Southern California's environment grade: C+
By Jeyling Chou
Nov. 12, 2002 9:00 p.m.
California is one of only five small regions in the world
characterized by a mediterranean climate with mild, wet winters and
arid summers. The unique temperate qualities of this region have
led to the evolution of unique speciation in plants and
animals.
According to the UCLA Institute of Environment’s Southern
California Environmental Report Card 2002, not enough is being done
to preserve this varied and threatened biodiversity.
The marks have been made and Southern California received a C+
for its efforts.
In the past century, Southern California has prioritized
economic and structural development instead of environmental
preservation.
“We can protect the species through protection of their
habitats,” said Philip Rundel, author of the biodiversity
article and Professor in the Department of Organismic Biology,
Ecology, and Evolution.
The pressures of developers upon natural habitat has resulted in
the extinction of 21 animal species and 34 plant species in recent
decades, according to the report.
But developers are simply answering to demand.
California’s population increases annually by 2 percent
““ the national average is 1.1 percent.
“There’s such an opportunity to profit in land
conversion because of the demand for space,” said Gary Hund,
a senior ecologist with California State Parks.
“A lot of wildlands and agricultural lands continue to be
converted into residential, commercial, and industrial uses,”
he said.
Urban sprawl has resulted in the fragmentation of natural areas
in the Santa Monica mountains and wetlands habitats.
Habitats which were once large and continuous have been reduced
to small pockets that are increasingly subdivided.
This fragmentation greatly increases the threat to endemic
organisms by restricting migratory patterns and gene flow between
populations.
“Regulations and laws are forcing developers to avoid
significant impacts to wetlands areas,” said Edith Reed,
senior ecologist with Psomas, an engineering and natural resource
consulting company.
“However, there are many cases where impacts to these
areas can not be avoided,” she said.
Urban development not only decreases the land for native
species, but makes the region more susceptible to invasive
non-native organisms.
Alien species pose a threat to endangered native species by
occupying niches and overtaking resources.
Actions are being taken in the Ballona Wetlands (located between
Marina del Rey and the Westchester Bluffs) to remove the non-native
iceplant from its dunes to decrease crowding out of endemic
species.
Ballona Wetlands, the last major wetlands in Los Angeles County,
once encompassed over 2,000 acres, but have been reduced by human
activity to less than 190 acres.
Restoration efforts by the Ballona Wetlands Foundation and the
Friends of the Ballona Wetlands Organization plan to increase the
wetland habitat to about 250 acres.
The number one concern of environmentalists working to preserve
biodiversity remains public and government awareness.
California is on a short list of endangered hotspots which
includes places like the Amazon.
“A lot of our species and habitats aren’t as
charismatic as a large jungle canopy,” Hund said.
“We have scrub brush and grassland, but people don’t
realize that there are still a lot of species that depend on
it.”
Six of the ten counties in the United States with the largest
numbers of threatened and endangered species are in California: Los
Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Diego, and San Bernardino counties.
The report card grade reflects that residents of California
aren’t aware of the fragility of this region.
“They don’t understand the gravity of the
impact,” Hund said.
“They just don’t think of where they live as being
that important because the resources aren’t as evident or
glamorous.”
Educating the residents, however, may be best way to increase
concern about the environment.
“We hope to motivate the public to vote certain
ways,” said Michael Stenstrom, contributing writer to the
report card and professor in the Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering.
Environmentalists are hopeful for a change in public policy and
more funding through the public’s increased awareness.
A grade of C+ shows appreciation for current effort, and
optimism for future improvement.
“There’s been great improvement, and people mean
well,” Rundel said. “Now we have to have the resources
to do it.”
