By Phil White | Channel Islands Restoration Board Member
Channel Islands Restoration is doing its part to help reverse climate change and global warming.
We’re all rightfully concerned about climate change and global warming, and most of us are taking actions on a daily basis to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions in our lives; actions like driving less and moving towards electrification of our lives with the electricity generated by renewable sources like wind and solar. While the threat posed by climate change is serious, there is certainly hope that commitments and actions to quickly reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere around the world will eventually solve the problem.
Reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels is the basis of most climate strategies. We normally think of electric vehicles, and electrification of power plants and building energy systems, but actually removing CO2 from the atmosphere, called carbon sequestration, is another important strategy. That’s where CIR’s restoration work comes into the picture. Restoring native plant communities on the islands and mainland has been CIR’s main mission since its inception 20 years ago.
One of CIR’s other important missions is education, and periodically we host webinars on scientific subjects related to our restoration work. In July 2021, we were blessed to have the appearance of Dr Patrick Gonzalez, Principal Climate Scientist with the US National Park Service, and his presentation “Human-caused Climate Change and Solutions in the Channel Islands.”
One of the most interesting parts of his presentation was a summary of his studies of the carbon stored in the vegetation on the Channel Islands. Over the time period 2001-2010, Dr. Gonzalez and his colleagues observed and measured significant increases in the carbon stored in the vegetation on Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa Islands.
The plant restoration work of CIR and others and the removal of uncontrolled grazing animals from the islands have resulted in a significant increase in the number and overall mass of native plants which pull CO2 out of the atmosphere and store it in their plant tissues and roots, and in the soil. Santa Rosa Island in particular has seen a large increase in the amount of stored carbon, carbon that has been pulled from the atmosphere.
Although all plants remove atmospheric CO2, one of the very best plants to sequester carbon is the oak tree. An excellent discussion of this effect is described in the book “The Nature of Oaks,” by Douglas Tallamy (if you haven’t yet read it, you really must do so.) Here is a quote from the book:
“Like all plants, oaks fix atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) through photosynthesis and store its carbon in their tissues. In fact, about half of a plant’s dry weight comes from carbon. For an average oak tree, this amounts to tons and tons of carbon.
The more densely a plant’s cells are packed together, the more carbon it can store, and it should come as no surprise that oaks produce some of the densest wood of all North American hardwoods.
Oak contributions to below-ground carbon sequestration are also noteworthy. Like oak tissues above the ground, oak root systems are massive and built from carbon. But what makes oaks a particularly valuable tool in our fight against climate change is their relationship with mycorrhizal fungi: Mycorrhizae make copious amounts of carbon-rich glomalin and deposit it into the soils surrounding oak roots. Glomalin remains in the soil for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.”
So, every time a CIR staff person or volunteer plants a tree or other native plant, the sequestration process of pulling carbon from the atmosphere begins. An example is the project at Elings Park in Santa Barbara where CIR planted many oak trees and other plants as part of a bike path mitigation project. Over the years, CIR has planted over 50,000 plants which are working to sequester carbon.
Grasslands, especially those with a diversity of plant species, are major sequesters of carbon; particularly the deep-rooted perennial grasslands such as those CIR is working to re-establish on the San Marcos Foothills property. With their deeper root structures, perennial grasses and other native plants are able to store higher levels of carbon underground than exotic shallow-rooted plants. For example, Purple needlegrass (Stipa pulchra) is a native perennial grass whose roots can grow down as deep as 20 feet, pulling down and storing carbon deep underground.
By removing non-natives and employing controlled grazing with sheep, the competition from annual grasses and exotic weeds is reduced, allowing the perennial grasslands to thrive – and store more carbon.
While we always think of Channel Islands Restoration as the go-to organization for restoring native plant communities and establishing improved habitat for many species of animals, it’s good to know that CIR is also having an impact on reducing climate change and global warming.
You can help support CIR’s climate change initiatives when you show support during Matching May.