Austin Is a Habitat Haven with National
Wildlife Federation Certification by
Alice V. Nance
Austin City Hall's certified wildlife habitat (NWF No. 99,000) is alive with native plants like bald cypress, yellow bells, inland sea oats, and horsetail. These plants provide natural food sources, cover, and places to raise young for birds, butterflies, dragonflies, and bees. Water is a key element of any habitat and can be incorporated simply with a shallow saucer of water and a rock for perching and basking. Photos by Victor Ovalle
Native Sod Rescue-
A Viable Business Model (Montana) by
Giles Cassidy Thelen
and Kelly J. Dixon,
Native Yards
A Plan for Landscape Fire Restoration in the Southwestern Borderlands by
Gerald J. Gottfried
and
Larry S. Allen
Prescribed burning on one of 12 experimental watersheds in the Peloncillo Mountains, New Mexico. Operations were conducted by the Douglas Ranger District, Coronado National Forest in March 2008. Jackson Leonard, an ecologist with the Forest Service's Rocky Mountain Research Station in Flagstaff, Arizona, is on the fireline. A yellow infrared thermometer gun to measure fire temperatures remotely is suspended at his side. Photo by Gerald Gottfried
Restoring Burned Areas at Zion National Park (Utah) by
Kelly Fuhrmann,
Karen Weber and
Cheryl Decker
Restoring Native Sedge Meadow Vegetation with a Combination of Herbicides (Illinois) by
Thomas B. Simpson
Postsettlement Alluvium Removal:
A Novel Floodplain Restoration Technique (Wisconsin) by
Eric G. Booth,
Steven P. Loheide II and
Robert D. Hansis
The Effect of Disturbance History on Hawkweed Invasion (Montana) by
Alexis Jones and
Elizabeth Crone
Reducing Grouse Collision Mortality by Marking Fences (Oklahoma) by
Donald H. Wolfe, Michael A. Patten and Steve K. Sherrod
Beyond Historic Baselines: Restoring Bolson
Tortoises to Pleistocene Range by
Joe Truett and
Mike Phillips
Ecological restoration in North America traditionally has strived to return ecosystems to some semblance of the early historic
(post-Columbian) condition. Emerging alternative paradigms recognize the large impacts exerted by pre-Columbian
peoples, the ever-changing nature of ecosystems regardless of anthropogenic effects, and the possibility of using other
benchmarks. Recently, the Turner Endangered Species Fund (TESF) initiated a project to restore the endangered bolson
tortoise to an area in southern New Mexico within its late Pleistocene, but not historic, range. Justifications included the
likelihood that prehistoric humans extirpated it from New Mexico, the presence of habitats similar to those in its current
range in Mexico, and escalating threats to the species there. Thirty tortoises long kept captive outdoors in Arizona,
another part of its prehistoric range, formed the basis for the restoration effort. The TESF and the Living Desert Zoo
and Gardens State Park near Carlsbad, New Mexico maintain the adults in outdoor enclosures, and incubate eggs and
rear young in smaller facilities. The TESF is initiating studies to assess whether the species can persist in the wild in New
Mexico. Restoring imperiled species to prehistoric ranges has some precedent in North America and, we believe, merits
increasing consideration as historic ranges of some species offer increasingly less security.
Uncertainty in Georeferencing Current and
Historic Plant Locations by
Kathryn McEachern and Ken Niessen
With shrinking habitats, weed invasions, and climate change, repeated surveys are becoming increasingly important for
rare plant conservation and ecological restoration. We often need to relocate historical sites or provide locations for newly
restored sites. Georeferencing is the technique of giving geographic coordinates to the location of a site. Georeferencing
has been done historically using verbal descriptions or field maps that accompany voucher collections. New digital
technology gives us more exact techniques for mapping and storing location information. Error still exists, however,
and even georeferenced locations can be uncertain, especially if error information is not included with the observation.
We review the concept of uncertainty in georeferencing and compare several institutional database systems for cataloging
error and uncertainty with georeferenced locations. These concepts are widely discussed among geographers, but
ecologists and restorationists need to become more aware of issues related to uncertainty to improve our use of spatial
information in field studies.
Germination Timing and Dormancy Break
in Seeds of Summer Farewell (Dalea pinnata,
Fabaceae) by
Hector E. Pérez, Fé Almira and Meghan Brennan
Summer farewell (Dalea pinnata) is a legume found in upland ecosystems throughout the southeastern United States.
Often used in seed mixes for restoration purposes, it represents an opportunity for the emerging native seed industry in
this region. Yet its germination characteristics are not well known. Our objective was to assess the germination timing
and potential dormancy mechanisms of summer farewell. We specifically addressed the following questions: 1) to what
extent do seeds germinate after shedding? 2) do seeds possess physical dormancy? and 3) can germination be enhanced
using dormancy-breaking treatments? Summer farewell seeds germinated to a limited extent upon shedding, and most
seeds (> 75%) in the population were shed with water-impermeable coats, or physical dormancy. Germination occurred
equally well in light or darkness. Remaining ungerminated seeds displayed a high degree of viability (> 90%) after one
year of burial. Thus summer farewell seeds are capable of forming soil seed banks. Scarification followed by incubation
at constant temperatures yielded high germination. Germination of mechanically scarified seeds was superior to seeds
scarified in acid for 5 or 10 minutes and unscarified seeds. However, incubation at 35°C may be deleterious. We discuss
recommendations for restoration practitioners and seed producers.
