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Novel plant communities and partnerships: creative ...
Transcript of Novel plant communities and partnerships: creative ...
Novel plant communities and partnerships:
creative strategies for habitat conservation
and restoration in western Washington
prairies
Sarah Hamman, Ph.D.
Center for Natural Lands Management
Western WA Prairies
History:
– Formed by retreating glaciers
– Maintained by indigenous
burning and food harvests
– Gravelly, well-drained, low
nutrient soils
– Host several rare, threatened
and endangered species
Photo: Chris Junck
Photo: Joe Rocchio
Photo: Rod Gilbert
Photo: Sarah Hamman
ThreatsConifer and non-native invasion
Habitat fragmentation
Altered fire regime
How can we conserve and restore
biodiversity to the WPG prairies
and oak woodlands?
Historically:
• 2,088,040 acres of
prairie and oak
woodland throughout
Ecoregion
• Continuous habitat
Currently:
• 40,000 acres of prairie
and oak woodland
throughout Ecoregion
• Fragmented, low-
quality remnants
• Largest remaining
prairie is on Joint Base
Lewis-McChord
Protected Preserves
Restoration Process
1. Invasive species removal
2. Site preparation
1. Native habitat enhancement
Road to success for rare species
Golden paintbrush (Castilleja levisecta)
• Close to reaching recovery goals
Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas
editha taylori)
• Five new reintroduced populations
Streaked horned lark (Eremophila alpestris
strigata)
• Populations steadily increasing on JBLM
Protected Preserves
Photo: Ty Smedes
High intensity rotational grazing
J F M A M J J A S O N D
‘Rest’ pastures,
completely
removing cattle
while native plants
bloom and set seed
Sustainably graze,
moving cattle
every 1-2 days.
Maintain stubble
height ~3 inches
Sustainably graze,
moving cattle
every 1-2 days.
Maintain stubble
height ~3 inches
Conservation Grazing
• Ecological – evaluate effects on plant community,
productivity, butterfly behavior, pocket gopher
activity
• Economic – quantify costs/benefits associated with
shift in practice
• Social – collect input from farmers & ranchers on
incentive programs that they need to implement
conservation grazing practices
Photo: Mason McKinley
Camas Taxonomy and Ecology
• Asparagaceae family (formerly
Liliaceae family)
• Perennial forb that grows from
an edible bulb
• Found in prairies throughout
WPG Ecoregion
• Flowers April – June
• Important resource plant for at
least 57 insect species (ants,
bees, beetles, flies, wasps,
earwigs)
Common camas: Camassia quamash, Great camas: Camassia leichtlinii
Camas Harvest
• One of the most important root foods for western
North American Indigenous peoples
• Second only to salmon in terms trade value
• Bulbs were (are) pit-cooked for 24-36 hours to fully
transform inulin to fructose.
Lyons and Ritchie 2017. J. of Ethnobiology
Camas Prairie Cultural
Ecosystems Project
• Funded by UW Center for Creative
Conservation
• Encompasses perspectives and sources of
knowledge outside of standard western
science
Goal of the Program
• Collaborate to develop a transdisciplinary
teaching and research program for western
Washington prairies, focused on biocultural
diversity conservation
Camas Prairie Cultural Ecosystems Project
• Teaching curricula
– GRUB Tend, Gather, Grow Program creating
curricula focused on culturally important plant species
• Harvesting Access
– WDFW, WDNR working with Tribes to create regional
map of accessible harvesting sites
• Harvesting effects
– Tribal partners harvesting throughout western WA
and young indigenous scientists monitoring effects on
prairie community
Partnerships for prairie conservation
• Think beyond conservation preserve model
• Create opportunities for collaborative,
transdisciplinary partnerships that provide
reciprocal benefits
• Recognize cultural values in addition to
ecological values of the conservation
landscape
Questions? Comments?
For more information:
www.southsoundprairies.org
www.cascadiaprairieoak.org