The Brief

In recent years, native plants — and the bees, birds and bugs that pollinate them — have notably declined across Southern California as pollution and development have grown.

But some groups are stepping in to help. LAist visited Irvine Ranch Conservancy (IRC), a nonprofit that works to restore Southern California’s native plant ecosystem and prevent habitat loss.

The conservancy works to protect biodiversity through a unique program in which they collect native plant seeds from the surrounding environment, grow more of the native plants at their farm, and redistribute these seeds throughout areas in which the native plant populations are in decline.

Biodiversity is important for the functioning and resilience of any ecosystem — and in order for an ecosystem to thrive, it needs to have a diverse population of native plants.

We took a tour of their farm to learn about the work they’re doing to protect native plants and pollinators.

Here’s a guide to understanding what’s on the decline in Southern California and how the native seed program is working to turn things around.

What species are on the decline and what’s causing the problems?

California has about 7,000 native plant species, and 4,000 of those are native to Southern California — that’s according to Bob Allen, an Orange County-based biologist.

Guides lead a tour at the Irvine Ranch Conservancy Native Seed Farm.

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Native plants provide shelter and food that simply cannot be provided by non-native plants; if they are not there, biodiversity will decrease.

A short supply of native plants affects the bees, birds, bats and bugs that pollinate them. Allen said that bird populations are down because there’s fewer insects to eat.

“I’ve been here my whole life, and insect numbers are way down,” Allen said.

The declines in plants and their pollinators are caused by a range of problems such as housing development, pollution, wildfires and an increase in invasive species such as black mustard and red brome plants.

Bumblebees have been especially hard-hit.

“Bumblebees have crashed recently, like [in] the last five years,” Allen said. Of the 26 bumblebee species that are native to California, one species, Franklin’s bumblebee, has likely gone extinct (it was last seen in Mount Ashland, Ore., in 2006). Another, Crotch's bumblebee, is nearly extinct, and others are doing badly — in short, none of them are doing well, Allen said.

A guide with Irvine Ranch Conservancy Native Seed Farm identifies woollypod milkweed.

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Bumble bee declines affect other species. Allen said bumblebees are one of the primary pollinators of tomatoes, and the number-one pollinator of the California native plant white sage (one of the most abundant plants in several California plant communities). The loss of native pollinators and native plants is a vicious cycle that ends in the demise of both species.

How does the Irvine Ranch Conservancy try to increase biodiversity? 

The Irvine Ranch Conservancy works to protect and restore 25 sites known as Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks spread over 40,000 acres throughout Southern California.

To increase the amount and diversity of native plants in the ecosystem, employees and volunteers collect native plant seeds from plant populations in their natural habitat, grow more of them at their farm and nursery, collect the seeds from these plants, and spread them across the various sites.

Inside a refrigerated container containing various seeds, Sunny Saroa, the Plant Material Development Project Manager at Irvine Ranch Conservancy Native Seed Farm, opens a bag of California poppy seeds.

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Plant Material Development Project Manager Sunny Saroa sifts through California golden poppy seeds.

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IRC’s plant materials program works to help restore about 10 acres a year. The process involves taking a diverse collection of native seeds from the wild and “amplifying" them for re-distribution at the farm.

Sunny Saroa, a project manager at IRC, explained the process like this: “Collect the seed, clean them up, put them in storage, and when it's time for us to put them out in the wild, our team will come out here, mix the seed into a mix, and then use that equipment to put them out on the land.”

IRC volunteers and staff collect plants from a variety of locations including Crystal Cove State Park, Arroyo Trabuco, Chino Hills, O’Neill Regional Park, Limestone Canyon and Bomber Canyon. Their goal is to always collect as much seed as possible while avoiding over harvesting through techniques such as pulling the seeds by hand, smacking them into a bucket or cutting the whole stock off.

Guides lead a tour at the Irvine Ranch Conservancy Native Seed Farm.

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At the farm, the seeds are planted and grown using traditional agricultural and nursery techniques.

Annuals (plants that live for one season) are sown in lines, and perennials (plants that sprout every spring) are grown in containers and then planted. Once the seeds are ready to be harvested, they are collected and stored in seed storage containers, which are basically giant, walk-in fridges. The containers are filled with yellow bags of different types of seeds, and smell amazing, sort of like iced tea — a great place to be on a hot day.

Saroa explained that the containers hold most of the farm-grown seed.

“Between both containers we have about, I think 80 to 90 different species, and a total of this year, I think about 3,500 pounds of seed,” Saroa said.

Before being distributed, the seeds are cleaned using air screen cleaners. Then, IRC’s restoration enhancement team comes out to measure the seeds, mix them, load them into their truck and re-distribute them to IRC’s restoration areas.

At the moment, IRC is working on a few specific restoration projects. These include a butterfly restoration project in Limestone Canyon where they are planting islands of native plants; a monarch butterfly restoration where they are planting native milkweed; and several in which they are restoring coastal sage scrub habitats for an adorable bird called the California gnatcatcher.

Irvine Ranch Conservancy Native Seed Farm

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Are these efforts to increase biodiversity working?

When IRC removes non-native species and plants native ones, it re-established the foundations for a healthy habitat.

“You know, a lot of times how we like to think about it is we’re kind of tipping the scales in the favor of the native plant communities,” said Scott Graves, a communications manager for IRC.

Graves elaborated that when they do this, oftentimes, native animal species that have been unseen in the area for some time return. By providing the area with native, biodiverse plants, conservationists are giving these species the tools they need to survive. Thanks to these efforts, there has already been a rebound in the population of coastal cactus wrens and the California gnatcatchers.

