Freshwater Slough Restoration Project: Vegetation Transect at Wood Creek May 16th, 2013

Freshwater Slough Restoration Project:  Vegetation Transect at Wood Creek May 16th, 2013

Kash Whitlow-Hewett, Levi Seda, and Tristan Ford

Six Rivers Charter High school

Introduction

As a group, the AR biology class at Six Rivers took a field trip to Freshwater slough to observe the changes of the restoration and view its succession . Different groups were assigned various areas and elements of the restoration area to observe.Salmon need the correct habitat to survive in the world, every piece of the environment is key to their survival. The impact that mankind has caused to Freshwater Slough has made it uninhabitable by salmon. To lay their eggs, salmon need to make a journey back to their place of birth. To get there they must travel through estuaries to get to watersheds. The Freshwater slough estuary used to be thriving with various types of fish life until more and more people started emigrating to the North Coast. As the population increased, so did the demand for supplies. Logging started blocking the paths for salmon and foreign cattle brought various types of invasive plants unknowingly on their hooves. Over time it made the conditions in the estuary impossible for salmon to make it back to their place of birth to lay their eggs. The Northcoast Regional Land Trust (NCRLT) has worked to restore historical tidal flow and native vegetation to the Wood Creek Tidal Marsh so the salmon can once again travel through the estuary (Northcoast Regional Land Trust: Wood Creek Tidal Marsh Enhancement Project, Cakeex.org) Part of the restoration is the replanting of native plants and in the area. The Six Rivers bio class is developing questions and collecting data from the area to answer our questions about the restoration.Has the replanting of native plants and the removing of the non native invasive plants been successful? We think that the non native plants are still abundant in the area. We conducted a transect at wood creek to develop an answer to this question.

Methods and Materials

To conduct our research, various methods and materials were used. The only materials used during the fieldwork were transect tape, a ruler, waders, and a plant guide. The Transect tape was used to roll out a line of 100 m. Every 2 meters, the plants within arms reach from the transect tape and the type of plants and abundance would be recorded. The plant guide would be used to identify the different types of plants within the area. If the plants were not found in the plant guide, then we would take a sample and it would be labeled as unknown.The ruler was used to measure the plants because some of the similar looking plant types had different sizes so it was the only way we could tell them apart. Because the conditions at Freshwater Slough were wet and muddy, the trip required either boots or waders to assist us in the conditions.Waders are water proof pants that connect to boots to keep it sealed off from any water.   

   

Plant statistics 2013 (current)        Plant statistics 2012 (previous)

Plant type % Abundance Total # Pacific Silverweed 18.70% 192 Rush 46.50% 500 Lyngby’s Sedge 12.50% 136 Sea Arrow 18.10% 183 Unknown 4.20% 53

Plant type % Abundance Total # Pacific Silverweed 32% 40 Rush 25% 30 Lyngby’s Sedge 25% 30 Sea Arrow 18% 23

  

Results

The only plants that were non native to the Freshwater slough prior to the restoration were Cattails and Bull thistles. In the section that was observed at wood creek, we were unable to find either of these types of plants. Instead we found lots of recently planted native plants that were growing very abundantly in the area.  Data taken this year (2013) was compared to the data from last year (2012).More distance had been covered this year compared to 2012 so the amounts were much more in 2013. From the data comparison we had noticed that the amount of Rush in the area had increased significantly, it seemed that the amount pacific silverweed dropped though. Data from this year supported from data collected last year showed us that no non native species have been growing in that area for the past few years. It seems that our hypothesis of their being several non native plants was incorrect and the restoration had been very successful in the area of Wood Creek. Judging by the results we have come to, the Freshwater slough restoration is doing very good so far and the native plants are becoming more abundant. I think in the years to come you can expect an increase in Rush and perhaps a drop in the amount of Pacific Silverweed.