Natural Communities Coalition

Programs: Restoration and enhancement - working in collaboration with participating landowners that make up the more than 37,000 acre nature reserve of orange county, the natural communities coalition (ncc) coordinated the prioritization and restoration of the coastal sage scrub (css) habitat within the reserve. The restoration of css benefits the coastal cactus wren, california gnatcatcher and orange throated whiptail lizard, which are identified in the natural communities conservation plan (nccp) and habitat conservation plan (hcp) for the central and coastal subregion of orange county, california. The nccp/hcp reserve and the habitat restoration efforts within benefit an additional 31 identified species whose long-term survival is dependent upon healthy, resilient and connected landscapes.

monitoring - coordinating the annual monitoring of species and natural communities of the reserve is the way ncc measures the success of land management actions and impacts of public recreation, and how it tracks the ecological health of the animal and plant species for which the reserve was established. In addition to ongoing ecological and biological monitoring efforts, 2017 was a year in which ncc played a key role in regional coordination and orange county implementation of the california gnatcatcher monitoring program. This gnatcatcher monitoring program was a five county monitoring effort - the first of its kind across the range of the species. Ncc also initiated a comprehensive reserve-wide monitoring effort to assess the distribution and population status for the western spadefoot toad - one of the identified species for which the reserve was established. This monitoring data will inform future habitat restoration efforts.

cowbird trapping - in 2017, ncc continued its annual obligation to trap brown-headed cowbirds to manage the impacts these birds have on protected bird species. Cowbirds are brood parasites. Female cowbirds lay their eggs in the nest of other native birds. The nest-owning species then unknowingly raise the cowbird chick to maturity frequently to the detriment of its own clutch. In areas where the cowbird populations are high, traps are used to lower their numbers and increase reproductive and fledgling success of bird species parasitized by cowbirds. A total of 25 cowbird traps were deployed in 2017 for a total of nearly 2,760 trap-days in areas of the reserve where cowbird impacts on protected songbirds are historically high. Trapping is currently the most effective way to manage cowbirds.

to rehabilitate the cactus wren breeding areas devastated by wildfires.