Midterm #2 Flashcards
Common elements of a written restoration plan (10)
Executive summary Site conditions Restoration goals and objectives Restoration treatments Monitoring plan Maintenance plan Public outreach plan Adaptive management Permits and approvals Project budget
Design of restoration treatments…
Should clearly outline all restoration methods including materials needed
Two approaches included in restoration treatments section
Management practices
Construction techniques
Management practices approach (8)
One approach included in restoration treatment design
Examples include: Herbivory pressure (frequency, duration etc.) Fire (reestablish regime) Water control (flooding cycle) Soil (tilling, aeration etc.) Exotics control Sensitive species Species introductions
Construction techniques (4)
One approach included in restoration treatment design
Examples:
Landform alteration (downgrading, filling, drainage etc.)
Plantings (seeding, cuttings, translocations)
Structural devices (habitat elements, exclosures, rocks etc.)
Management units (3)
Areas that site should be divided into
Restoration treatments might vary depending on site differences in: past/current conditions, impacts, or desired conditions
Units identified through site assessments
Schedules based on: (3)
Logical sequence of activities
Timing of available resources
Appropriate seasonal work windows
Seasonal work windows (2)
Periods when restoration work will avoid undesired effects
Usually set out by DFO but can also be provincial depending on species/habitat etc.
Restoration work should begin in the healthiest areas first because: (3)
Social reasons - initial success increases credibility and support
Financial reasons - initial success increases potential for future funding
Ecological reasons - having some restored areas can aid in passively recovering adjacent impacted areas through, for instance, seed dispersal or improved hydrology
Gantt chart (3)
Used to coordinate scheduling
It provides an overall reference of project status by showing the start and end dates for each restoration activity
It is particularly useful when explaining the status of a project to a stakeholder or funder
Scheduling restoration work…(2)
Depends heavily on understanding phenology
Affects success of project as much as implementation due to seasonal work windows
Phenology
The study of seasonal patterns in naturally occurring events
Gantt chart sections (6)
List of activities Estimate time duration for each Who is responsible for doing task Time units (days, weeks, months) Draw lines for the beginning and end of each Can also have column for resource costs
Knowledge of phenology of herbaceous plants can help: (2)
Maximize efforts to collect native seeds for propagation (given that flowering to seed set is 3 weeks)
Maximize treatments to reduce invasives (before seed set to prevent further dispersal)
Knowledge of phenology for invasive perennial plants can help: (2)
Tell when to apply herbicide - when plants are mobilizing photosynthates for storage in their roots (late summer)
during flowering when root reserves are lowest and they’re easier to remove
Strategies for coordinating labour for restoration work:
Restoration work requires much labour but has limited funding so we need to utilize volunteers and professionals
Volunteers
Assign clear, attainable objectives and non-menial tasks
Professionals
Assign clear, attainable objectives (or you could lose funding), and reserve professional help for tasks you don’t have the time or expertise to accomplish
Stages of implementation (2)
Remedial restoration stage
Long-term maintenance stage
Remedial restoration stage (2)
Initial phase that entails reducing stressors through major restoration treatments (eg. Prescribed burning, major efforts to plant native species etc.)
