Rising non-native cover in the Santa Monica Mountains threatens native biodiversity and increases fire risk

by Arizona State University
July 13, 2023

The National Park Service has been monitoring plants in hundreds of sites throughout the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in Southern California since 2014.

A new analysis of these data published in the journal Ecosphere shows a steady increase in non-native plant cover since 2014, and rapid regrowth of non-native annual grass and herbaceous species after the 2018 Woolsey Fire, which burned nearly 80% of the entire region.

Furthermore, a region of dense non-native cover was found in the Northern Simi Hills region where biodiversity is significantly low and the native species are at risk of further reduction.

These results indicate that the Santa Monica Mountains are at high risk of losing the native plants that support their unique ecosystem. In addition, the invasive plants that are spreading bring with them an increased risk of damaging wildfires.

Keep reading: https://phys.org/news/2023-07-non-native-santa-monica-mountains-threatens.html

Read the Ecosphere paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.4567