{"id":11131,"date":"2022-03-18t14:00:38","date_gmt":"2022-03-18t14:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dpetrov.2create.studio\/planet\/wordpress\/the-invasion-of-the-ice-plant-what-can-be-saved\/"},"modified":"2022-03-18t14:00:38","modified_gmt":"2022-03-18t14:00:38","slug":"the-invasion-of-the-ice-plant-what-can-be-saved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/the-invasion-of-the-ice-plant-what-can-be-saved\/","title":{"rendered":"the invasion of the ice plant: what can be saved?"},"content":{"rendered":"
on feb. 19, 2021, i volunteered with big sur land trust (bslt), pulling an ice plant in marina, california, just north of monterey. the section of martin dunes that bslt owns serves as an example, for the rest of the state, of what is possible when all of the ice plant is removed from an area. ice plant (carpobrotus edulis) is an invasive plant that has completely taken over in the coastal ecosystems of california and western mexico, spreading as far north as the oregon border and as far south as baja california. native to south africa, the ice plant is well adapted to moderate climates and outcompetes all other coastal native plants that provide essential habitats for native insects and animals. for instance, the coastal buckwheat has been almost completely wiped out in california, leading to a dramatic decline in the number of butterflies that come to the coastal regions of the state. martin dunes was chosen as a section to prioritize because of its high concentration of federal- and state-listed threatened and endangered species, all of which are harmed by the invasion of the plant. while the ice plant continues to ravage the landscape all around it, in this small pocket, it has been almost completely removed and volunteers return multiple times per year to pull out what has grown back.<\/p>\n
so, how did the ice plant become so rampant in california? while the ice plant is likely to have first been introduced to the state by accident, coming along with other cargo on colonists\u2019 ships in the 15th and 16th centuries, it was intentionally planted in california starting in the early 1900s. all the way up until the 1970s, caltrans (california department of transportation) planted ice plant along railroad tracks and roadsides to stabilize dirt and sand. they chose the ice plant because it was cheap and spread quickly: a single branch grows more than three feet outwards each year. being a succulent that holds water in its petals, it was also attractive for its resistance to drought. unfortunately, that meant that it also began to starve all other native plants of water, quickly choking them all out and dominating the landscape. as with the intentional introduction of most invasive plants, little forethought was put into the long-term consequences of introducing this nonnative plant from the other side of the planet. although discoveries about the ways that nonnative plants reduce habitats for native insects and animals would come later, it became evident after the ice plant began to spread that it was not actually meeting the goal of stabilizing the dunes either. due to its heavy leaves and shallow roots, the ice plant destabilizes the dunes, increasing erosion and the frequency of landslides. it also builds up so much biomass in its water-logged petals that hillsides can just collapse under the weight of it.<\/p>\n
in the face of the widespread presence of the ice plant along hundreds of miles of coastline, is there any hope that the california coastal ecosystem could ever be returned to its natural state? restoration is a challenging and confusing process: what does returning a place to its \u201cnatural state\u201d even mean? in the case of the ice plant, while it is clear that from an ecological standpoint, this invasive plant affects the california coastal ecosystem in a completely negative way, it also has become a quintessential and recognizable part of the state’s coastline. how does its beauty come into play in terms of crafting a plan for its removal? while these questions are important to think about, it is unrealistic to hope that the ice plant will ever be removed on a scale larger than in small pockets like martin dunes that are revisited multiple times a year to pull what has grown back. on the california department of fish and wildlife\u2019s page about the ice plant, they echo this sentiment, stating that, \u201cunfortunately, it is so widespread that it is only realistic to try to control small infestations at once.\u201d various approaches for removing the ice plant have been tried, including spraying pesticides and rolling over the ice plants with tractors, but, due to the negative consequences of these destructive actions to organisms other than the ice plant, hand pulling of the plant is now the most common approach. while it is slow and only works on a small scale, it is the least destructive to the coastal ecosystem. <\/p>\n