Natural Riparian Resources

1. Natural Riparian Resources Water Vegetation Landscape & Soil

2. Riparian/Wetland Vegetation Groups • Stabilizers • Intermediate • Colonizers • Invaders

3. Stabilizer group • Establish along streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, springs, & seeps • Strong, fibrous, deep root system • Rhizomatous • Provide protection against water’s energy

4. Root Mass (Weight) Root Length Manning, M.E., et al, 1989

5. Sedges (Carex) “Sedges have edges” Stem Triangular Solid Leaves 3-ranked

6. Typical Habitat Saturated Soils Beaked Sedge (Carex utriculata) Formerly (Carex rostrata)

7. Nebraska sedge(Carex nebrascensis)Emery Creek

8. Panicled bulrush (Scirpus microcarpus)

9. Rushes (Juncus) “Rushes are Round” Solid and Round or Compressed Leaves Alternate or 2-Ranked

10. Typical Growth Pattern Baltic Rush or Wire Grass (Juncus balticus)

11. Baltic Rush Roots

12. True Grasses Stem Hollow With Nodes and Internodes Leaves 2-ranked

13. Fowl Manna Grass(Glyceria striata) Blue Joint Reedgrass (Calamagrostis canadensis)

14. Reeds Canarygrass(Phalaris arundinacea)Little Wood River

15. Woody Species (Willow, Alder, Birch, etc.)

16. Willow Roots Willow Willow Birch Alder Red Osier Dogwood

17. Intermediate • Plants that are considered colonizers • Establish on freshly deposited soil or disturbed sites • Have intermediate root systems • Can result in proper functioning condition

18. Spike Rush (Eleocharis pauciflora)

19. Coyote (Sand Bar) Willow (Salix exigua)Teton River

20. Arroyo Willow (Salix lasiolepis)

21. Cottonwood(Populus spp.)South Fork Snake River

22. Cottonwood Roots (“rebar”)

23. Colonizers • First to establish • freshly deposited soil • shallow open water • barren areas • Root systems • stoloniferous or rhizomatous • shallow and relatively weak • Critical to recovery

24. Water-cress (Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum) Brook Grass(Catabrosia aquatica)

25. Short-awned Foxtail (Alopecurus arundinaceus)

26. Invaders • Replaces stabilizers species as a result of disturbance. • Shallow, less massive root systems • Less protective of streambanks against water’s energy • Noxious weeds

27. Kentucky Bluegrass (Poa prentensis) East Fork Castle Creek Redtop (Agrostis gigentea) Formerly A.stoloniferand alba

28. Leafy Spurge Purple Loosestrife

29. Standard Checklist (lotic)

30. 6) There is diverse age-class distribution of riparian-wetland vegetation (recruitment for maintenance/recovery) • Purpose: To determine if the number of age classes that provide recruitment to maintain an area or to allow an area to recover are present. Multiple age-classes usually indicate that riparian-wetland areas can recover or maintain themselves. • Need to determine if reach has potentialfor woody vegetation and if it is necessary for functionality • At least 2 age-classes should be present • One of the age-class should be young • Older age classes can persist in degraded conditions • This is presence/absence issue, not an amount • Closed canopy/late seral types may have limited age-class diversity but still should have some

31. Wolf Creek Colorado – absolutely requires willow to function

32. Are there two or more age classes of stabilizer riparian/wetland species present within the riparian area?

33. Are there two or more age classes of stabilizer riparian/wetland species present within the riparian area?

34. Sufficient Herbaceous “Age-Class” Diversity – Nebraska sedge

35. Sufficient willow & herbaceous age-class diversity – Yes

36. “Yes” Sufficient willow age-class diversity – system “likely” needs willow & herbaceous veg to recover

37. “No” Insufficient willow age-class diversity (all mature) system needs willow to function

38. “Yes” Sufficient age-class diversity – Narrowleaf Cottonwood (Populus angustifolia)

39. 7) There is diverse composition of riparian-wetland vegetation (for maintenance/recovery) • Purpose: To determine if the existing species composition is sufficient for maintenance or recovery. Diverse composition of riparian-wetland vegetation (relative to the site’s potential), is necessary to provide stability to the site. • Not all species a site is capable of producing need to be present, but more than two are common and required in most cases • This is a presence/absence question not amount • At least stabilizing species present (upland plants do not count) • Addresses entire riparian area (not just streambanks)

40. Are there at least two stabilizer riparian/wetland species present within the riparian area?

41. Are there at least two stabilizer riparian/wetland species present within theriparian area?

42. Are there at least two stabilizer riparian/wetland species present within the riparian area? There are two but dominated by one (CAAQ)

43. Castle Cr Utah – functioning well with herbaceous species (2 species of sedge)

44. “Yes” system needs to recover & has adequate R-W vegetation diversity to do it

45. “No” Species composition is JUBA and POPR (with some other UPL grasses) 2003

46. Sand + Popr + Upland Grasses + JUBA patches = Vulnerability to rapid channel response 2005

47. 8) Species present indicate maintenance of riparian soil moisture characteristics • Purpose: To determine if the water table level is being maintained or raised as indicated by the presence of riparian-wetland vegetation. Maintenance of an existing water table or restoration of a former one is vital to the functionality of the system. • Flow regime will dictate the kind and extent of riparian-wetland plants – need to understand site potential • Obligate & Facultative Wetland plants must dominate the reach in order for a yes answer to be given

48. Indicator CategoriesIn: National List of Plant Species that Occur in Wetlands (USFWS) website -- http://www.nwi.fws.gov/bha/list88.html • Obligate Wetland (OBL):Occur almost always in wetlands. • Facultative Wetland (FACW): Usually occur in wetlands but occasionally in nonwetlands. • Facultative (FAC): Equally likely to occur in wetlands or nonwetlands.

49. Indicator Categories • Facultative Upland (FACU): Usually occur in nonwetlands. • Obligate Upland (UPL): Occur in wetlands in another region, but occur almost always in nonwetlands.

50. Coyote willow - (FACW)