Primary goal is to reduce stressors
Long-term maintenance stage (4)
Later stage that entails relatively minor restoration treatments (eg. Additional burns, smaller panting efforts, spot herbicides) aimed at maintaining conditions achieved in the remedial phase
Cost and effort lower than in remedial phase
Efforts from this phase are outlined in the maintenance plan
Goal is to monitor and maintain new growth
The importance of monitoring (5)
Baseline monitoring should be conducted before remedial restoration takes place
After remedial restoration, monitoring should occur at regular intervals and be used to identify
- when to shift from phase 1 to phase 2
- effectiveness of meeting objectives at each
- need for additional or revised treatments
It is important that your final restoration plan…
Carefully outlines important modifications and rationale for changes during adaptive management
Without documenting restoration/monitoring technique changes it becomes difficult to…(2)
Effectively monitor success of project through comparison of two projects to see how treatments varied
Replicate restoration efforts that appeared successful
As-built plans
When technical details are critical to include, managers might choose to publish plans as information posters stamped and dated
How do we tell wetlands from other ecosystems? (3)
Hydroperiod
Presence of hydrosol soils
Presence of hydrophytes
Hydrophyte (3)
Plants adapted to hydric conditions
Adapted to anoxic conditions
Obligate wetland plants and absence of obligate upland plants that are not adapted to flood conditions
Hydroperiod
Seasonality of water depth above or below soil surface
Hydrosols (4)
Soils that indicate hydric conditions
Developed in anoxic conditions
Wet, dark
Characterized by their chemical content, physical structure
Marsh (5)
Wetland characterized by emergent herbaceous vegetation (as opposed to peat moss/lichens) Also called slough Most common wetland in N. America Rich in nutrients Dominated by reeds, rushes, and sedges
Fen (5)
Peat-accumulation wetland that has some drainage from surrounding mineral soil (is rheotrophic)
Recharged by groundwater
Less acidic than bogs
More nutrients than bogs
Dominated by moss, sedges, grasses, and black spruce
Bog (6)
Peat-accumulation wetland that has no inflows or outflows from surrounding soil (ombotrophic) Recharged by rain water Dominated by mosses and back spruce Highly acidic Low nutrients High water table
Peatland
General description of bogs and fens
Muskeg
Large expanse of peatlands (bogs and fens)
Rheotrophic (2)
Fed by flowing water
Eg. Fen
Ombrotrophic (2)
Fed by rain water
Eg. Bog
Wet meadow
Grassland with waterlogged soil near the surface but without standing water for most of the year
Potholes and playas
Both are shallow ponds but potholes are eroded by glaciers and playas are eroded by wind
Ponds and shallow open water (3)
Usually >2m deep
Dry in late summer
Too deep for emergent vegetation to establish
Swamp (3)
Freshwater wetland having woody vegetation and standing water for most, if not all of the growing season
Heavy presence of trees and shrubs
Nutrient rich, lush coniferous or deciduous
Riparian wetlands (2)
Different from swamp because it’s dry in times of growing season
Heavy presence of trees and shrubs
How do we distinguish between wetland types? (4)
Hydrology
Water chemistry/quality
Vegetation
Landscape context and conditions
What main factors hinders wetland protection at the provisional and federal levels?
No net-loss policy is not legally binding, so there are no reprecussions for wetland stressors
Canadian Wetland Classification System (2)
Commonly used system in Canada since Canada doesn’t have a federal, provincial, or territorial legal definition of a wetland
Hierarchical
Levels of Canadian Wetland Classification System (3)
Class - classified as a marsh, swamp, bog, fen, or shallow/open water
Form - given a form based on its surface morphology, hydrology, landscape setting, water chemistry, and underlying mineral
Type - based on its vegetation structure
Form (6)
Second level of Canadian Wetland Classification System
Based on a wetlands: Surface morphology Hydrology Landscape setting Water chemistry Underlying material
Wetland hydrology is…(2)
The single most important determinant of:
The type of wetland that exists
The functions of that wetland
How does the hydroperiod have an effect on wetland plants and animals? (3)
Adult hydrophytes are adapted to submersion but some might need drawdown for seed germination
Cattail growth is inhibited by drawdown so the hydroperiod maintains order and limits invasion
Altering hydrology has been linked to invasive American Bullfrogs as they need 2-4 years of water to metamorphose
Water flowing into wetlands is:
Usually the main source of sediments and nutrients, and also a major source of contaminants and salts
The net balance of inflow and outflow for a wetland alters: (3)
Residence time of water and thus the settling of nutrients, sediments, and contaminants
Water depth and thus temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH
Changes in water depth then affects the growth of wetland organisms (eg. Cattails)
Effective wetland conservation must:
Protect/restore native wetland hydrology, not just the area within wetland boundaries
