Jack Dunster Marine Reserve

CommunityWalk Map - Jack Dunster Reserve



This park is a gem. A little hard to get to, but well worth the trip.


There are many short trails to wander about the park--though nothing you could rightfully call a hike. Benches provide many pleasant places to sit and gaze at the busy boat traffic in Alamitos Bay.

This area is a restoration site that was created as mitigation for wetlands lost on Santa Catalina Island. It's a bit non-traditional of a restoration, becaues much of the restored habitat contains species endemic to Catalina Island. Purists (like me) might argue that restoring a nonnative habitat (nonnative to the mainland US) doesn't really count as a restoration. But I won't argue that the park is beautiful and has great environmental and educational value.



Unlike the Golden Shore Preserve, this restoration includes a good deal of upland habitat. The wetlands are small, but very easily viewed from shore or from the viewing docks.


Viewing docks let you get closer to the water and watch marine life. Birds also like to perch on these docks as well!

From the dock and near the shore, you can examine the mudflats at low tide. The mudflats are full of burrows created by fiddler crabs:


To see the crabs, you must stand still for a while--they scurry into their holes when you approach, and will only exit once they feel safe.



These crabs have an enlarged claw (usually the right) which they swing and wave to establish territories and attract mates.


Fiddler crabs wave their claws to signal to each other.

At slightly higher elevations, the mudflats turn into salt marshes. At the Dunster Preserve, the marshes were planted with California cordgrass (Spartina foliosa), salt grass (Distychlis spicata), pickelweed (Salicornia sp.), and alkali heath (Frankenia salina). The last two are susceptible to parasitism by an unusual plant known as dodder (in this case, salt-marsh dodder).


A small restored salt marsh area, heavily parasitized by dodder Cuscuta salina)


Pickelweed (Salicornia sp.)


Alkali heath (Frankenia salina), heavily parasitized by salt-marsh dodder (Cuscuta salina). Alkali heath is unusual for salt marsh plants in that it has showy flowers that attract insect pollinators.


This pretty little plant was also growing in the salt marsh area. It resembles crystalline ice plant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum), but I'm not sure of the ID.

The upland area contains many of the same plants you might expect from the coastal sage-scrub areas that used to dominate Long Beach:


California encelia, or bush sunflower (Encelia californica)


Quail bush(Atriplex lentiformis)


Lemonade berry Rhus integrifolia


Estuary sea-blite (Suaeda esteroa)


Coast prickly-pear (Opuntia littoralis)


Bladderpod (Isomeris arborea), with nymphs of a harlequin bug (Murgantia histrionica).


Chalk dudleya (Dudleya sp.)


Golden yarrow (Eriophyllum confertifolium)


Red sand-verbena (Abronia maritima). Note how the flower stalks are held erect, but the seed pods dangle straight down!


Wartleaf ceanothus (Ceanothus papillosus sp.)




But the preserve also showcases a number of unique plants endemic to Santa Catalina Island, located 25 miles to the southwest:



Santa Catalina--like the other California Channel Islands--is a botanical wonderland, filled with many unusual plant species found nowhere else on earth. (Animals too!) Many of these rare plants have been included in the Dunster Reserve as mitigation for habitat loss on the island. These unusual island plants are often similar to mainland forms, but gigantized in some way or another.

For example, compare the mainland coreopsis:


Corepsis (Coreopsis sp.)

with its island relative, the giant coreopsis:


Giant coreopsis Coreopsis gigantea. Even though it looks like topiary, this specimen displays the natural growthform of this species.

Similarly, compare the common California buckwheat of the mainland:


California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum)

with its giant island relative:


Giant buckwheat (Eriogonum giganteum)

Other unusual island endemics are also represented in the park:


Island mallow (Lavatera assurgentifolia)


Island snapdragon (Galvezia speciosa)




Partial list of plants:
Coastal dudleya (Dudleya caespitosa)
Chalk dudleya (Dudleya pulverulenta)
Mulefat (Baccharis salicifolia)
Coyote bush (Baccharis pilularis)
Golden yarrow (Eriophyllum confertifolium
California encelia (Encelia californica)
Bladderpod (Isomeris arborea)
Coastal prickly pear (Opuntia littoralis)
Red sand-verbena (Abronia maritima)
Estuary sea-blite (Suaeda esteroa)
Salt-marsh dodder (Cuscuta salina)

This park is perhaps the least accessible by public transit. All bus stops are about 1/2 mile away or more. You can try the 181, 182, 171, or Passport-D.

Marine Stadium Marine Reserve

CommunityWalk Map - Marine Stadium Reserve



This is a very small and bizarre reserve. It consists of two small patches of salt marsh (perhaps under 200 square feet total), some sandy shore, and riprap.



The upland portions are very pretty, but entirely landscaped by nonnative horticultural plants.



The surrounding park (Marine Vista Park) is also very pretty and a great place for picnic or recreation, but the nature reserve itself is not worth much of a visit. The nearby Jack Dunster Marine Reserve is a much better destination for exploring a natural habitat.

I imagine the "marine reserve" designation is a zoning restriction meant to protect the wetland remnants from further destruction.

Golden Shores Preserve

CommunityWalk Map - Golden Shores Preserve

The Golden Shores Marine Biological Preserve was created as mitigation for wetlands destroyed elsewhere in the port area.


The Golden Shores Marine Biological Preserve, nestled between downtown and the port area on the Los Angeles River

The mouth of the Los Angeles River used to contain a great deal of wetlands, but nearly all of them have been destroyed--mostly in the construction of the port. [oldmap]

The wetland is right next to Catalina Landing, and is easily visited by the LB Transit Passport bus, or by the LA River bikepath. However, once you are there, access is restricted by ugly chainlink fences.



