climate-smart ecological restoration: guidance and case study john parodi, thomas gardali, and...
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Climate-smart Ecological Restoration: Guidance and Case Study
John Parodi, Thomas Gardali, and Nathaniel E. Seavy29 November 2012, Climate Smart Actions for Natural Resource Managers
PRBO Conservation Science
STRAW Project
Since 1992:• Over 25,000 Students• More than 9,000 Volunteers• 415 Restorations• 33,000 Native Plants• Over 25 Miles of Riparian Habitat• 5 acres of marsh/upland ecotone
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STRAW Project
Our Role In Restoration:1. Revegetation2. Biotechnical Erosion Control3. Invasive Plant Control4. Community Engagement5. “One-Stop” Project Management
• Planning/Design• Implementation• Maintenance• Monitoring & Reporting
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STRAW Project
Partners!
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Project Description – Climate-smart Restoration
1. Riparian restoration
2. Marin County
3. 0.35 river miles
4. Side-by-side comparison
5. Restoration objectives
1. Accommodate changes in temperature and precipitation2. Prepare for changes in extreme events3. Account for disrupted wildlife and plant phenology4. Initial feasibility assessment
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Goals and Motivation
Goals1. Develop guidelines for climate-smart ecological
restoration
2. Implement a pilot climate-smart riparian restoration project
MotivationOur recognized need. It was not a mandate or a funding requirement.
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Least Bell’s Vireo
Lead and Partners
LeadPRBO Conservation Science’s Pacific Coast and Central Valley Group and STRAW Staff
PartnersMarin County Resource Conservation DistrictPrivate LandownerPrunuske Chatham, Inc.
FundersMarin Community FoundationFledgling FundMarin Resource Conservation District
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Planning Process
Who?Primarily internal PRBO team with input by many partners, nurseries, etc.
Planning process1. Assess vulnerabilities2. Define climate-smart ecological restoration3. Develop guiding principles4. Design and test guidelines via implementation
Was the public involved?Design – minimalImplementation - full
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NOWTHE PAST
Vulnerability Assessment - Climate Change: Restoration Game Changer
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Vulnerability Assessment
Modeling Bird Distribution Responses to Climate Change: A mapping tool to assist land managers and scientists in CaliforniaThe California Avian Data Center: http://data.prbo.org/cadc2/
Used the following tools:
Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment for California Birds http://data.prbo.org/apps/bssc/
And the paper published in the journal PLoS ONE – Gardali et al 2012
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Vulnerability Assessment
www.prbo.org/cadc
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Climate-smart Ecological Restoration Defined
Climate-smart ecological restoration is the process of enhancing ecological function of degraded, damaged, or destroyed areas in a manner that prepares them for the consequences of a rapidly changing climate.
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Climate-smart Ecological Restoration Principles
1. Forward-looking Goals
2. Broader Landscape Context
3. Build in Ecological Insurance
4. Increase Ecological Diversity
5. Build Evolutionary Resilience
6. Include the Community
Adapted from: http://www.nwf.org/, Palmer Est. & Coasts 32, Hansen et al. Con. Bio. 24, Ellie
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past future
Ecos
yste
m s
tate
e.g., drought and floods
Design projects that could succeed
under multiple scenarios
= project
Seavy et al., Ecol. Rest v27
Principles In Action
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Principles In Action
Increase Component and Structural Redundancy
Dunwiddie et al., Ecol. Rest v27
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Common Name Tolerates full or
partial sunTolerates clay
soil
Tolerates wet
conditions
Tolerates dry
conditions EvergreenFire
AdaptedWildlife
fruit source
Wildlife Nectar source
Wildlife Seed
SourceInsectary
Plant
Sticky manzanita 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1
common manzanita 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1
Bearberry 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1
Marin manzanita 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1
CA Sagebrush 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1
Salt Marsh Baccharis 1 1 1 1 0 1coyote brush 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1spice bush 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1Ceanothus 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1
blue blossom 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1
Mountain Mahogany 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1
Creek dogwood 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1hazelnut 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1Hawthorne 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1Western leatherwood 1 1 1 0 1fremontia/ flannelbush 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1Toyon 1 1 0 1 1 1 1Creambush 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1
ground rose 1 0 1
Poison Oak
Developed Planning Matrix
We created a tool to evaluate appropriate plant species and their environmental qualities
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Common Name
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Sticky manzanita 1 1 1 1
common manzanita 1 1 1 1 1 1
Bearberry 1 1 1 1
Marin manzanita
CA Sagebrush 1 1 1 1 1
Salt Marsh Baccharis 1 1 1 1coyote brush 1 1 1 1 1 1spice bush 1 1 1 1 1Ceanothus 1 1 1
blue blossom 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Mountain Mahogany 1 1 1
Creek dogwood 1 1 1hazelnut 1 1 1 1 1 1 1Hawthorne 1 1Western leatherwood 1 1 1fremontia/ flannelbush 1 1 1Toyon 1 1 1 1 1Creambush 1 1 1 1 1 1Pitcher Sage
ground rose
Poison Oak
Developed Planning Matrix
And evaluated timing of flowering/seeding to maximize the number of months that resources (shelter, food) are available for wildlife
PRBO Conservation ScienceClimate-smart designStandard designImplementation - Principles
on the Ground
282 students and 82 parents
Climate-smart design: 24 speciesTraditional design: 10 species
Planting more species required higher planting densities . . . .Climate-smart: 249 individual plantsTraditional: 123 individuals plans
The cost of the climate smart restoration was only 1.5 times that of the traditional design, despite the higher densities and number of species.
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Implementation - Principles on the Ground
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Implementation - Principles on the Ground
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Month
Num
ber o
f spe
cies
with
flow
ers
or fr
uit
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14Traditional designClimate-smart design
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Short-termPlant species for vigor and height class for at least three summers
Should tell us if:(1) The new streamside plant community can survive environmental
uncertainty and provide resources for wildlife (2) Whether some of the species that are used less-frequently in
traditional restoration designs are viable with regards to establishment
Long-termLong-term monitoring of the bird response to the project
We will be successful if these sites have consistent healthier vegetation and bird communities than sites with the standard restoration designs.
Monitoring and Management
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Lessons Learned
• Species were not available from nurseries, limiting the final project’s design
• A larger minimum project size is necessary for redundancy and self-propagation
• Potential regulatory challenges for projects with strict performance criteria
• There is a need to look beyond revegetation
• The public, especially students and teachers, are inspired and hungry to take actions to adapt to climate change
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Next Steps
Science • More case studies are needed – Pajaro River!• New online tools such as analogue climates and planting designs• Partnering with engineers – e.g., large woody debris projects• Expanding our planting palette tool• Working with a geneticist to include evolutionary resilience Practice• Additional habitat types• Increase scale by expanding partnerships• Restoration funders put language in their RFPs about how each project will address climate
change in the context of our definition and principles.
Policy• Work with the agencies that approve restoration plans to include climate-smart designs• Work with agencies that provide guidance on restoration to include climate-smart designs• Work with agencies to update their restoration handbooks/guidelines
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Thanks!
Questions, Ideas, and Discussion?For Further Information:
John Parodi, STRAW Restoration [email protected]
Thomas Gardali, Director, Pacific Coast and Central Valley [email protected]
Nathaniel Seavy, Research Director, Pacific Coast and Central Valley [email protected]