CBI botanists have completed most of the nonnative Algerian sea lavender (Limonium ramosissimum) and European sea lavender (Limonium duriusculum) surveys in the San Diego Bay.
CBI botanists have completed most of the nonnative Algerian sea lavender (Limonium ramosissimum) and European sea lavender (Limonium duriusculum) surveys in the San Diego Bay.
CBI and project partners including the California Department of Parks and Recreation, Port of San Diego, United States Department of the Navy, and the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuges prioritized survey locations in San Diego Bay using existing sea lavender spatial data, negative survey data, and habitat suitability mapping.
In early June 2022, CBI held a training session to identify the various Limonium species in the San Diego Bay area and instructed participants in surveying, mapping, and recommending treatment methods for newly detected nonnative sea lavender populations. CBI botanists spent a week surveying the San Diego Bay by foot and kayak to locate new sea lavender populations.
The survey crews detected and mapped many new nonnative sea lavender populations and several new populations of the endangered salt marsh bird’s beak (Chloropyron maritimum ssp. maritimum, shown in the photo above).
Surveys will continue in late summer 2022, followed by implementation of best management practices to control and/or eradicate nonnative sea lavender populations in the San Diego Bay.
Read more about the project here: San Diego Bay Nonnative Sea Lavender Mapping and Control Project