Habitat and population monitoring for Chloropyron maritimum ssp. palustre and Limonium californicum on the Coos Bay North Spit

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In 2014 the estimated number of Chloropyron maritimum ssp. palustre plants on the Coos Bay North Spit land managed by the Coos Bay District of the Bureau of Land Management is ~1,511,000 (508,000 in the protected area and 1,003,000 in the unprotected area). This is the highest estimated population in the unprotected area, and the second highest in the protected area.
In 2014 the population size of Limonium californicum was also estimated in both the protected and unprotected areas. In the protected area, there are an estimated ~962,000 with 832,000 and 130,000 in the protected and unprotected area, respectively. In the protected area, the density of Limonium californicum is higher in all occupied habitat types than in the unprotected area.
In 2014, in the “Chloropyron maritimum ssp. palustre Flat” (CF) habitat, density was 76 plants/m2 whereas in the unprotected area, only 16 plants/m2 were noted. (This pattern was also consistent in the “Limonium/Chrolopyron Flat” (LCF) habitat types, with an estimated 173 L. californicum plants/m2 in the protected area, and only 140/m2 in the unprotected area.
The area occupied with these rare species is found in a long, narrow strip of appropriate habitat in a dynamic system. This narrow strip of land (~700m long with a maximum width of 50m) lies in a precarious location along the shoreline where minor fluctuations in sea level (due to natural or manmade activities), could cause significant loss of habitat. More immediate effects from ORV use are also evident.