Science Spotlight

A coast yellow leptosiphon seedling.


Residential development on the San Mateo coast threatens coast yellow leptosiphon’s habitat.


Coast yellow leptosiphon is a low growing annual from the Phlox family which typically blooms in April and May.

The world is closing in on coast yellow leptosiphon.

The endangered plant exists in only one known location on earth — an 1,800 square foot plot on Vallemar Bluff in Moss Beach, about 20 miles south of San Francisco. The low-growing annual from the Phlox family features bright yellow flowers with fused petals and typically blooms in April and May.

Erosion caused by rain, waves and other factors is making the bluff that the plant perches on less stable. One study showed that the bluff receded 48 feet between 1908 and 2014. Scientists believe it will continue to recede almost six inches per year moving forward. Climate change could accelerate the erosion process.

“The plant could be almost completely gone in the next 50 years due to bluff-top erosion alone,” said Cherilyn Burton, a senior environmental scientist in CDFW’s Native Plant Program.

Slightly inland from where coast yellow leptosiphon grows is a planned four-unit housing development. The project was approved in March 2019. Although the development project mitigates for direct impacts to the plant, it also eliminates an area that could have been used to help restore the species.

Then there are the indirect impacts caused by urban development. Some aspects of urban design, like installation of storm drainage and landscape irrigation systems, could alter water runoff patterns around the plant’s habitat. The new housing development could also mean increased use of fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals which through runoff could flow into the plant’s habitat and harm the soil.

“An increase in human activity can cause soil and habitat disturbances, which creates conditions that can be favorable to the spread of non-native plants,” said Burton.

Growing among the coast yellow leptosiphon is freeway iceplant—a fast-growing, invasive species that dominates the landscape and outcompetes other plants for light, nutrients, water, space and other resources. Coast yellow leptosiphon is also threatened by non-native plant species like rough cat’s ear, hare barley and cut leaf plantain. It may also face negative impacts from non-native slugs which can be detrimental to the plant’s seedlings.

“There’s so much going up against this plant. We may have to get creative to save it,” said Burton.

If there’s a bright spot in coast yellow leptosiphon’s story, it may be the lack of opposition in getting it listed as a protected species. In 2016, the California Fish and Game Commission designated coast yellow leptosiphon as a candidate species under the California Endangered Species Act. The plant was officially listed as an endangered species in 2018.

Burton recalls the heavy workload that came with preparing her recommendation to the Commission, and her relief upon hearing the Commission’s vote.

“They voted on it right then – right after I gave my presentation. Sometimes the commissioners have questions. But this time there was silence, and then one of the commissioners said, ‘Well, I think we can all agree that this plant meets the criteria.’”

Options to save coast yellow leptosiphon are limited, but there are a few. Scientists are on the lookout for additional suitable habitat. However, most suitable areas already contain rare and sensitive plants to which scientists must consider potential impacts. If additional suitable habitat is found, there will likely be land use and management issues to be worked out.

“The biggest problem is there’s just not a lot of habitat left in the area, and it’s not clear how far away we could go before the microclimate or other conditions would be too different to be suitable,” said Burton.

Another conservation strategy could include long-term seed storage at a botanical garden or other suitable facility to preserve seeds for the future.

Meanwhile, one landslide at the bluff’s edge could have serious consequences.

“Because of its vulnerability and rarity, losing any portion of the plant’s population could result in extinction,” said Burton.

CDFW Photo. Top Photo:
CDFW scientists Jeb Bjerke, Cherilyn Burton and Bill Condon (retired) at Moss Beach in San Mateo County doing fieldwork to support coast yellow leptosiphon.

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Media Contact:
Ken Paglia, CDFW Communications, (916) 825-7120

Circling birds indicate an offshore herring spawning event near Alameda.


Bird activity after a spawning event.


Heavy spawn on eelgrass.

