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Using funds from an NRDAR settlement, FWS obligated $557,810 ($2011) to TNC of Massachusetts for the purchase of permanent conservation easements on approximately 200 acres of riparian lands along the Housatonic River in Salisbury, Connecticut. Conservation of riparian habitat will help to (1) protect water quality; (2) protect nesting habitat for migratory songbirds and other wildlife, including several rare and endangered plants, turtles, salamanders and dragonflies; and (3) maintain the scenic, agrarian character of the region. These efforts provide a beneficial tradeoff from the harm to the river and associated wildlife caused by historical polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) contamination. Economic Impacts of...
Non-native shrub species in the genus Tamarix (saltcedar, tamarisk) have colonized hundreds of thousands of hectares of floodplains, reservoir margins, and other wetlands in western North America. Many resource managers seek to reduce saltcedar abundance and control its spread to increase the flow of water in streams that might otherwise be lost to evapotranspiration, to restore native riparian (streamside) vegetation, and to improve wildlife habitat. However, increased water yield might not always occur and has been substantially lower than expected in water salvage experiments, the potential for successful revegetation is variable, and not all wildlife taxa clearly prefer native plant habitats over saltcedar....
Initially introduced to western United States to provide ecosystem services such as erosion control, Tamarix by the mid-1900s had became vilified as a profligate waster of water. This large shrub continues, today, to be indicted for various presumed environmental and economic costs, and millions of dollars are expended on its eradication. In this review, we examine the role of scientists in driving changes in perceptions of Tamarix from valuable import to vilified invader and (in some instances) back to a productive member of riparian plant communities. Scientists over the years have sustained a negative perception of Tamarix by, among other things, (1) citing outmoded sources; (2) inferring causation from correlative...
Environmental flows have become important restoration tools on regulated rivers. However, environmental flows are often constrained by other demands within the river system and thus typically are comprised of smaller water volumes than the natural flows they are meant to replace, which can limit their functional efficacy. We review environmental flow programs aimed at restoring riparian vegetation on four arid zone rivers: the Tarim River in China; the Bill Williams River in Arizona, U.S.; the delta of the Colorado River in Mexico; and the Murrumbidgee River in southern Australia. Our goal is to determine what worked and what did not work to accomplish restoration goals. The lower Tarim River in China formerly formed...
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Invasion by the non-native tree Tamarix has led to implementation of restoration projects aimed at maintaining the ecological integrity of many riparian communities in the southwestern United States. These restoration efforts may include Tamarix removal, manipulation of hydrologic regimes, and active revegetation of native species. The goal of this study was to determine which site characteristics are correlated with restoration success, defined in terms of reductions of undesirable species such as Tamarix and establishment of desirable, native species. To accomplish this, vegetative and environmental data were collected at 28 sites in the southwestern United States where active revegetation was completed after...
Drastic alterations to river hydrology, land use change, and the spread of the nonnative shrub, tamarisk (Tamarix spp.), have led to the degradation of riparian habitat in the Colorado River Delta in Mexico. Delivery of environmental flows to promote native cottonwood (Populus spp.) and willow (Salix spp.) recruitment in human-impacted riparian systems can be unsuccessful due to flow-magnitude constraints and altered abiotic–biotic feedbacks. In 2014, an experimental pulse flow of water was delivered to the Colorado River in Mexico as part of the U.S.-Mexico binational agreement, Minute 319. We conducted a field experiment to assess the effects of vegetation removal, seed augmentation, and environmental flows, separately...
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The Anacostia Watershed lies within the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin, and is one of the most urban watersheds within the basin. According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, the watershed spans over 175 square miles between Maryland and the District of Columbia and is considered by many to be one of the most degraded waterways in the United States. Watts Branch is a tributary stream of the Anacostia River, and flows into the Potomac River which eventually empties into the Chesapeake Bay. In 2010, several partnerships were formed to restore a section of the Watts Branch stream and riparian area. The restoration efforts were focused on a highly polluted 1.8 mile stretch of the stream, running from the border of Prince...
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Background information.— The Powell and Clinch Rivers provide vital habitat for many forms of wildlife and are inhabited by one of the world’s richest and most diverse assemblages of freshwater mussels (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2003). The rivers are also multiple-use recreation areas and a valuable water source that supplies water for the residents of Lee County, Virginia. The Lone Mountain coal slurry spill released sediment and hazardous substances affecting water quality and impacting 12 Federally listed mussels and critical habitat for 2 Federally listed fish. Fish and mussel habitat depends on the riparian habitats surrounding the river. In order to recover lost fish and mussel habitat, the Lone Mountain...
Categories: Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corp, AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corp, Aquatic, Bank stabilization/erosion control, Bank stabilization/erosion control, All tags...
Minute 319, a binational agreement between the United States and México, authorized environmental flows into the Colorado River Delta, including a high-profile pulse flow delivered in March through May 2014. Reforming water management policy to secure future delivery of environmental flows to the delta hinges on demonstrating the feasibility of delivering environmental water and documenting positive ecological responses of the delta's severely degraded riparian habitat. The design of the flow's hydrograph, the novel utilization of irrigation infrastructure, the preparation and subsequent maintenance of selected restoration sites, and interdisciplinary monitoring at multiple scales combined to show that ecological...
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This set of maps shows relative habitat quality for species that prefer open areas. Component layers (herbacoeus areas, distance to high water) are included, as are associated layers of channel boundaries, reaches, and bottomland kilometers.
