You’ve seen it, on campus, along the highways, and carpeting the coast: ice plant. The green succulent leaves, with tinted red tips, and little pink or yellow flowers is an all too familiar sight here in California. However, ice plants are a highly invasive plant species, depleting resources from native flora.
Ice plant originates from the coast of South Africa and was introduced into California in an attempt to stabilize erosion along railroad tracks. According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, when it establishes in a location, it forms large, thick roots that choke out other native plants, depletes water, and alters soil composition. These invasive plants create intense competition for resources.
As part of the Earth Day festivities on campus last week, Melyssa Spandri, a fourth year student here at CSUMB, organized a Stewardship event to remove ice plants from behind the library. This was just one piece of her Capstone project, and part of CSUMB’s Oak Woodland project, in which they aim to plant 2,030 trees on campus by 2030.
About 30 students showed up to the event, and lent their hand in removing these invasive plant species. Spandri says there is still a lot of (restoration) work to be done, but that this event provided the opportunity to spark conversation with peers about the issues at hand.
In an interview with Spandri, she tells me that to her, this project is about much more. In addition to the plant removal event, Spandri created a documentary which addresses “the environmentalists who are going missing, being jailed or even killed due to environmental protection”. The bigger purpose of her project is to shed light on the wrongdoing that is occurring to those who are sticking up for the planet. This event served as a small piece to a larger puzzle.
Another invasive plant present here on campus, is the yellow, flowering, California French Broom. While this plant may look pretty and sweet, Spandri says that it supports some hummingbirds, but other than that it is yet another competitor with native species.
French broom not only depletes water, but it changes the soil chemistry, making it less than ideal for native plants.
The California coast presents vast plant diversity, something that we are able to see here at CSUMB as well. While these plants might be aesthetically pleasing, they may not be symbiotic with the native plant species.
Click here for a more in depth interview with Melyssa Spandri.
For more information on invasive plants click here!
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