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
