The UC Hopland Research and Extension Center will hold its Introduction to Grasses class on June 1 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Kerry Heise and Geri Hulse-Stephens, botanical consultants based in Mendocino County, will lead the class. They use their knowledge of the Northwestern California flora to conduct floristic surveys, designing and implementing rare plant monitoring studies and collecting plant vouchers for local and regional herbaria.
They will lead the class in exploring the diversity of grasses through lectures, site visits and identification exercises.
According to Hannah Bird, the community educator at the Hopland Research and Extension Center, there are a lot of people in Mendocino County who want to learn more about grasses to understand how they can manage their lands better.
Many of the people who join the class are ranchers or farmers who are thinking about what grasses would be a good feed for their animals, or they are thinking about how they can have good habitat grass on their land.
At the research center, Bird says they see invasive grass species that cause problems for people. These types of grasses can be harmful to the animals that they have on the land, mainly the sheep by getting stuck in the coats of the animals and eventually causing infections.
Botanist Kerry Heise says that nearly half of the 100 grass species found at the Hopland Research and Extension Center are non-native annuals. Some are rare and restricted to unique habitat such as serpentine reedgrass or have minimal geographic ranges such as Northcoast semaphore grass.
Heise also says that for the livestock producer, grasses have many benefits. They lengthen the grazing season by increasing green forage availability and hold nutrients more tightly and recycle them more efficiently than annuals. They are also less flammable than alien annuals, and they help to build soil organic matter, thereby increasing the fertility of the site.
Anyone interested in learning more can contact the Hopland Research and Extension Center at 707-744-1424.