PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #58: Invasive Species Control.
Thursday, August 8. Presentation from 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM. Exhibit Hall B & C, TCC
108
Controlling invasive species: An integrated approach on Santa Catalina Island, California.
SCHUYLER, PETER*,1, 1 Santa Catalina Island Conservancy, Avalon, CA
ABSTRACT- Santa Catalina Island, a mountainous, 75 sq mile island is the third largest of the eight California Channel islands. The Santa Catalina Island Conservancy owns and manages 88% of the island with a primary goal of natural resource protection while still allowing appropriate public access for the island's 5,000 residents and nearly 1,000,000 annual visitors. Among the primary threats to its native and often endemic flora and fauna are a number of invasive nonnative species. Animal species include feral goats (Capra hircus), feral pig (Sus scofa), bison (Bison bison), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), and feral cats (Felis catus). Rats (Rattus rattus and R. norvegicus), house mouse (Mus musculus), bullfrogs (Rana catesbiana) and invertebrate species such as the Argentine ant are also present on the island. Widespread invasive plant species include fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), tree tobacco (Nicotiana glauca), harding grass (Phalaris aquatica), Canary Island broom (Genista linifolia) as well as a number of other invasive species with more limited distribution on the island. For the past six years, the Conservancy has been implementing a number of control and removal programs to address the threats posed by these species. Removal of all goats is nearly complete, while all pigs are expected to be removed by 2004. Plant control efforts are taking longer but show promise. We have taken an integrated approach and planned for management actions beyond just the control efforts. As grazing species are removed, increased weed control efforts are instituted. A nursery to provide native plants of island origin to replant large areas subjected to weed removal is operational. Each control effort has different issues depending upon the species biology as well as its abundance and distribution on the island. An overview of each control effort is presented in the context of the Conservancy's island wide management goals and objectives.
KEY WORDS: Invasive species control, Santa Catalina Island