On a drizzly winter day in San Francisco Bay, you might find CDFW Environmental Scientist Ryan Bartling surveying the shoreline on the research vessel Smoothhound in search of Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasii) eggs. Bartling is one member of a team of state biologists who monitor the San Francisco Bay Herring fishery in the winter months, counting eggs and using those numbers to estimate the size of the Herring population that enters the Bay each season. CDFW Environmental Scientists Tom Greiner and Andrew Weltz are the other members of the Herring Team who lead the collection of biological data and management of commercial take of Herring in San Francisco Bay.

“We see, on average, about 50,000 tons of Herring come into San Francisco Bay during the spawn events that occur about 12 times each year,” Bartling explains. “The fish typically show up from November through March, so that’s when we’re out there counting eggs and collecting biological information on adult Herring.”

Even before the spawning season starts, Bartling and Weltz, with assistance from other CDFW divers, perform SCUBA surveys in the Bay to estimate how much vegetation is present. In-season, Greiner runs weekly trawl surveys, using the 28-foot research vessel Triakis to catch adult Herring before they spawn. This catch provides information on size, weight and age of the adult herring, it also provides information on general health and condition.

Once the spawning begins, the biologists concentrate on spawn deposition surveys – which involves finding and counting egg masses wherever the fish lay them. Eelgrass (Zostera marina) and red algae (Gracilaria species) are common vegetation types for spawning Herring, but the fish will also gravitate to hard surfaces or man-made structures near the shoreline – pier pilings, boat bottoms and even submerged shopping carts, anything in the vicinity of a spawn is fair game. Although the eggs are tiny (about the size of the tip of a pencil), they’re laid in mass.

How do the biologists know where to look? There’s a dead giveaway. “The key indicators are the birds and marine mammals – they always find them first!” Bartling says. Using the circling birds as his guide, Bartling walks along the shoreline at low tide to do a visual count of eggs, or, if aboard the Smoothhound, he uses a rake to pull up vegetation from below.

When a spawning event is occurring, the actual survey time varies. CDFW scientists could be counting eggs for as little as four hours, or as long as 12 hours at a time depending on the size of the Herring school. Using the egg count numbers (which are typically in the billions or trillions), they can calculate estimates of Herring tonnage. “An estimate could be as small as one ton of Herring per spawn event up, or might be as high as 15,000 tons,” Bartling says. “It depends on time of year and the overall stock size.”

The estimates are necessary for CDFW to set quotas for California’s commercial Herring fishery, which runs from January through mid-March. Quotas are typically set at around 5 percent of the total tonnage the biologists calculated from the previous season.

CDFW Herring fishery management staff maintain a blog, CDFW Pacific Herring Management News, to keep the public apprised of the health and status of the fishery. More information about the commercial Pacific Herring fishery can be found on CDFW’s website.

CDFW Photos. Top Photo: CDFW Environmental Scientist Ryan Bartling looks at herring eggs after a spawning event.

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Media Contact:
Kirsten Macintyre, CDFW Communications, (916) 322-8988

The Pacific herring – much like squid and anchovy – is an important forage fish that supports a commercial fishery and provides a prey source for all manner of fish and wildlife, including whales, seals, sea lions, sturgeon, salmon, pelicans and numerous other species of birds and invertebrates.

The largest population of Pacific herring in California spawn in San Francisco Bay, and since 1972, CDFW has been responsible for monitoring and managing their numbers. CDFW uses annual vegetation dive surveys and spawn (herring eggs) surveys to calculate a population estimate each year. CDFW also uses commercial fishery and mid-water trawl survey information to look at the composition and general condition of the spawning population.

CDFW has just completed and posted online the 2016-17 San Francisco Bay Season Summary for the Pacific herring fishery. The good news is that the spawning population, estimated at 18,300 tons, is up slightly from the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons. But it is still far below the historical average of 49,400 tons. Less than ideal ocean conditions are cited for the below-average numbers.

CDFW closely regulates the commercial Pacific herring fishery in the San Francisco Bay, setting quotas, season dates and using the commercial catch data to help further analyze the size, age and condition of the spawning population. Typically about six inches long, the fish primarily are harvested for their roe, which is prized in Japan. CDFW maintains a blog on the species called the Pacific Herring Management News.