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USDA Awards 'Farmers Helping Hellbenders' Project $2.7 Million in Funding
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The “Farmers Helping Hellbenders” project is among the projects set to receive funding through the RCCP Classic fund, which uses NRCS contracts and easements with producers, landowners and communities in collaboration with project partners.
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Beaver (Castor canadensis) mitigate the effects of climate on the area of open water in boreal wetlands in western Canada
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Shallow open water wetlands provide critical habitat for numerous species, yet they have become increasingly vulnerable to drought and warming temperatures and are often reduced in size and depth or disappear during drought. We examined how temperature, precipitation and beaver (Castor canadensis) activity influenced the area of open water in wetlands over a 54- year period in the mixed-wood boreal region of east-central Alberta, Canada. This entire glacial landscape with intermittently connected drainage patterns and shallow wetland lakes with few streams lost all beaver in the 19th century, with beaver returning to the study area in 1954. We assessed the area of open water in wetlands using 12 aerial photo mosaics from 1948 to 2002, which covered wet and dry periods, when beaver were absent on the landscape to a time when they had become well established. The number of active beaver lodges explained over 80% of the variability in the area of open water during that period. Temperature, precipitation and climatic variables were much less important than beaver in maintaining open water areas. In addition, during wet and dry years, the presence of beaver was associated with a 9-fold increase in open water area when compared to a period when beaver were absent from those same sites. Thus, beaver have a dramatic influence on the creation and maintenance of wetlands even during extreme drought. Given the important role of bea- ver in wetland preservation and in light of a drying climate in this region, their removal should be considered a wetland disturbance that should be avoided.
Beaver
Castor canadensis
Drought East-central Alberta Elk Island National Park Mixed-wood boreal Wetland conservation
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Climate Science Documents
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A LIDAR‐DERIVED EVALUATION OF WATERSHED‐SCALE LARGE WOODY DEBRIS SOURCES AND RECRUITMENT MECHANISMS: COASTAL MAINE, USA
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In‐channel large woody debris (LWD) promotes quality aquatic habitat through sediment sorting, pool scouring and in‐stream nutrient retention and transport. LWD recruitment occurs by numerous ecological and geomorphic mechanisms including channel migration, mass wasting and natural tree fall, yet LWD sourcing on the watershed scale remains poorly constrained. We developed a rapid and spatially extensive method for using light detection and ranging data to do the following: (i) estimate tree height and recruitable tree abundance throughout a watershed; (ii) determine the likelihood for the stream to recruit channel‐spanning trees at reach scales and assess whether mass wasting or channel migration is a dominant recruitment mechanism; and (iii) understand the contemporary and future distribution of LWD at a watershed scale. We utilized this method on the 78‐km‐long Narraguagus River in coastal Maine and found that potential channel‐spanning LWD composes approximately 6% of the valley area over the course of the river and is concentrated in spatially discrete reaches along the stream, with 5 km of the river valley accounting for 50% of the total potential LWD found in the system. We also determined that 83% of all potential LWD is located on valley sides, as opposed to 17% on floodplain and terrace surfaces. Approximately 3% of channel‐spanning vegetation along the river is located within one channel width of the stream. By examining topographic and morphologic variables (valley width, channel sinuosity, valley‐ side slope) over the length of the stream, we evaluated the dominant recruitment processes along the river and often found a spatial disconnect between the location of potential channel‐spanning LWD and recruitment mechanisms, which likely explains the low levels of LWD currently found in the system. This rapid method for identification of LWD sources is extendable to other basins and may prove valuable in locating future restoration projects aimed at increasing habitat quality through wood additions.