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The Lower Truckee River originates in the Sierra Nevada and flows through public, private, and tribally owned lands, including 31 miles of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe (PLPT) reservation, terminating in Pyramid Lake within the reservation. Once remarkably productive, a century of man-made changes have heavily degraded the river system, leaving it inundated with invasive weeds. Significant damage occurred as part of a 1960s flood control project, including river downcutting, depression of the groundwater table, and lowering of Pyramid Lake by as much as 81 vertical feet. By the 1970s, the river had lost roughly 90% of its forest canopy, 40% of its resident bird species, and had no resident Kooeyooe (also spelled...
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Background information.—To restore fish and mussel habitat lost in the Lone Mountain coal slurry spill, the Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) plan calls for riparian habitat restoration to improve existing stream conditions, particularly by stabilizing streambanks in problem areas and planting appropriate riparian buffers throughout the watershed. The Powell River runs through Leeman Field Park in Pennington Gap, Virginia, the largest population center near the Lone Mountain spill site. Through this reach, the river experienced streambank erosion and loss of instream habitat because of channel instability, changes in stormwater runoff, and loss of riparian vegetation along the streambank....
Non-native shrub species in the genus Tamarix (saltcedar, tamarisk) have colonized hundreds of thousands of hectares of floodplains, reservoir margins, and other wetlands in western North America. Many resource managers seek to reduce saltcedar abundance and control its spread to increase the flow of water in streams that might otherwise be lost to evapotranspiration, to restore native riparian (streamside) vegetation, and to improve wildlife habitat. However, increased water yield might not always occur and has been substantially lower than expected in water salvage experiments, the potential for successful revegetation is variable, and not all wildlife taxa clearly prefer native plant habitats over saltcedar....
Beaver (Castor canadensis) populations have declined or failed to recover in heavily browsed envi­ronments. I suggest that intense browsing by livestock or ungulates can disrupt beaver-willow (Salix spp.) mutu­alisms that likely evolved under relatively low herbivory in a more predator-rich environment, and that this inter­ action may explain beaver and willow declines. Field experiments in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, USA, found the interaction of beaver and elk (Cervus elaphus) herbivory suppressed compensatory growth in wil­low. Intense elk browsing of simulated beaver-cut willow produced plants which were small and hedged with a high percentage of dead stems, whereas protected plants were large...
Using a retrospective study of tamarisk removal sites across five states in the southwestern United States, we investigated (1) decreases in tamarisk cover; (2) the effects of tamarisk removal on vegetation; and (3) whether cutting or burning tamarisk has differing effects on plant communities. Our study provides an important first step in recognizing the effects of removing a dominant invasive species on meeting long-term goals of riparian restoration. We found that (1) both cutting and burning reduced mean tamarisk foliar cover by 82?95%, and this reduction was sustained over time. (2) Native foliar cover was 2- to 3-fold higher on tamarisk removal sites, but total foliar cover remained 60?75% lower than on control...
Most major rivers in the southwestern United States have been hydrologically altered to meet human needs. Altered hydrological regimes have been associated with declines in native riparian forests. Today, many riparian areas have little or no regeneration of native riparian species and are now dominated by exotic Saltcedar (Tamarix chinensis Lour.). Success of riparian restoration efforts at least partially depends on the number of seedlings surviving the first growing season. Seedling survival is influenced by many abiotic and biotic factors including competition from other plants and available soil moisture, which is partially dependent on soil texture. In this study, we evaluated the relative importance of four...
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Stream flow in the Colorado River and Dolores River corridors has been significantly modified by water management, and continued flow alteration is anticipated in future decades with projected increases in human water demand. Bottomland vegetation has been altered as well, with invasion of non-native species, increases in wildfire and human disturbance, and currently, rapid shifts in riparian communities due to biological and mechanical tamarisk control efforts. In light of these conditions, land managers are in need of scientific information to support management of vegetation communities for values such as healthy populations of sensitive fish and wildlife species and human recreation. We propose to address these...
Groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs) rely on near-surface groundwater. These systems are receiving more attention with rising air temperature, prolonged drought, and where groundwater pumping captures natural groundwater discharge for anthropogenic use. Phreatophyte shrublands, meadows, and riparian areas are GDEs that provide critical habitat for many sensitive species, especially in arid and semi-arid environments. While GDEs are vital for ecosystem services and function, their long-term (i.e. ~ 30 years) spatial and temporal variability is poorly understood with respect to local and regional scale climate, groundwater, and rangeland management. In this work, we compute time series of NDVI derived from sensors...
    map background search result map search result map Success of Active Revegetation after Tamarix Removal in Riparian Ecosystems of the Southwestern United States: A Quantitative Assessment of Past Restoration Projects Open Land Species Model and Component Layers Science-Based Riparian Restoration Planning on the Colorado and Dolores Rivers: A Decision Support Tool and Investigation of Habitat Complexity at Tributary Junctions Lone Mountain NRDAR Tipple Site Riparian Restoration and Outdoor Classroom Restoration Lone Mountain NRDAR Pennington Gap Riparian Restoration and Community Park Development Restoration Truckee River Restoration Project Conservation Easements Along the Housatonic River Watts Branch Urban Stream Restoration Watts Branch Urban Stream Restoration Open Land Species Model and Component Layers Conservation Easements Along the Housatonic River Science-Based Riparian Restoration Planning on the Colorado and Dolores Rivers: A Decision Support Tool and Investigation of Habitat Complexity at Tributary Junctions Lone Mountain NRDAR Tipple Site Riparian Restoration and Outdoor Classroom Restoration Lone Mountain NRDAR Pennington Gap Riparian Restoration and Community Park Development Restoration Truckee River Restoration Project Success of Active Revegetation after Tamarix Removal in Riparian Ecosystems of the Southwestern United States: A Quantitative Assessment of Past Restoration Projects