The non-native plants make the remaining habitat less attractive for animals in many ways including impeding mobility (horned lizard, kangaroo rat), decreasing insect species diversity (California gnatcatcher), and also deprive native forbs of sunlight.
    The constituency who is interested in this issue mostly consists of people who value coastal sage scrub for its biodiversity and quality of life aspects (recreational opportunities or open space). Although coastal sage scrub was historically often used as grazing land, the remaining fragments are so small and threatened by development that this use seems unlikely. However, people who live in the suburbs that are being built out into the scrub could unknowingly benefit from a healthier ecosystem, if theories about annual grasses increasing the intensity of wildfires are shown to be correct. The worldwide conservation community also has an interest in this habitat since it's part of the California Floristic Province and a "biodiversity hotspot". 
    The remaining pieces of sage scrub are being eroded around the edges as roads, trails, and other development make it easier for non-native seeds to spread and establish themselves. It is a relatively gradual process and a variety of approaches are being tried to stave off further habitat conversion and also to restore degraded areas. I believe that one tool which could make a difference is controlled grazing. 
    Grazing sheep has been tried for decreasing non-native species with limited success in coastal sage scrub. I would like to investigate whether certain exotic species might be good alternatives to sheep based on their known behavior and diet selection in the wild. My idea is that if specific annual grasses (ripgut, bromes, and rye grass, but I'm looking into others too) could be grazed soon before they are dropping their seeds (or if animals would selectively eat their seeds) then there would be that many fewer seeds spreading further into the sage scrub. The annual grasses in question are R-selected as far as I can tell, which from what I read means that grazing is probably not a good strategy for eradicating them; furthermore some of them have seed banks in the soil. So my goal would be containing their spread rather than eliminating them from the area. The reason I am hopeful that the animals would target the undesirable plants is because most of the natives (sages, deerweed, yerba santa, coyote bush, monkeyflower) are not very palatable to grazing animals (according to the Forest Service's website and USDA publications). The grazing species I am researching as potential candidates include rhebok, oribi, addax, steenbok, and goral.
     The location in question has a large portion of fenced-in land that is undeveloped. About 900 acres of this is coastal sage scrub, some relatively undegraded. My plan would be to fence off sections of this land where it interfaces with private land and roads (where invasive seeds are most likely to be spread) and put groups of different species in each area to graze. 