Our next Bayview Slope restoration event is from 9AM-12PM this Sunday, November 7th. We’ll be planting shrubs and grasses, working on our research projects, and weeding. We’ll also do a little work to maintain our fence and irrigation, and we’ll take a short nature walk to learn about the ecology of the site and see what’s blooming!

Park at the end of Mesa Drive, walk down the hill toward the bay, turn right onto the greenway, walk about 100ft and look for our banner. We’ll be on the right behind the fence. Look for the OCSCB Banner!

See you out there!!!

Rare plants, animals affected in Banning Ranch – Daily Pilot.

Creating new habitat can never completely replace what is lost when habitat is destroyed.

Fire Ring and Lodge

This Saturday/Sunday, October 23/24 – Join OCSCB members and friends for a weekend retreat at the James Reserve, part of the University of California Natural Reserve System.  There are still a few spots left!!!

If you enjoy hiking, wildlife, and campfires, this trip’s for you!

Reservations can be made via email. See the ocscb.com event calendar and/or the Meetup.com event site for more details including how to RSVP by email.

Hope to see you there!

Calling bird enthusiasts!

The Department of Fish and Game is recruiting volunteers for a national mourning dove banding project. The potential lecture/training date will be Sunday, March 28th. They will provide the equipment for those who sign up. See the attached flyer for details.

For more detailed information about the program or to reserve a space at a training session, please contact Heather Hlusak at hhlusak (916) 445-3445 ~OR~ Karen Fothergill at kfotherg.

Margaret Royall
OCSCB President

official flier 2010.doc

Quino Checkerspot Butterfly

The Quino Checkerspot was once an abundant butterfly in Orange County until the 1930s when a combination of habitat loss and exotic invasive annual grasses lead to its disappearance. Now this native butterfly faces extinction as the same factors that have pushed it out of Orange County now threaten it all over its southern Californian habitat. Captive breeding of this once abundant butterfly is a complex process which has made the process of reintroduction difficult. There are plans in the works to reintroduce the Quino Checkerspot back into Orange County. However, previous reintroduction attempts have proven unsuccessful.

Dr. Gordon Pratt, a professor and researcher at UCR, gave a lecture at OCSCB’s chapter meeting on the efforts to preserve the Quino Checkerspot. Read the minutes from his lecture.

We had our 5th restoration event of the season at Newport Backbay on Sunday 11/8 and planted 100 shrubs!  We planted a few new species this time including Laurel Sumac (Malosma laurina) and Lemonadeberry (Rhus integrifolia).  These soon-to-be big shrubs will make great habitat for nesting birds and birds also love to eat the Lemonadeberry berries.  All the shrubs we’ve planted so far look healthy, but we could really use some rain!

More details about the restoration and how to participate can be found on our website:

http://ocscb.org/restoration.shtml

Agheera kiplingi is the world’s first know vegetarian spider and it has been discovered in Mexico living in acacia trees. This amazing spider uses its high cognitive abilities and its agility to compete with ants who also call the acacia tree home. The spider feeds primarily on plant protein and nectar, and occasionally steals food from the ants that inhabit the tree. The spider’s habitat ranges from Mexico to Central America and Costa Rica.

Read Full Science News Article

This past week, at the monthly meeting for the OCSCB, we visited with Professor Gordon Frankie, PhD, from UC Berkeley to learn more about bees. We learned from his 30+ years of experience in studying these fascinating creatures. This afternoon I took a moment to visit his website and learn more about bees and the work Dr. Frankie has been involved in. There’s a lot of great information on there. For example, did you know that 100% of the California almond crop is pollinated by honey bees. Big deal right? Well, did you also know that California grows 100% of the U.S. supply and 80% of the world supply of almonds? That’s worth about $1.9 billion. Check out this fact sheet from the California Almond Board.

If you didn’t get a chance to attend the meeting you should definitely set aside about 10 minutes to visit his urban bee gardening website and read more about bees and why they’re so critical to our food supply and our environment.

Or, you can visit and watch some short videos from the Bees and Gardening Project at UC Berkeley.

Visit the OCSCB.org website to learn how you can get more involved!

The OCSCB is proud to support the Orange County Interfaith Coalition for the Environment (OCICE) in announcing some events and activities that are taking place in Irvine on the International Day of Climate Action (www.350.org). Here are some links, along with some general information about what you need to know:

Location: The Irvine Ranch Outdoor Education Center
(Irvine Regional Park)
When: Saturday, Oct 24th from 7:00am – 2:30pm
What: Events, hiking, and a 5K run
Registration: The events and 5K are $10 ea. To participate in both it’s $20

Register online as a participant, exhibitor, or a sponsor. All the details (including maps) may be found at www.ocice.org

Oh, if you’re wondering what the number 350 means in the url – here’s the explanation on the 350.org website:

“350 is the most important number in the world–it’s what scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Two years ago, after leading climatologists observed rapid ice melt in the Arctic and other frightening signs of climate change, they issued a series of studies showing that the planet faced both human and natural disaster if atmospheric concentrations of CO2 remained above 350 parts per million.
Everyone from Al Gore to the U.N.’s top climate scientist has now embraced this goal as necessary for stabilizing the planet and preventing complete disaster. Now the trick is getting our leaders to pay attention and craft policies that will put the world on track to get to 350.”

Have a happy International Day of Climate Action !

Welcome to the official blog for the Orange County Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology (OCSCB). The Society for Conservation Biology is ‘an international professional organization dedicated to promoting the scientific study of the phenomena that affect the maintenance, loss, and restoration of biological diversity.”