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Successful restoration of California terrestrial ecosystems requires knowledge of seed germination rates for a diversity of native species. We quantified greenhouse germination of 25 native perennial forbs, shrubs, and grasses collected coastally near Santa Cruz, CA for restoration at the Younger Lagoon Reserve and nine annual forb species from interior grasslands at Pinnacles National Park. Seeds of most species were collected in multiple years. Twenty-seven of our 34 study species had at least 25% germination without complicated germination triggers. All but two of the 13 species that were collected in ≥3 years and germinated showed significant interannual variation in germination; seven species had a trend of decreasing percent germination with increasing age. These species- and collection-year specific results indicate a necessity to test seed stock when possible prior to seeding to increase restoration success, and highlight the importance of following best practices for seed collection and storage.

Given the rich biological diversity in California and dramatic loss and modification of its habitats, populations, species, and ecosystems, a concerted effort has emerged to restore large areas of the state's public and private lands. Under these circumstances, ecological restoration represents an important element in the strategy to conserve numerous at-risk species and maintain vital ecosystem services. After reviewing the various motivations for ecological restoration, we identify some of the key challenges, both practical and theoretical, that are likely to affect the success of restoration efforts. We describe a shift in defining restoration success from a focus on recreating historic “pristine” ecosystems to viewing restoration in a dynamic landscape context in which realistic novel ecosystems are accommodated. These accommodations are necessitated by a broad array of challenges that include several global change factors. Finally, we argue that prospects for successful ecological restoratio...

We investigated changes in vegetation composition of different grass buffer strips in a fragmented coastal agricultural landscape to evaluate the potential for native grass restoration of sites that receive agricultural runoff. Vegetative buffers bordering Elkhorn Slough, draining into Monterey Bay, California, were either seeded with a non-native annual grass (Hordeum vulgare) or with a mix of native perennial grasses (Bromus carinatus, Deschampsia cespitosa, Nassella pulchra), and above-ground biomass and cover of vegetation were measured over a 4-yr period. Based on preliminary results, we initiated a second, smaller-scale experiment to test establishment of native perennial grasses (Bromus carinatus, Elymus glaucus, Hordeum brachyantherum) at different seeding densities with combinations of non-native annual grasses (H. vulgare or Lolium multiflorum and Vulpia myuros) to optimize erosion control. In the first experiment, plots seeded with non-native annual grasses had greater biomass than nat...