But, protecting biodiversity isn’t just about creating a habitat where native animals can thrive. For these conservationists, there’s also a level of attachment to the dwindling native plant populations in Southern California.

“There are some plants that are so endemic to areas that if that population is wiped out, it’s not coming back,” said Jesse Potter, the program coordinator at IRC’s farm. "And it's just sort of like the sentimentality of losing something forever is, it would just be a shame."

Hopes for the future

Potter, Graves, and Saroa all agreed that one of their biggest hopes for the future is that IRC become a community resource for Orange County residents — a place where they can come to learn about native plants and their local wildlands.

When asked what the residents of L.A. and Orange counties can do to help IRC’s efforts, Sunny’s answer was quick: “Get involved.”

You can sign up to participate in community activities (volunteer, go on a hike, learn more about native plants) at IRC's website.

A hoverfly pollenates a common goldfield.

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A White-lined sphinx caterpillar.

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Another small but important step you can take to increase biodiversity in your area is to plant native plants in your own yard, or even in little containers if you only have a patio.

“So much of Orange County and L.A. County is on that urban wildlife interface where you do see a lot of loss of biodiversity,” Potter said. So by harvesting native plants of your own, you can make an even bigger positive impact than you might realize.

Graves said he wants IRC to grow and continue to be a place where Southern California's native species can thrive.

“I hope over time we can restore a lot of these degraded areas and keep the healthy areas intact so that the wildlands in Orange County become like a safe haven for all these different species that are finding their habitats slowly kind of fading away,” he said.

The mayor of Arcadia has agreed to plead guilty to a charge she acted as an agent for China, federal prosecutors announced Monday. She has resigned from her position with the city.

Eileen Wang, 58, faces one count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The charge carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison.

What we know about the criminal case

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Wang and Yaoning “Mike” Sun of Chino Hills worked at the direction of the Chinese government and with individuals based in the U.S. to promote pro-People’s Republic of China propaganda in the United States. Those actions occurred between 2020 and 2022, prosecutors said.

According to federal prosecutors, Wang and Sun operated a website — known as U.S. News Center — billed as a news source for the local Chinese American community in Los Angeles County. They posted content on the site, described as "pre-written articles," based on directives from Chinese government officials.

Sun, 65, pleaded guilty in October 2025 in federal court to acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government. He is serving a four-year federal prison sentence.

Prosecutors also said Wang communicated with John Chen, whom they described as “a high-level member of the [Chinese government] intelligence apparatus,” in November 2021, and asked him to post an article from her website.

In a group chat, Wang referenced the article and wrote: “This is what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wants to send,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Chen pleaded guilty in New York to acting as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China and conspiracy to bribe a public official. In 2024, he was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison.

What's next

Wang, who was elected to the City Council in November 2022, was expected to make her first appearance in U.S. District Court Monday afternoon.

Citing a plea agreement, prosecutors said she's expected to enter the guilty plea within the next few weeks.

Arcadia's mayor is selected from the elected council members. A post on the city's website announced that Wang had resigned her position as of Monday and that a new mayor would be picked from the remaining council members at the next meeting.

The Supreme Court on Monday gave itself more time to consider a national ban on telemedicine access to the abortion pill mifepristone.

Justice Samuel Alito extended an earlier order he issued by three more days, so rules for prescribing mifepristone online or through the mail remain in effect through Thursday at a minimum.

The case at issue

The tumult over the future of telemedicine access to mifipristone started on May 1 with a ruling from the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. That ruling re-instituted prescribing rules from before the pandemic that required patients to receive mifepristone in person in a doctor's office or clinic.

The Food and Drug Administration determined that the rule was medically unnecessary in 2021. The state of Louisiana sued last fall, arguing that telemedicine access undermines the state's abortion ban.

What is telemedicine abortion?

The telemedicine abortion process starts with a patient connecting with a healthcare provider on the phone or online. If the patient is eligible, that provider can prescribe two medications — mifepristone and another pill called misoprostol. Patients can pick up the medicine at a local pharmacy, or providers can mail the drugs to a patient's home.

That access is a big part of the reason why the number of abortions nationally has actually increased since the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in 2022. Now, most abortions in the U.S. use this combination of medications, and one quarter happen via telemedicine.

After the 5th Circuit ruling, some providers said they would continue offering telemedicine access to abortion medication using a different protocol that involves higher doses of misoprostol and no mifepristone.

Researchers say that method is just as safe and effective, but tends to cause more pain for patients and more side effects, like nausea and diarrhea. Misoprostol has other medical uses, such as treating gastric ulcers and hemorrhage, and has been on the market longer than mifepristone. It is likely to remain fully accessible, even if mifepristone is restricted.

Since the FDA's prescribing rules for medications apply to the whole country, a change to the rules about how mifepristone can be accessed has national impact. That means it affects states with constitutionally-protected access to abortion, states with criminal bans, like Louisiana, and all states in between.

States' rights

Nearly two dozen Democratic-led states submitted an amicus brief in this case, writing that the appeals court decision put the policy choices of states with bans above the choices of states "that have made the different but equally sovereign determinations to promote access to abortion care."

There are also stakes related to the power of FDA and other expert agencies to set rules. While the Trump administration's FDA did not respond to the Supreme Court's request for briefs, a group of former leaders of the agency, who served under mainly Democratic and some Republican presidents, wrote about this in an amicus brief.

They defended the FDA's process in approving the medication and modifying the rules for prescribing it, and say the appeals court decision "would upend FDA's gold-standard, science-based drug approval system."

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