HEath
Bartosh
May 14, 2014 - Heath featured in SFGate piece on Mt. Diablo post-fire flowers.
Growing up in Ventura County I gained an early
appreciation for the rich history and natural resources of the Golden State,
especially its botanical wealth, through exploration of its wild backcountry.
From the Southland my explorations and interests turned northward to the
Klamath Ranges and points between. The California Coast Ranges have been an
extraordinary place to begin to scratch the surface of my studies in California
floristics which has led to the immediate conclusion that I have a lot to
learn.
Research
Interests
My general research interests are based in
California vascular plant floristics with a focus on distribution, soil and geologic
relationships, endemism, regional and local rarity, and habitat conservation.
At a more specific level, my primary interests are floristics of the North and South
Coast Ranges (NCoR and SCoR)
and fire-following annual plant species there.
Coast
Range Floristics
The coast ranges of California are a patchwork of
difficult to access public and private lands that include: high and low
elevation ecosystems; a variety of longitudinal and latitudinal gradients; a
complex assemblage of bedrock and soil types; a myriad of climate regimes; and
many areas where different floristic regions (and subregions)
converge. All of these factors drive a high level of diversity. Due to the
inaccessibility of the coast ranges they harbor many undercollected localities. My objective for the California
coast ranges is to voucher specimens for the Jepson Herbarium in these collection
voids to contribute a richer dataset to the existing coast range accessions as
well as provide relevant information on coast range floristics to other
interested researchers. In an effort to learn more about the southern end of
the north coast ranges and the home county of Willis
Linn Jepson, my fellow botanical colleague, Christopher Thayer and I, are
working on a Flora of Solano County.
Solano
County Flora Project
Solano County possesses a diverse physiography;
comprising parts of the Central Coast, San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta, Sacramento
Valley, and Inner North Coast Range botanical regions. The juxtaposition of
these landscapes and their ecosystems results in a broad range of habitats that
support a robust assemblage of plant species. The county is also the birthplace
Willis Linn Jepson, one of the early ambassadors of California floristic
studies. It is in Solano County that Jepson cut his botanical teeth near his
hometown in Vacaville, at the foot of the Vaca Mountains. Many of Jepson's
early collection records are from Solano County, including many type specimens.
This wealth of physiographic, botanical, and
historical attributes, together with the rapid pace of development, make it
essential to compile a flora of the vascular plants of Solano County. We will
begin by examining existing herbarium records to determine the level of current
knowledge and identify potential shortfalls in the available data. Botanical
field investigations will be conducted county-wide,
with a special focus in potentially rich or botanically under-explored places.
Voucher specimens of relevant or significant discoveries will be deposited in
the Jepson Herbarium in Berkeley. The ultimate objective of the project is to
create a comprehensive, annotated catalog of the floristic diversity of the
entire County.
We intend to provide, as completely as possible,
up-to-date information for all known plant species, noting locations and
collections, nomenclatural synonyms; and describing habitats, common associates,
specialized geological or soil preferences, and other pertinent ecological
information. We also aim to create a framework for the identification and
monitoring of locally rare or unusual plant species. The concept of local
rarity recognizes species that may be more abundant in parts of California but
which, because of regionally uncommon occurrence, are noteworthy and may have
local significance or importance with regard to conservation. The presence of
locally unusual plant species can often be indicative of special habitat
conditions and biologically rich areas. Such occurrences may include
disjunctions, isolated populations, or locations at the far extent of a
species' range.
Fleeting
Abundance of Fire Following Annuals
As part of a Mediterranean climate regime,
California coast ranges support many fire adapted
ecosystems. While many studies have been focused on a variety of subjects such
as fuels, prescribed fire, vegetation change and succession, fire frequency and
history little is known about the post-fire flush of annual plant species. It
is this short-term pulse, typically for three years after fire, when fire following annual plants become the dominant short-term
inhabitants of otherwise woody plant communities. The composition and duration of
this eruptive dominance and subsequent fleeting abundance of annual plant
species on regional scales within the coast ranges is
of research interest to me. Currently, San Francisco State graduate student
Brian Peterson, and I are conducting a 3 year post-fire
study of the Morgan Fire, which burned the south side of Mount Diablo in 2013.
Herbaria
Ambassador
As a Research Associate of the University and
Jepson Herbaria, it is also important to act as an ambassador of this renowned research
facility. The ability to compile information from past collections and
collectors is invaluable. Educating and communicating the value of these
herbaria to both scientists and laypeople is an important role. In addition, as
an ambassador I aim to encourage my peers, and botanists of younger generations,
to get involved and collect for herbaria. This aureate endeavor of science and
art should continue to thrive, bridging collectors of the past to the science
of today.
Other
Involvements
Professionally, I am a co-founder and Senior
Botanist of Nomad Ecology, based in Martinez (CCo, SnFrB) with 15 years of experience working in natural
resource and environmental related fields throughout California.
Since
2002 I have been based in Contra Costa County and am considered an expert in
the East Bay flora (Contra Costa and Alameda counties). In 2005 I became an
active member of the California Native Plant Society, East Bay Chapter and am
currently Rare Plant Committee Chair for the Chapter. In 2009 I also became a
member of the 10-person Rare Plant Program Committee at the state level of
CNPS. My role on these committees is to ensure these programs continue to
develop current, accurate information on the distribution, ecology, and
conservation status of California's rare and endangered plants; and helps to
promote the use of this information to influence on site plant conservation in
California.
In collaboration with team of graduate students
from Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden and Claremont Graduate Colleges, lead by
Thomas Stoughton, I am also playing a small role in a systematics project on
the Silene verecunda
Complex.