A wildfire on Santa Rosa Island earlier this year burned through a grove of Torrey pines — threatening one of the rarest species of pine in the world.
Now, the National Park Service, ecologists and volunteers are working to conserve the trees that survived, and protect the seeds that were left behind.
Michelle Gados, an ecologist for the California Institute of Environmental Studies, is leading the restoration of the Torrey pine grove on Santa Rosa Island.
She says that the wildfire earlier this year burned through built-up dead pine needles, leaving behind exposed soil.
“If you get some heavy rain events, it's gonna disturb the soil,” she said. “If you get too much too fast, then all that soil could slide down the slopes.”
That soil is important for the surviving trees, but it’s also full of seeds that could become the next generation of Torrey Pines.
El Niño conditions have increased the risk of heavy rain this winter, which could disturb those seeds.
“It's a huge concern,” Gados said. “Like, it keeps me up at night. I just hope it's not as bad as they predict, because this would just be really bad timing.”
The current plan to prevent erosion is to install wattles — long tubes made of rolled-up nets that interrupt and slow rainwater as it flows down hill.
Overall, Gados says she’s optimistic that the species will survive the impacts of the wildfire.
“They're impacted, but they're gonna be okay,” she said.