You must content yourself with gazing at the marsh from the shore. Bring binoculars to get the most out of your time here.


The stands of Spartina form little islands that rapidly accumulate peat--just one of the many critical functions of wetlands.

The wetland largely consists of salt grass (Distychlis spicata), with a few areas of pickelweed (Salicornia). In wetter areas along the main channel, taller cordgrasses grow (Spartina, presumably the native California cordgrass, S. foliosa). Even though Spartina plants grow closer to the ocean, they are in fact less salt tolerant than the salt grass and pickelweed that grow at higher elevations. This may seem backwards, but the further from the water, the saltier the environment. Tidal channels get flooded daily, so the water is never saltier than the ocean. In contrast, the higher elevation areas get inundated only during higher tides, so the salt gets concentrated until the next flooding flushes it out.


The taller cordgrasses grow in the wetter areas, where regular flushing keeps salinities low. Saltgrass and pickleweed can tolerate the higher salinities where flushing occurs less often.


Pickleweed (Salicornia)


In addition to the marsh habitat, the restoration includes some mudflat and open-water areas.


Mudflats at Golden Shore Preserve

These habitats might seem barren, but they are critical spawning grounds for fish, and provide excellent forage for waterfowl.

Despite the intense industry around the park, wildlife watching is pretty good here. Many birds, including herons, grebes, cormorants, and pelicans find plenty of fish to catch in the protected waters.


Pelicans taking off at Golden Shore Preserve

The rocky shoreline that surround the marsh were probably not considered part of the restoration, but you can find wildlife on these rocks as well:


Barnacles, mussels, and other organisms need hard surfaces (such as these rocks) for attachment.


This great basin fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis longipes) is only too happy to make a home among the shoreline rocks.


Across the mouth of the preserve is an unusual yellow floating tube, called a boom:


This boom manages to keep most of the floating trash and debris from entering and smothering the wetland. Unfortunately, it does not work during floods, and can do nothing to prevent incosiderate people from tossing trash over the fence (a major problem at this secluded park).

The upland areas of the park are landscaped and manicured. Unfortunately, the restoration seems to have stopped at the high-water line, and all the upland plants are nonnative horicultural shrubs--a wasted opportunity for native habitat restoration.


California encelia (Encelia californica), one of the few native plants I saw in the upland parts of the park.

Signs near the preserve provide some information about wetland ecology and wildlife:

Colorado Lagoon

CommunityWalk Map - Colorado Lagoon

Colorado Lagoon is an inland arm of Alamitos Bay, reaching up to 7th Street. Most of the park is maintained as recretaional lawn, although there is also an artificial beach ("Mother's Beach"). Water quality at this beach is extremely low, so swimming is not always advisable. The City has identified some major sources of bacteria in the lagoon, although remedies have yet to result in improvements.



Notwithstanding the poor water quality, the park is a lovely place for an afternoon stroll or picnic. Despite the fact that the park is extensively developed, there are considerable natural resources to appreciate here. You can observe one of southern California's most threatened habitats here: the coastal salt marsh.



Although vegetation maintenance prevents the marsh from reaching its full splendor in most areas, small patches of wetland dot the perimter of the lagoon, especially along the "peninsula" that divides the lagoon into two arms.


Salt grass (Distychlis spicata)


Small "meadow" of salt grass.

In the above picture, low-growing salt grass (Distychlis spicata) forms a spongy mat near the shore.

Pickelweed (Salicornia) is another common salt marsh plant. These plants tolerate the salty conditions by sequestering salt crystals in their succulent tissues. Although this plant is edible, DO NOT collect and eat plants from this park!


Pickelweed (Salicornia spp.). There are several species in California, and all are hard to distinguish.


A similar-looking (but unrelated) plant is salt-wort.


Saltwort (Batis maritima). The picture on the right shows saltwort growing low around the taller pickelweed.

A few plants add some color to the salt marsh.



Alkali heath (Frankenia salina)


Marsh jaumea (Jaumea carnosa)


There are some interesting bluffs along the eastern shore of the lagoon, and they remind me of a miniature version of Newport Bay.



Unfortunately, these bluffs are dominated by nonnatives--mostly iceplant (Carpobrotus edulis), which has no value to wildlife. Hopefully, the bluffs can be restored to create a diverse community of colorful native coastal bluff plants.

Although the wetlands are very limited in size, and in general are in poor condition, there are great opportunities for restoration, which may be highly succesful (given the low relief of the landscape).



A floating dock/bridge across the lagoon lets you get close to the water and examine the marine life up close.

Peering underwater, you can see lots of organisms. For example:


Crabs


Snails (or their shells washed ashore)


Fish (These are teeny-weeny fish fry. If you need help spotting them, click here)

When the sun is out, you may notice that the mud on shore and in the shallows turns golden-brown:



This color comes from diatoms--single celled algae. These algal cells hide in the silt when it's shady, but come up to the surface when they can photosynthesize in the sun. They move by propelling themselves on mucus they secrete. Pretty cool, huh?

This is also a great spot for birdwatching. Egrets and herons forage in the shallow water for fish. Terns, gulls, ducks, and pelicans are common as well.


Snowy egret (Egretta thula) foraging near the wetland.


The same egret, soaring over the lagoon.

LB Transit bus routes 81, 92, 93, 94, 181, and 182 will take you to Colorado Lagoon.