Download CONSERVATION

I have participated in a restoration
project…
1. Yes
2. No
71%
29%
1
2
When planning a project, ecological
restoration:
48%
9%
0%
2
3
1. Chooses a point
before modern
settlement.
2. Chooses a date
150 years ago.
3. Plants native
species.
4. None of the above.
1
43%
4
PRESERVATION?
CONSERVATION?
RESTORATION?
ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION
• An intentional activity that initiates or
accelerates the recovery of an
ecosystem with respect to its health,
integrity, and sustainability.
• Process of assisting recovery of an
ecosystem that has been degraded,
damages, or destroyed.
WHAT ARE WE
RESTORING TO/FOR?
RESTORE FOR…
•
•
•
•
Biodiversity
Habitat
Ecological process
Resiliency
REFERENCE ECOSYSTEMS
• Historic ecological descriptions, species lists,
photos, and maps
• Historic accounts
• Remnant sites
• Surrounding sites
• Herbarium specimens
• Paleoecological evidence: fossil pollen, tree
ring history
PROCESS
• Return an ecosystem to its historic
trajectory
• Remove or modify a specific
disturbance to allow ecological process
to bring about an independent recovery
WIND
TIDAL FLUX
FLOW
FIRE
GRAZING
All exotic/non-native species
are invasive.
1. True
2. False
83%
17%
1
2
An invasive species is
1.
2.
3.
Any plant not native to
the area
A plant that disrupts
normal ecosystem
function
The most prominent
species on a site
8%
1
92%
2
0%
3
INVASIVE SPECIES
• US Government: “an alien species
whose introduction does or is likely to
cause economic or environmental harm,
or harm to human health
• One of the largest threats to
biodiversity, ecosystem function, and
community interactions
HOW?
• No/few natural predators
• Similar climate
• Reproduction: prolific seeding, rhizome
ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT
• An iterative process of action-based
planning, monitoring, researching,
evaluating, and adjusting management
action based on the overall goals
• Assumes landscape is dynamic so
approach must match
RESTORATION CYCLE
•
•
•
•
•
Evaluate/plan
Prepare site: grade, weed, etc
Propagate and plant
Monitor
Evaluate
STEWARDSHIP
• Stewardship is an ethic that embodies
cooperative planning and management
of environmental resources with
organizations, communities and others
to actively engage in the prevention of
loss of habitat and facilitate its recovery
in the interest of long-term sustainability
UNION BAY NATURAL AREA
• Open water fringed by freshwater
wetlands. Burke Gilman trail
• 1916: Montlake Cut opened, lowering
the lake 11 feet. Union Bay marsh.
• 1926: Montlake Landfill.
• 1966: closed, capped, and graded.
Seeded with pasture grasses.
UBNA TODAY
• 74 acres
• 4 miles of shoreline
• 2nd largest natural system on the lake
WHAT SHOULD WE
RESTORE TO?
1972: New Management for UBNA
• Maintain educational, recreational, research,
wildlife, and aesthetic values
• Provide limited shoreline access
• Allow subsidence and plant establishment
• Provide ecological demonstration area
• Retain wetlands/ponds
• Convert E5 parking lot to natural habitat
• Ecologically improve site
• Allow minimal building construction
REED CANARY GRASS
Phalaris arundinacea
• Forms dense aggressive stands
• Displaces native species
• Little value to wildlife because stands
too dense; not a food source
• Spreads rapidly through rhizomes
• Grows in saturated areas
KERN EWING
• 1990
MANAGEMENT ZONES
• Woodland zone
• Shrubland zone
• Shorebird area: Shevler’s Pond;
migratory; 175 species
• Wetlands: Vernal pools; 27 sites
• Unmanaged wildlife area
• Managed trails
Alder
Douglas Fir
Hemlock
Spruce
HIMALAYAN BLACKBERRY
Rubus armeniacus
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Forms dense, aggressive monotypic stands
Branches can grow up to 20 feet in one season
Seeds dispersed by berry-eating birds and mammals
Prolific seeding: 10,000 seeds/m2
Tiproots
Native to W Europe
Widely distributed throughout the PNW and US
Primarily invades riparian areas, forest edges,
meadows, clear-cuts, roadsides, open and disturbed
areas
HIMALAYAN BLACKBERRY
Rubus armeniacus
• Erect, trailing, and spreading evergreen
shrub
• Compound leaf with five leaflets
• White flower with 5 petals
• Stems and leaves with sharp thorns
• Berry
MORNING GLORY
Calystegia sepium
• Out competes native plants in wetlands
• Difficult to remove once established because of fine
fibrous roots that form new plants if fragmented
• Spreads through rhizomes
• Native to Europe
• Distributed throughout WA, eastern seaboard, and
Great Lakes region
• Grows in established field, moist meadows, riparian
areas, roadside ditches, around ponds and lakes,
disturbed areas
MORNING GLORY
Calystegia sepium
• Perennial vine
• Large, white, funnel-shaped flowers
May - September
• Climb or trail
• Leaves 1-5”, simple and alternate
• No woody tissue above ground
FOR TOMORROW
•
•
•
•
Sturdy, closed-toe shoes
Water
Sunscreen/hat
Favorite gloves