Each spring and fall, Sierra Streams in partnership with Sierra College puts on the Science Speaker Series the second Tuesday of each month. The talks focus science happening in the Sierra Foothills and Sierra Nevada range.
An Experimental Study of Beaver and Beaver Dam Analogue (BDA) Restoration Techniques in Childs Meadow
Intensive livestock grazing and widespread removal of beaver and willows, coupled with other land uses, have transformed many of the Sierra Nevada’s meadows from multi-thread channels with annually inundated floodplains into single-thread, incised channels that store less water, less carbon, and have reduced habitat quality for a diverse suite of meadow-associated wildlife. Childs Meadow is a 290-acre meadow just south of Lassen National Park that is emblematic of this transformation. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) acquired the property in 2007. In 2015, TNC, UC Davis, USDA Forest Service – Pacific Southwest Research Station, and Point Blue began an adaptive management experiment to evaluate the potential for beaver dam analogs (BDAs) to enhance water, carbon, and wildlife in Childs Meadow. We restored a portion of the meadow using combinations of BDAs, grazing exclosures, and willow staking in fall 2015 through fall 2016. The project is a modified before-after-control-impact design evaluating carbon flux; water quality, timing, and storage; and effects on meadow associated birds and amphibians. We aim to understand the role of beavers and beaver-dam-like structures in restoring degraded meadow resources and evaluate the relationships between grazing, beavers, and these resources. We report on initial findings and lessons learned so far in the process to help inform the growing use of BDAs as restoration tools in degraded Sierra Meadows.
Presenter: Sarah Yarnell, Research Hydrologist, UC Davis
March 12th 6-8pm – Sierra College Multipurpose Room, Nevada County Campus
FREE EVENT
For more information contact: Jason Giuliani at jgiuliani@sierracollege.edu or (530) 274-5275