Training

See also: Riparian Conservation and Ecology, Habitat Restoration

The conservation and thoughtful management of the riparian areas that line our rivers and streams is an important area of concern for many citizens and agencies in the central coast. Riparian areas have long been recognized as important habitat for birds, fish, amphibians, and many other species. Due to development, increased water use, introductions of invasive species, and other factors, the historic extent of this habitat type in California has been greatly reduced over the past 100 years. Therefore, on May 12, 2005 over 90 researchers, regulators, consultants, land managers, and others interested in the ecology and conservation of coastal California�s riparian areas met at Moss Landing Marine Labs for a workshop put on by the Coastal Training Program. This workshop served as a unique forum for a diverse group of people and agencies to come together and share information and experiences with one another. The goal of the workshop was to promote a better understanding of the ecology, conservation, and regulation of riparian areas to help guide planning and management decisions. This was the first in a series of workshops focused on riparian systems. Grey Hayes from the Elkhorn Slough Coastal Training Program (CTP) opened the workshop with a brief introduction of CTP and the services it provides to local decision makers to help them make better decisions in the conservation and management of the natural resources of the central coast. He then gave a short explanation of the importance of riparian areas for flood protection, habitat for wildlife, our economy and quality of life. Donna Meyers from the National Marine Sanctuaries Program (NOAA) was the first presenter of the day and she gave a presentation on the importance of riparian areas in maintaining healthy watersheds. Her presentation began with an introduction to the many different definitions of riparian habitat and how the definition that is used can affect management and regulatory decisions. One of the main points of Donna's presentation was the importance of recognizing that there is a fundamental interrelationship between the river system and the riparian system and both systems need to be addressed concurrently for management to be effective. Donna also introduced some of the current challenges facing riparian areas such as habitat loss, stream canalization, and agricultural run-off. Kristen Schroeder from the Santa Cruz County Planning Department followed with a presentation titled "Connecting Salmonid and Riparian Habitats". She began with an overview of Coho salmon and steelhead life history and distribution, during which she discussed their anadromous life history, spawning practices, and migration times. The presentation gave a clear demonstration for the importance of diverse habitat types for different life history stages of these fish. This made it easy to understand why a structurally diverse riparian habitat can increase the survivorship of these species. Kristen also explained the negative impacts that can result from development in the riparian zone including removal of vegetation, bank erosion, water quality impacts, and stream diversion, to name a few. One alteration to stream and riparian habitat that received particular attention was stream crossings. She concluded with a short discussion of the regulations that relate to riparian habitat in Santa Cruz county and the strengths and weaknesses of these policies. After the break, where workshop participants were able to visit with each other to build connections and develop new contacts that will hopefully lead to a continued sharing of information and discussion, Tom Gardali from PRBO Conservation Science gave a presentation on the conservation biology of riparian-associated songbirds along California's central coast. He began with a description of who PRBO Conservation Science are, what they do, and some of the resources and information they provide on their website. One of the activities that has recently been completed by PRBO is the production of a riparian bird conservation plan. This plan documents the current status of several migratory songbirds and measures that can be taken to ensure their conservation. Tom described a number of the sampling methods used to collect bird data for the plan and detailed the types of results you can obtain from the different data collection methods. He focused on mist netting, nest monitoring, point count surveys, and radio telemetry. Tom then presented results on bird habitat use from a research project he had worked on and explained how bird monitoring can be used to evaluate restoration success. Serge Glushkoff from California Department of Fish and Game concluded with a presentation titled "Riparian resources and regulators: the DFG lake and streambed alteration "1600" process". He began with a description of the legal authority and jurisdictions of the main federal, state, and county agencies. This was followed by a more detailed description of the DFG regulations that apply to the protection of waterways, ponds, lakes, and riparian areas; specifically DFG codes 1600-1616, commonly referred to as the 1600 process. The 1600 reviews assess projects that cause an alteration of a stream bed or bank, water quantity or flow characteristics, water quality, effects on aquatic resources, riparian vegetation, and terrestrial species, and impacts to special status species. After lunch there was a roundtable discussion where workshop participants could ask the presenters any follow-up questions and discuss specific topics from the presentations in more detail. The general theme of the discussion revolved around "How do we design better riparian buffers and how appropriate is the concept of the linear buffer". One of the main outcomes of the discussion was that there are alternatives to current approaches to riparian habitat management that should be implemented more effectively and there are opportunities for more creative approaches to designing and managing stream buffers. Also, any approach to stream or riparian management that doesn't take both systems into consideration will not be successful. In summary, participants left this workshop with a better understanding of the ecological function of riparian habitats and how management decisions can affect the conservation of this habitat. They also gained a better understanding of the biology and conservation concerns for some of the important fish and bird species that depend on riparian areas for habitat. Participants also walked away with a better understanding of the regulations that apply to riparian areas and places to look for more information. Workshop participants left with a better idea of who is working on these issues on the central coast and where to go for information and potential collaboration on their own projects. This and past workshops have received very positive feedback and we encourage you to stay involved with learning about conservation on the central coast through the Coastal Training Program.