Chapter 3 - Natural Resources - Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton

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MCB Camp Pendleton, California The Riparian Conservation Plan includes compensation procedures that consist of a “Compensation Bank” to administer compensation for Base activities, formulas to determine compensation ratios for direct permanent losses of habitat, and specific methods of compensation, including out-ofkind mitigation and resource trade-offs. Compensation ratios and habitat management involving Arundo removal are conducted for 5 years. Creation of wetlands is not part of this FIGURE 3-6. BASE UPLAND AREA program, although supplemental (PHOTO SOURCE: CAMP PENDLETON) plantings in the exotic vegetation removal (habitat enhancement) areas are not precluded. The Base mitigates for “temporary impacts” by habitat enhancement (exotic vegetation removal) at an acreage ratio based on the number of breeding seasons. For instance, if the nature of the disturbance persists through four breeding seasons, then the enhancement ratio would be 1:1. If the duration of the activity covers between one and four breeding seasons, then the enhancement ratio would be 0.25-0.75:1. If the duration is less than one breeding season, then no mitigation is required. The Base also weeds the temporarily affected areas of disturbance for one year. The Riparian Conservation Plan does not cover impacts to wetlands under the Clean Water Act (CWA). Wetland impacts under the CWA are covered under separate permits obtained from the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) (see Section 4.4.1.3). 3.2.1.3. Upland Ecosystems The upland ecosystem consists of the remaining undeveloped areas of Camp Pendleton and like the riparian ecosystem, contains a wide variety of vegetation types, including vernal pools, shrublands, oak woodlands and grasslands that occur from just inland of the coastal bluffs to the higher elevations of the Santa Margarita Mountains. Because upland areas in southern California are generally moisture-limited, receiving almost all of their moisture in the winter, upland vegetation differs distinctly, functionally and visually, from season to season. SHRUBLANDS Southern California is one of five regions in the world that share a Mediterranean climate characterized by hot, dry summers and cool, rainy winters. In all these areas – the lands around the Mediterranean Sea, central Chile, the Cape region of South Africa, the coastal regions of southeast and southwest Australia and in California – shrublands are a major component of the vegetation. 3-18 Chapter 3 – Natural Resources
Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan [March 2012 - Update] Shrublands in coastal southern California are not all of one kind. Two main types are recognized: shrublands dominated by evergreen species with small, thick, leathery, dark green, sclerophyllous leaves (chaparral types), and those dominated by species that lose all or most of their usually softer, larger, and grayish-green leaves over the summer (coastal sage scrub types). Chaparral types tend to be most abundant at higher elevations, particularly above 3,000 feet, where temperatures are lower and moisture supplies more ample. Coastal sage scrub types are more common at lower elevations with higher temperatures, lower rainfall, and a more pronounced summer drought. Camp Pendleton has both types of plants and both types of shrublands. The coastal sage scrub vegetation on Camp Pendleton is categorized as Diegan coastal sage scrub (CSS) (Holland 1986), although dominant species may vary by site. The Base supports approximately 37,900 ac of CSS and its subtypes. CSS was originally the dominant vegetation in San Diego County. Today, nearly 70% of its original area has been lost and much of what remains exists in small patches of isolated habitat (County of San Diego 2003). It can be found mostly on south- and west-facing slopes, from Camp Pendleton to the lower slopes of Palomar Mountain and around Escondido, the San Pasqual Valley, El Cajon and Jamul, to the area surrounding Otay Mountain. CSS habitat is important because it contains a variety of rare and endangered species (County of San Diego 2003). GRASSLANDS Grasslands are an important feature of Camp Pendleton, with an estimated area of about 40,000 ac, or over 30% of the Base. At Camp Pendleton, fine-textured soils of coastal terraces are largely covered with grassland, as are the rolling hills with deeper soils at higher elevations. Trees or shrubs mostly cover the rocky and thinner soils where moisture can penetrate to depth. Like most of southern California, introduced grasses and forbs are now major components of the vegetation found in grasslands, and approximately 10,000 ac of non-native grasslands currently occupy the Base (Zedler et al. 1997). Generally, the areas on Base that have been most disturbed in the past (especially by cultivation) and that are at lower elevations tend to have the highest proportion of exotic annual grasses to native grasses (Zedler et al. 1997). Grasslands at higher elevations that have never been cultivated have higher proportions of native perennial grasses to exotic grasses (Zedler et al. 1997). OAK WOODLANDS The primary woodland communities on Camp Pendleton are oak woodlands. The southern California coastal climate is not, in general, favorable to tree growth, but oaks are particularly well adapted to survival in difficult conditions. Even so, tree-sized oaks are common only where some factor ameliorates drought conditions. Thus, oaks are most abundant on north-facing slopes protected from the maximum intensity of the sun, in drainages and below rock faces or boulder covered areas where runoff is concentrated, in areas of deep soil that can hold a moisture reserve through the summer, and at the higher elevations where it is cooler and rainfall is generally more abundant. Chapter 3 – Natural Resources 3-19
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Chapter 3 - Natural Resources - Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton

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