Our class before Thanksgiving was a lot of fun because there was many new faces and Tyler had many activities on the schedule. We got to talk about the creek, our plans for break, and about occupy cal. We removed more non-native plants and in the middle of removing them we ended up having front row seats to the occupy cal protest. It was a very eventful day.

Wondrous Wanderings

Fellow environmentalists!
This past week I took a walk down the Creek and found out so much more about it that I'd like to share with you!
First and foremost, the Creek is an extremely diverse river. Even walking barely 100 feet of its length can show you just how much it is so.
First of all, some areas have rather extended cascades downwards

 

and others have small waterfalls.

 Different regions have very diverse sources

 

and many diverse plant species along their riversides, some of which were even labelled! (Perhaps they were planted by Decal students in the past? Does anyone know?)

Other areas of the Creek even went underground!

 Some locales had water so still and clear that you could see all the way down to the bottom,

while other locations seemed to have a strange transparent film over them, which perhaps indicated a spill? This is actually quite a concern for the health of the Creek.

In other places still the water stood murky and was impossible to see into. How could flora and fauna flourish in such an environment?

Walking further along I discovered that the Creek even seemed to switch the direction of its flow!

At yet other places in the stream the water flowed quite weakly while at ones farther down it was interrupted and quickened by rocks and other debris that had landed in the river.
 

I also got to feel a bit of nostalgia as I passed by the place where the Decal and I helped remove invasives last week.

There were also some man-made constructions in the river designed to help regulate it.

Sadly where there were more people there was more grime and trash in the river, when in fact it should be cleaner in the areas where there are more concerned citizens.

 Overall however, all this goes to show is that the Creek is a gorgeous place that needs to be protected and maintained. Here's to some new restoration events this week! Until next week!
-Larisa Ilchenko

Didactic Decal!

Fellow environmentalists!

This past Friday I got to drop in on the activities of the Decal and learn quite a bit from them about invasive species, restoration efforts and the natural flow of events in nature.

 

We initially spent some time removing periwinkle (genus Vinca) from the area- an invasive species whose shallow, spongy root system allows it to rapidly take over an area but does not provide soil stabilization for when the rainy season hits. This stabilization would normally be provided by other plants such as the Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis) which have roots that are several times as long as those of the periwinkle. As such, all the invasive does is prevent native plants from taking root and reduces the biodiversity of the area (since acorns from trees such as the redwood cannot produce new plants due to a lack of available resources) and is overall a detriment to the development and maintenance of a healthy ecosystem. It is worthwhile to note that the invasive’s root system also makes it rather difficult to pull out but one should recall that the proper and easiest way to pull out invasive species is to squat and then stand up so as to reduce strain on the body.

 

After a bit of removal we discovered a tiny Coast Live Oak- Quercus agrifolia- that was being smothered by the surrounding invasives and cleared the area for it.

 

We then took the invasives that we pulled out and dumped them into the creek to create a natural dam. This would create two different water flows, the slow variety of which creates a pool habitat which supports fish and a fast variety which will have more oxygen. This would mimic the natural order instead of the campus norm. In natural systems when trees die they occasionally fall into the river and create these flows on their own but on campus diseased trees are taken down and fallen ones are simply removed from campus entirely. Since breaking away from the natural order creates inconsistencies and makes it that much more difficult to foster a healthy environment for flora and fauna, we decided to experiment with this system and see if it can produce any beneficial effects.

I was also taught about several of the native species that we helped out today. Toyon- Heteromeles arbutofolia- for example, whose red berries are inedible was discovered earlier

that day. The California bee plant - Scrophularia californica- was also uncovered and will be a great pollinator in the spring for a variety of species that otherwise would lack any plants to pollinate. We also found cow parsnip - Heracleum maximum. However many more species benefited from our actions today and will hopefully continue to be benefited by the actions of people like you! Take a step to get involved today and make a difference. Until next week!

We had a fun time with our activity last week. Even though Tyler had invasive plant removal planned he let us do a seed hunt before. We were supposed to be competing with each other but ended up racing the squirrels for the nuts. We split up in two groups for the plant removal and I have to say my group did not do half as good as Tyler's. And to finish up the day we found a baseball bat in the creek!

Practice with Plant Identification!

Fellow environmentalists!
I recently tagged along with the Decal members to learn more about the local plant species that can be observed on the Berkeley campus. I was very surprised to learn about the vast diversity that was displayed in just several hundred feet of campus and will now be sharing what I learned with you!

This is tanoak! Also known as Notholithocarpus densiflorus in the Fagaceae family, this plant's identifying characteristic is its tiny hair-like protrusions on the base of the underside of the leaf that come off when you rub it. This is an evolutionary adaptation that prevents herbivores and insects from devouring it to some degree. The leaf also is singly serrated on the edge (i.e. has periodic teeth on the edges) and varies in size. Lastly the plant itself is not currently producing fruit but when it does it does so in an acorn form.

This is a young representation of the buckeye, or Aesculus californica of the Sapindaceae family, which has non-serrated leaves. Each leaf has 5 leaflet subdivisions, so each branch is made up of a stem and essentially 5 separate "leaves". Due to its unique leaves it is hard to mistake for other plant species.

This is the coffeeberry, or Frangula californica of the Rhamnaceae family. It is very similar to tanoak, although coffeeberry is a bush 
rather than a tree. It doesn't have any particular identifying characteristics i.e. smell, teeth 
on the margin, hairs on the leaves. Its leaves are a very dark shade of green and the plant itself has 
large black berries early in the year that are technically edible, though one will be quite likely to get
sick if one tries.

This is Toyon or Heteromeles arbutofolia in the Rosaceae family. The leaf size is variable but the shape is always elliptical. The margin/outside

of the leaf is doubly serrated. The shade of the leaf is not as dark as the tanoak so it can grow in
areas of more sunlight. During the spring the plant has red berries.

This is the Coast Live Oak or Quercus agrifolia of the Fagaceae family. As such it shares a family with the tanoak (which is no longer considered an oak).
I hope that this little review was as informative and interesting for you as it was for me and that you are now even more encouraged to take care of the biodiversity present on campus whether it be surrounding or regarding the Creek! Until next week!

Attack of the Mega-Groups!

October has been a great month for ivy removal! In a one month period, we had 3 groups (PG&E, Greek Week, and Berkeley Project) totaling over 200 volunteers help clear invasive ivy from a 100 meter stretch of the creek near the Faculty Club!

Greek Week Kickoff (10/2)

Katherine and David lay down some creek knowledge.

David does some interpretive dance to demonstrate proper ivy removal.

Removing nut sedge.

David delivers some water to the thirsty masses
and gets a rare opportunity to bathe as well.

Teamwork!

Mega burrito made of ivy! A train of 9 people per side are holding this monster up!

The ivy train grows! Chugga chugga choo choo!

A full day's work. Even these 5 dumpsters weren't big
enough. We ended up making a huge pile as well.

Lord of the Ivy.

Thanks! It took many hands to make this happen! All of you are awesome!

Berkeley Project (10/15)

Volunteers from the Berkeley Project bravely forge ahead into a wilderness of untamed ivy.

A volunteer demonstrates proper technique for compacting a dumpster
overloaded with ivy. We filled 3 dumpsters until they were overflowing with ivy.

The sea of ivy annihilated, the volunteers set themselves about the task of
osifting through the redwood needles for any surviving pieces of ivy roots.

Restoration Coordinator David has an intimate moment with
some wildlife. Kissing banana slugs is good luck, doncha know!