The Osoyoos Desert Centre is home to many threatened or endangered species, and ensuring that their habitat is maintained or improved is important. Some threats that native species face at the Desert Centre are non-native species invasion, loss of biodiversity, and habitat fragmentation. Some of the actions we are taking to reverse these threats and to learn more about habitat restoration in the Okanagan are:
Staff and volunteers hand pull invasive weeds in “Knapweed Knock-Out” events. Weeds that are removed include knapweed, hounds tongue, Russian thistle, and puncturevine.
2 meter by 3 meter plots are weeded of crested wheatgrass (a non-native species that was seeded on the Desert Centre site as cattle forage) and other non-native species, and replanted with a different native plant for each plot. This will allow us to see which species are best at ‘filling the gaps’ left by weeding out invasive bunchgrasses.
A study is being carried out to determine the best native species to use for seeding disturbed areas. Seeds are collected locally and are broadcast-seeded in a degraded area near the Desert Centre interpretive buildings. Species selected for the native seed mix include sand dropseed, pasture sage, yarrow, needle-and-thread grass, red three-awn, junegrass, Sandberg’s bluegrass, wooly plantain, brown-eyed susan, and golden aster.
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Thanks to 2020 labs for donating seed testing services for the study!
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The Desert Centre promotes native landscaping by selling native plants and seeds, maintaining a demonstration native plant garden, hosting workshops and presentations, and answering questions. We are working on a native plant landscaping handbook for the South Okanagan.
