Grassland Ecosystems

Willits is home to native perennial grasses, which sequester carbon and help mitigate climate change

Ree Slocum, Willits Weekly News, September 9, 2021

On Saturday, August 24, nine people and five presenters met at the Centennial Reservoir to learn about the importance of grasslands on Earth, with boots-on-the-ground experiences in the Willits watershed. The workshop presenters were there to help people understand how native, perennial grasses serve in sequestering carbon, nutrients and water, while creating more biodiversity in an ecosystem and helping heal the effects of climate change.

The four-hour workshop was packed with interesting, fun, enlightening, sobering and hopeful facts. Topics were presented by five respected scientists / ecologists from different organizations and areas.

The following is a distillation of the richly packed collections of facts, ideas, discussions, and fascinating points made by those dedicated people who led the group.

“Today we’re going to talk about and learn about grassland ecosystems and what they’re doing for us when we’re not paying attention,” Alina Nuebel, a conservationist for the organization Conservation Works, told the group, setting the stage for a lively workshop.

The organizer of the workshop, Oona Heacock, explained that Conservation Works – which covers Marin, Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake counties – has been working on the Willits watershed for about 3 1/2 years. “We’ve been working on bringing all our programs to the Willits and Ukiah communities.” Conservation Works recently partnered with California’s Climate Action Corps program. “Ours is one of the first projects that are being launched all over California to take action on climate change,” Heacock explained. “Fires, smoke, drought are all affecting the environment and the health of our people. We and the State of California Action Corps believe that it is us, as a community, who can make a difference. By working together in our small ways, big ways, whatever ways, we can take action on climate change.”

Later, after that hopeful message, she emphasized: “Just so you know, you folks in Willits have a pristine watershed here. There’s no industry up above where your water’s coming from. It’s beautiful and special.” She explained that Conservation Works has been bringing students up there to teach them what makes a pristine watershed and about the relationships formed with grasslands, wetlands, forests, living creatures, fire, carbon sequestration, climate change, and others integral to ecosystem health.

The group made their first stop on the tour up the mountain. They visually explored a grassland / wetland area intersecting with forest. During her talk about grasses, Nuebel, whose life priority is “helping people relieve themselves of their plant blindness,” talked about how much we rely on grasses for food. She mentioned corn, millet, sorghum and rice seeds as worldwide sources of carbohydrate calories. “So, grasses are super, super, super important for us just staying alive,” she added.

In her talk, which covered many specifics, Nuebel made the distinction between annual and perennial plants: “Does the plant have a one-year life cycle or many-year life cycle? In grasses this gets extremely relevant. An annual grass is a sprinter. On the other hand, our perennial friends have a different approach to life. They know to pace themselves.”

Their extensive biomass is underground as roots, sometimes as deep as 9-to-20 feet. She also informed that the percentage of California native, perennial grasses has shrunk due to overgrazing, building on grasslands, and other stewardship practices unfavorable to their propagation. The loss of them has weakened ecosystem biodiversity. There’s less underground carbon sequestration, less water retention, less animal and insect life.

According to Nuebel, “These are the things that grasslands are doing for us while we’re not paying attention: sequestering carbon through the production of massive structures underground where we can’t see them; allowing water infiltration for rejuvenation of the aquifer. This allows the landscape to retain water overall. They’re an incredible reservoir of biodiversity: arthropod, bird, mammal, predator and herbivore, fungal, and soil microbe life. And when you have an intact old-growth grassland, good stuff is happening there,” she beamed.

Marisela de Santa Anna, a biologist working with MCRCD on the Willits Bypass Mitigation Land, who specializes in the relationship between wildlife and plants in various ecosystems, brought the grasslands and forests more alive with stories about different wildlife like the endangered grasshopper sparrows:

“We have those in the Willits valley and they absolutely need grassland. Meadowlarks breed and live in grasslands and need them, too,” she said, and later told the group: “Meadow voles are the primary source of food for animals like the white-tailed kite, kestrels, coyote and foxes. So are the moles. They also tunnel, which aerates the soil and are nutrient cyclers.”

Katherine Gabor, from Climate Action Corps, explained carbon sequestration in detail. For brevity’s sake, here’s the big deal about carbon sequestration as defined by USGS: “Carbon sequestration is the process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide. It is one method of reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere with the goal of reducing global climate change.” And, according to Gabor and the other presenters, native, perennial grasses sequester more carbon than most forests.

Gabor also described fire behavior and the role of fire in California. “Our premise for this discussion is that periodic fires are a natural and necessary process for the grass’ vigorous health.” She read the California Native Grasslands Association’s statement: “When a grassland burns, more of the carbon is stored safely below ground in the roots and accumulated organic matter where it’s less likely to be burned and released into the atmosphere.” Which cycles around to climate change and this from the National Park Service: “Without fires, shrubs and trees will take over grasslands, effectively converting it to forest and non-native vegetation would spread.” Thus, crowding out perennials that sequester large amounts of carbon.

Many things can be done to mitigate climate change. The workshop ended with participants making native perennial grass “seed bombs.” It was a jovial time for them to discuss what they’d learned, ask final questions, and talk amongst themselves. Everyone left more hopeful about the future health of the Little Lake watershed and the planet in general.

For more information about Conservation Works and upcoming workshops, visit www. conservationworksnc.org. To find out more about the Willits Bypass Mitigation Land, visit www. rcdprojects.org.