Why Restoring the Cacti After a Wildfire is One of the Most Important Jobs Out There

Wild Times at the San Diego Zoo

Learn how these birds were affected by California fires and what conservation scientists are doing to help bring their populations back up in the wild.

Transcript

00:00Hoy estamos aquí en el San Diego Zoo Safari Park Biodiversario Preserve

00:11con USGS y el Nature Reserve de Orange County

00:15monitoreo y abandono cactos renos.

00:19Cactos renos son una especie de california de especial concern

00:24y sus poblaciones fueron muy difícil después de los recientes fires

00:28y so we're trying to monitor their population

00:32and see what we can do to bring their populations back up.

00:37Cactus renos are really closely tied to cactus.

00:42They use year-round nests for roosting and for breeding

00:45and they need cactus that is at least one meter

00:50which is around three feet in height.

00:52They tend to prefer these larger cactus patches for breeding.

00:57What we were doing today was attempting to capture some adult wrens

01:01to collect genetic samples.

01:04So we observed the birds for a while in the morning

01:07became familiar with their flight paths

01:09and the way that they moved around their territory

01:11and then strategically placed some mist nets

01:14in an area that they were likely to fly through.

01:17We actually caught a male and two fledglings this morning

01:25placed metal and colored bands on their legs

01:29which give each bird a unique color combination

01:32so that we can recognize individuals in the future.

01:35We perform various measurements on them.

01:40We measure wing length, we record some other characteristics,

01:45we weigh them and then we clip one of their toenails

01:49to collect a tiny amount of blood

01:51and this is the basis for the genetics analysis.

01:53So ultimately we'll be using the results of the genetic study

01:59to look at how connected these dispersed cactus-run populations are

02:04and we'll be able to determine if birds are moving

02:07from one patch to another and how they're doing that.

02:11In other words, what routes they're taking

02:13and what kinds of habitat they need connecting patches of cactus

02:17for birds to be able to move from one to the other.

02:20The San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research

02:26is involved in a restoration project for coastal sage scrub

02:31and within that project we're trying to figure out

02:34how that restoration effort is affecting, hopefully positively,

02:39the cactus-run population.

02:41So we're out planting cactus and monitoring the cactus-run population

02:48to see how their populations are doing at the same time.

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