The Plant Life of Point Reyes National Seashore
The diverse array of plants at Point Reyes National Seashore can tell us many stories of time and change. The windswept grasslands near Tomales Point tell of tule elk roaming the hills of coastal California. Charred blackened trees and small pine seedlings are reminiscent of the Vision Fire racing down Inverness Ridge burning and reinvigorating everything in its path. The open rangelands tell us stories of placid dairy cattle making their way home through the fog to the milking barn, and of the smiling faces of travelers witnessing spectacular wildflower displays near Chimney Rock. Today, the plants of the Seashore tell the story of competition — competition between the native plants that belong here and the non-native species that have been introduced.
The native plants of Point Reyes National Seashore reflect our past and set the stage for our future. Evolving alongside animals, fungi, and microbes, they form complex ecological webs. Native plants play critical roles, as oxygen producers, decomposers, water purifiers, soil developers, and providers of food and habitat for wildlife. Without them, the land we have come to know as Point Reyes would be significantly different.
As native systems have been altered in other areas of California, many native plants have been pushed to the brink of extinction. Point Reyes National Seashore serves as a refuge for an astonishing number of these rare plants. Forty-seven of Point Reyes' plant species are considered rare. Hundreds of their populations are scattered throughout the Seashore where habitat has not been subject to extensive development. Offering the last chance to protect them from extinction, these rare plants are actively monitored and managed by park scientists. The rarest of the rare, Sonoma spineflower (Chorizanthe valida), occurs naturally in one population in coastal prairie habitat. Prior to 2000, this was the only population known to occur in the world. NPS vegetation managers have since succeeded in establishing a second population in similar habitat in the Seashore.
One of the most critical threats to the rare plants and native habitats of Point Reyes National Seashore is the presence of non-native plant species. Introduced from early settlers, their animals, and landscape plantings, non-native plants and seeds have taken root at Point Reyes. Invasive non-native species tend to spread very rapidly and form dense monocultures out-competing native plants for scarce space and resources. Over time, invasive plants can dramatically alter ecosystems that have been in place for thousands of years.
Keeping the stories told by native plants alive in the landscape is a daunting and difficult task. To curb the tide of many of the Seashore's non-native invasive plants, volunteers are recruited to remove the most threatening species. With a limited amount of money and time, there is no way to stem the tide of all non-native species nor bring back all the habitat that has been lost or altered. But we can work together to keep Point Reyes' plant communities as healthy and diverse as possible so the stories told by the plants of the Seashore will continue well into the future.