Conservancy Times Fall 2015

Page 11

At the top, hikers are rewarded with views of Avalon and the Island’s ocean side. On a clear day, they can see from the San Gabriel Mountains on the east to San Clemente Island on the west. A great photo spot — Instagram your hike @Catalina_Conservancy.

At about the two-thirds mark on the trail, a rocky hillside displays the geologic history of Catalina’s East End. This portion of the Island was formed by a large magmatic mass, called a pluton, which intruded upwards into the Catalina schist and solidified. To the right, the vertical lines in the rocky hillside show a dike swarm, which is magma that shot up later through gaps in the solidified pluton. Notice the variety of color in the rock.

Climbing further, a vivid example of a microclimate on the hills is on the left of the trail. The north-facing slopes get less sun, so there is less evaporation, leading to thicker and greener vegetation than the southfacing slopes.

After the fourth turn in the trail, a large Island scrub oak (Quercus pacifica) demonstrates the impact of deer feeding on Catalina’s native plants. On the mainland, the oak is more bush-like. On Catalina, it struggles to survive, and it grows taller because the deer browse on the lower branches. Sticky Monkey flower (Mimulus aurantiacus) CONSERVANCY TIMES

FALL 2015

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PHOTOS: JACK BALDELLI, LAURA MECOY

Around the second turn, hikers can see the war of invasive plants vs. native plants. The large shrublike flax-leaved broom (Genista) is crowding out native Sticky Monkey flower (Mimulus aurantiacus). Invasive grasses also line the trail, allowing little space for the native Nassella cernua grass, pictured above. The Conservancy’s habitat restoration invasive plant removal program is seeking to eliminate invasive plants, like this, to allow native plants to flourish.


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