Wetland functions (8)
Vary by wetland type, but often include: Biodiversity protection Water storage (flood/erosion control) Groundwater recharge Retention of sediments/nutrients/contaminants Nutrient cycling Decomposition Climate control (carbon sink very important to climate change mitigation)
Evidence of wetland stressors other than major hydrology changes (eg. Draining wetland) are…
Very subtle so managers need to analyze changes to community composition or species of plants and animals present
How have wetland stressors changed over time in B.C.? (3)
In the past, the dominant threat was large-scale agricultural drainage and water diversion
Now, threats are more diverse and include draining, development, shoreline protection, riparian harvesting, invasive species, recreation, and climate change
Future stressors include climate change as some wetlands no longer fill with water
The three biggest threats to wetlands in B.C. are:
Climate change
Invasive species
Agricultural cultivation
Some numbers of wetland losses (3)
50% of wetlands gone globally
70% fine in the Fraser River delta
85% gone in the Okanagan
Main categories of wetland management (2)
Wetland restoration
Wetland creation/construction
Wetland restoration (2)
Involves a range of activities from prevention of damaging practices (eg. Logging or grazing) to restoring native processes (eg. Hydrology) and species (eg. replanting vegetation)
Protection makes the most sense
Why does wetland protection make the most sense? (2)
Because costs of creating a wetland are very high
Restored/created wetlands rarely function the same as natural wetlands
Wetland creation/construction
Involves construction of wetlands where they didn’t previously occur for specific functions (eg. Flood control)
Must avoid potential impacts (eg. Contaminant concentrations)
Take into account future changes (eg. Climate change and urban development)
Particular attention should be given to 4 key factors when doing wetland restoration work:
Identify how hydrology has been altered
Know the seedbank
Ensure water inputs are clean
Obtain appropriate permits
Definition of wetland (4)
Distinct ecosystem with static or flowing water that can be fresh or marine (if depth does not exceed six meters)
Not always wet
Water table close to the surface
Must hold water at some point, and area must be inundated for a number of days in the growing season
What does monitoring do? (4)
Informs site assessment
Helps assess success in reaching objectives
Helps assess relative success of different treatments
Helps identify the need for maintenance
Where should the executive summary appear in a report?
Roman numeral pages
Generally after the table of contents
Outline of executive summary should include: (4)
Location/importance of restoration
Site/restoration history
Effects of restoration/short comings
Goals of restoration plan
Types of plots used in figure creation (5)
Scatter plot Clustered columns Stacked columns Secondary y-axis All with error bars
Figure formatting should have: (7)
Bars close together No grid lines No “location” = self explanatory Threshold line if applicable Error bars Units Legend inside graph lines
Common budget expenses (in order) (5)
Personnel - salaries of workers
Travel/accommodations - lodging/vehicles
Supplies/equipment - food, gear etc.
Contractual - lab analyses
Administrative overhead - administrative/indirect costs. Fraction of grant money that must be allocated to an employers administrative costs (eg. Insurance, rent, utilities, administrative staff)
Ratio of matching contributions
Funders often require that their funding be matched by other sources at a minimum rate/ratio
Cost sharing
Having multiple funders for one project
Status of funding (2)
Funders often request that you identify whether complimentary funding sources have been secured or only requested
Some funders only request secured funding
Descriptions in budget
Budget items typically need descriptions. In many cases these are presented as rates
Budget justification
Sometimes descriptions are needed that are more detailed, and are generally presented as footnotes underneath the budget table
Hints for project budgeting (7)
Read funder requirements carefully
Contact funder for clarification if needed
Use costs that are suitable for high quality goods
Avoid requesting an unreasonably high level of funding
Avoid requesting an unreasonably low level of funding
Re-allocating funds may be acceptable but double check with funder first
Always return unused funds to funder after project is finished
Types of wetlands discussed (10)
Marsh Fen Bog Peatland Muskeg Wet meadow Potholes and playas Ponds and shallow open water Swamp Riparian wetlands
Sections of project budget (6)
Common expenses Ratio of matching contributions Cost sharing Status of funding Descriptions Budget justification
Why is understanding the breeding and migration phenology of local populations important to restoration efforts? (2)
Knowing the breeding time will indicate when managers should implement contraceptive measures for deer
Knowing the migration time of Canada geese can tell managers when to put up or take down exclosures to reduce herbivory on sensitive ecosystems