Socioeconomic Barriers and the Role
of Biomass Utilization in Southwestern
Ponderosa Pine Restoration by
Evan Hjerpe, Jesse Abrams and Dennis R. Becker
There is general consensus that ecological restoration of southwestern ponderosa pine systems is necessary and there
exists ample ecological science suggesting that it is physically attainable. However, the pace of restoration has been
noticeably slow and is far from approaching the landscape level. We conducted a review of published journal articles,
book chapters, and proceedings on the restoration of ponderosa pine forests in the Southwest in order to identify and
examine the primary socioeconomic barriers that are impeding the progress of ecological restoration in the region.
The role of small-diameter wood utilization in the southwestern United States is highlighted as an example of broader,
divergent socioeconomic contexts needing reconciliation if restoration is to expand to the ecosystem scale. A synthesis
of opportunities for overcoming barriers and furthering the progress of forest restoration is provided.
An Invitation for Public Participation in
Ecological Restoration: The Reasonable
Person Model by
Kimberly Bosworth Phalen
Public support plays a critical role in the completion and long-term success of ecological restoration projects. However,
gaining this support has been a challenge in some cases. Local citizens have not always responded positively to restoration
despite its touted benefits. In this article, I apply a theory of human behavior, motivation, and cognition called the
Reasonable Person Model (RPM) in order to show how participation can be an effective part of restoration efforts. Using
two case studies from Chicago, I discuss some of the issues that arise in restoration projects and how RPM may address
them. This model identifies three important human needs, which when met contribute to more cooperative, reasonable
behavior: cognitive map-building, meaningful action, and being effective. I demonstrate how RPM can be used to explain
people's reactions to restoration efforts and why participation works better in some cases than in others. I also present
strategies based on RPM to promote more effective participation in restoration efforts.
The Gift (book excerpt) by
Courtney White
Soil Nitrogen Concentrations in a Restored
Sedge Meadow Wetland as Affected by the
Application of High C:N Amendments by
Basil V. Iannone III, Carl J. Rosen and Susan M. Galatowitsch
Invasive perennial species are frequently a barrier to native plant establishment in fertile sedge meadow wetland restorations.
Amending soils with high carbon-to-nitrogen (C:N) materials may deplete nitrogen (N) and limit the establishment
of invasive species, although the effectiveness of such amendments at depleting soil N in restored wetlands is largely
unknown. Therefore we incorporated four high C:N materials (cedar, white pine, and red oak sawdust, as well as sucrose)
into the soils of nonvegetated plots in a restored sedge meadow wetland and measured soil ammonium-N and nitrate-
N in relation to nonamended control plots over a 25-week period. All amendments depleted nitrate-N concentrations
equivalently (67%-100%), although both the timing and the duration of this depletion varied among amendments.
White pine sawdust was most effective, depleting nitrate-N for the entire 25 weeks. Sawdust from red oak and cedar
depleted nitrate-N after 5 and 13 weeks, respectively. Lowered nitrate-N concentrations then persisted for the remaining
20 weeks in the red oak treatments, while the effects of cedar were short-lived (8 weeks). Sucrose depleted nitrate-N for
13 weeks. No amendment depleted ammonium-N concentrations, although cedar sawdust caused initial ammonium-N
concentrations to increase by 300%-700%. Based on our findings, white pine sawdust will be more likely to deplete N
effectively during the establishment of sedge meadow wetlands. It is unknown, however, if this depletion will suppress
invasive perennials long enough to allow desired native species to establish a closed canopy and take up nitrogen, thereby
limiting the chances of future invasions.
Revegetation of a Trampled Cliff-Edge Using
Three-Toothed Cinquefoil and Poverty Grass:
A Case Study at Tettegouche State Park,
Minnesota by
Joel P. Olfelt, David P. Olfelt and Jennifer L. Ison
Cliffs and cliff-edges are often attractive places to humans, and therefore may become damaged through recreational
activities. Restoring cliffs and cliff-edges, which can be important sites of biodiversity, is challenging in part because of
insufficient knowledge about native plant restoration techniques for these ecologically distinct areas. The cliff-edge at
Shovel Point in Tettegouche State Park, Minnesota, has been damaged by heavy visitor use. We propagated 450 threetoothed
cinquefoil (Potentilla tridentata) and 450 poverty grass (Danthonia spicata) plants from locally obtained seed to
test revegetation techniques. We seeded plots with cinquefoil and poverty grass seeds for comparison with transplanted
plots, we monitored survivorship and seedling recruitment for three seasons, and we counted the number of new shoots
produced at 3 and 24 months after transplantation. Visitor access to planted areas was restricted during the study. Overall
survival rates at 3, 13, and 24 months were 87.3%, 76.9%, and 68.9% for three-toothed cinquefoil and 98.7%, 96.7%,
and 63.8% for poverty grass. The grand mean number of new shoots produced per plant was 0.37 and 2.11 (SE = 0.227,
0.365) at 3 and 24 months respectively for three-toothed cinquefoil and -0.21 and -3.15 (SE = 0.584, 0.295) at 3 and
24 months respectively for poverty grass. Only one seeded plot had a single poverty grass plant by the end of the study.
One-way ANOVA tests revealed no statistically significant differences among treatments within species for survival or
number of new shoots produced. We conclude that when transplanted, three-toothed cinquefoil and poverty grass are
useful species for revegetation of damaged outcrops such as Shovel Point.