key words: large woody debris; lidar; river restoration; habitat
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Seeing the landscape for the trees: Metrics to guide riparian shade management in river catchments
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Rising water temperature (Tw) due to anthropogenic climate change may have serious conse- quences for river ecosystems. Conservation and/or expansion of riparian shade could counter warming and buy time for ecosystems to adapt. However, sensitivity of river reaches to direct solar radiation is highly het- erogeneous in space and time, so benefits of shading are also expected to be site specific. We use a network of high-resolution temperature measurements from two upland rivers in the UK, in conjunction with topo- graphic shade modeling, to assess the relative significance of landscape and riparian shade to the thermal behavior of river reaches. Trees occupy 7% of the study catchments (comparable with the UK national aver- age) yet shade covers 52% of the area and is concentrated along river corridors. Riparian shade is most ben- eficial for managing Tw at distances 5–20 km downstream from the source of the rivers where discharge is modest, flow is dominated by near-surface hydrological pathways, there is a wide floodplain with little land- scape shade, and where cumulative solar exposure times are sufficient to affect Tw. For the rivers studied, we find that approximately 0.5 km of complete shade is necessary to off-set Tw by 18C during July (the month with peak Tw) at a headwater site; whereas 1.1 km of shade is required 25 km downstream. Further research is needed to assess the integrated effect of future changes in air temperature, sunshine duration, direct solar radiation, and downward diffuse radiation on Tw to help tree planting schemes achieve
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Effect of fine wood on juvenile brown trout behaviour in experimental stream channels
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In-stream wood can increase shelter availability and prey abundance for stream-living fish such as brown trout, Salmo trutta, but the input of wood to streams has decreased in recent years due to harvesting of riparian vegetation. During the last decades, fine wood (FW) has been increasingly used for biofuel, and the input of FW to streams may therefore decrease. Although effects of in-stream FW have not been studied as extensively as those of large wood (LW), it is probably important as shelter for small-sized trout. In a laboratory stream experiment, we tested the behavioural response of young-of-the-year wild brown trout to three densities of FW, with trout tested alone and in groups of four. Video recordings were used to measure the proportion of time allocated to sheltering, cruising and foraging, as well as the number of aggressive interactions and prey attacks. Cruising activity increased with decreasing FW density and was higher in the four-fish groups than when fish were alone. Foraging decreased and time spent sheltering in FW increased with increasing FW density. Our study shows that juvenile trout activity is higher in higher fish densities and that trout response to FW is related to FW density and differs from the response to LW as reported by others.
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Riparian Restoration Decision Support Tool
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An innovative riparian planting and restoration decision support tool is now available to the conservation community. This user-friendly tool allows managers and decision-makers to rapidly identify and prioritize areas along the banks of rivers, streams, and lakes for restoration, making these ecosystems more resilient to disturbance and future changes in climate. It will also help the conservation community invest limited conservation dollars wisely, helping to deliver sustainable resources.
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Report: Riparian Prioritization and Status Assessment for Climate Change Resilience of Coldwater Stream Habitats within the Appalachian and Northeastern Regions
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Among a host of other critical ecosystem functions, intact riparian forests can help to reduce vulnerability of coldwater stream habitats to warming regional temperatures. Restoring and conserving these forests can therefore be an important part of regional and landscape-scale conservation plans, but managers need science and decision-support tools to help determine when these actions will be most effective. To help fill this need, we developed the Riparian Prioritization for Climate Change Resilience (RPCCR) web-based decision support tool to quickly and easily identify, based on current riparian cover and predicted vulnerability to air temperature warming, sites that are priority candidates for riparian restoration and conservation.
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Riparian Restoration Decision Support Tool
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Riparian Restoration Appendix 1: Canopy Cover Statistics
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Canopy Cover by State.
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Riparian Restoration Decision Support Tool
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Reparian Restoration Image Aug 2014
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Image RPCCR
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AppLCC Riparian Restoration Tool for Climate Change Resiliency Webinar
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Part of the Safeguarding Wildlife from Climate Change web series hosted by USFWS and National Wildlife Federation, this presentation will highlight an innovative riparian planting and restoration decision support tool, funded by the Appalachian Landscape Conservation Cooperative that is now available to the conservation community.
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