Blog Archives

Irvine Ranch Conservancy Conducts Rare Plant Restoration in Crystal Cove State Park

3/31/2022

Crystal Cove State Park

Orange County’s coastal wildlands are made up of rich and diverse plant communities that include rare species only found in southern California. These communities have been impacted in many areas by former grazing, invasive plant species, and development. In response, Irvine Ranch Conservancy (IRC) is partnering with California Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) and Orange County Waste and Recycling (OCWR) to restore critical coastal habitat in Crystal Cove State Park (CCSP), with a special focus on rare plants.

The project is intended to restore 7.5 acres of degraded coastal bluff and sage scrub and will be implemented over 7-8 years. The first 2-3 years are spent preparing the site, which involves weed control aimed at depleting the non-native seed bank. Once the seed bank has been sufficiently depleted, a diverse suite of native plant species will be installed via seed and container plants. For this project, IRC has added several rare plant species to the plant palette, including Coulter's saltbush, paniculate tarplant, cliff spurge, vernal barley, California box thorn, Orange County Turkish-rugging, and San Diego ground-cherry, all of which are known to occur in the park.

Implementing New Technology on the Landmarks to Improve Wildlife Camera Trap Monitoring

3/24/2022

Deer caught on an Irvine Ranch Conservancy wildlife camera trap

Irvine Ranch Conservancy and landowners, OC Parks, City of Irvine and City of Newport Beach, are dedicated to their mission of preserving Orange County’s urban wildlands through a variety of science-based programs. IRC’s Monitoring and Research Program is a key element in analyzing ever-changing and vulnerable ecosystems in local native wildlands. Data collected from the program allows our staff to track changes and make informed land management decisions for restoration projects on the Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks.

Since 2007, IRC has been using a network of over 50 strategically placed heat- and motion-triggered remote cameras throughout the Landmarks to monitor the health and activity of wildlife. Images captured by the camera traps provide vital information about the health and activity of wildlife in correlation with human activity on the land. However, this project has always been limited by technology and the time it takes to process the thousands of images captured on the camera traps.

Fire Ecology's Role in IRC's Restoration Efforts

3/17/2022

Post-fire recovery in Weir Canyon

Irvine Ranch Conservancy conducts a variety of science-based programs to help protect, restore, and enhance the Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks. Using comprehensive ecological knowledge and educational expertise, IRC staff is dedicated to ensuring native wildlands remain healthy and resilient. Living in Southern California, we are all too familiar with wildfires and how they can impact our lives, but what happens to the Landmarks when a wildfire event occurs?

Through the study of fire ecology, IRC staff seek to better understand the impact of wildfires on local plant and animal communities. Historically, wildfires have played an important role in the structure of Southern Californian ecosystems, likely occurring every 40-100 years, and many native plants have developed adaptations that allow them to survive these events. Unfortunately, wildfire occurrences have become more frequent, primarily due to ignitions from roadways and utility infrastructure among other human causes. Toofrequent fires hinder native plant populations from rebounding following a fire, creating conditions for invasive species to move in.

Connecting the Community with Nature

3/10/2022

The City of Irvine’s Youth Action Team volunteering at the Augustine Staging Area.

Here at Irvine Ranch Conservancy, community engagement and education are at the heart of everything that we do. Whether it’s offering recreational events, stewardship activities or informal learning opportunities, we strive to help community members develop a personal connection to the land, no matter what age.

The IRC team is constantly working on a variety of different projects in and around the Landmarks, whether it's working on rehabilitating a local trail, watering plants at a nursery, or tending to plants at the Native Seed Farm. The City of Irvine’s Youth Action Team is one of the many community organizations IRC partners with to give local teens the chance to experience and learn about our native wildlands, and how they can help preserve important habitats.

Impact of Unauthorized Trails on the Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks

3/3/2022

Trail signage in OC Parks' Limestone Canyon.

The Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks are full of important habitats and native wildlife and it's our job to protect these valuable natural resources. Irvine Ranch Conservancy and its partners, OC Parks, the City of Irvine and City of Newport Beach, work to create thoughtfully planned infrastructure in order to help sustain our native wildlands, while creating opportunities for the public to experience the Landmarks.

When exploring the Landmarks, trail users might occasionally come across an unmarked path that looks like an extension of a trail or a shortcut. While this might seem like an option to continue exploring, oftentimes trails that are unmarked were illegally created and are not authorized for use.

Irvine Ranch Conservancy Conducts Rare Plant Restoration in Crystal Cove State Park

Implementing New Technology on the Landmarks to Improve Wildlife Camera Trap Monitoring

Fire Ecology's Role in IRC's Restoration Efforts

Connecting the Community with Nature

Impact of Unauthorized Trails on the Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks

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