but careful planning is required
to ensure that appropriate plant species are selected for the restoration sites. For
example, certain native shrub species can quickly outcompete small herbaceous
annuals such as plantain (Plantago) and goldenbush (Lasthenia), which are
important to Quino checkerspots. Shrubs, including California sagebrush
(Artemisia californica), can quickly dominate a restoration site recently opened
up by nonnative plant control efforts if the sagebrush are seeded densely or are
present in adjacent areas.
Many restoration projects tend to encourage growth of native species that
provide fast-growing shrub cover. Many restoration and revegetation projects
require quick cover to minimize erosion. However, the goal of providing dense
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