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Rapid Assessment of Ecosystem Condition:

Tools and Applications for Restoring Sierra Nevada Meadows

Purpose and Need

Objectives

Case Study Site: Yuba Watershed

Figure 3: CDFG-

delineated and

corresponding

groundtruthed

areas for each

meadow surveyed

in the Yuba

watershed

Conclusions

Acknowledgements National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

California Department of Water Resources

U. S. Forest Service

Bella Vista Foundation

Dave Weixelman, David Cooper, Amy Merrill, Rodney

Siegel, Josh Viers, Jeff TenPas, Jim Wilcox, Katie Burdick,

Sabra Purdy, Kevin Cornwell, Steve Loheide, Kathy Van

Zuuk.

Figure 1: Yuba watershed meadows by area on public

trust land

Preliminary Results:

Yuba Watershed Meadow Health

Meadow Size Discrepancy:

Actual size is 52% ± 8 % (95% CI) of the CDFG-

delineated areas

The total groundtruthed area of all meadows was

51% of the total CDFG-delineated meadow acreage

Causes for Delineation Differentiation:

Inclusion of sloped areas (> 6% grade)

Inclusion of alder and willow thickets and thin

riparian stringers

0

50

100

150

200

250

Lu

nch

Cre

ek M

eadow

Wh

ite R

ock L

ake M

ead

ow

Bow

man

Mou

nta

in M

eadow

Mago

nig

al M

eado

w

Bald

Rid

ge

Mea

dow

De

er

Cre

ek M

ead

ow

Gold

Valley

Ca

stle V

alley

Ha

wle

y M

ea

dow

sB

eart

rap M

eadow

Butc

he

r R

anch M

eado

wP

ara

dis

e V

alley

Fre

em

an M

eado

wA

ustin M

eado

wR

ound V

alley

Ch

urc

h C

am

p M

eado

wLo

ney M

ead

ow

Fre

nch

Mead

ow

H

aypre

ss V

alle

yH

ow

ard

Cre

ek M

eado

wC

hurc

h M

eadow

sLin

coln

Valley

Are

a (

acre

s)

CDFG Area

Groundtruthed Area

Meadow Ecosystem Services:

Grazing forage

Wildlife habitat

Groundwater storage/ Augmented baseflows

Water quality improvement

Flood attenuation

Carbon sequestration

Recreation

Meadow Restoration Need:

Limited resource: Comprise only 10% of Sierras

Degraded system: Estimated 40-60%

Identify and Delineate:

Where: Identify meadow locations

How Much: Delineate meadow boundaries

Groundtruth desktop delineations

Identify delineation discrepancies

Develop a Meadow Assessment Protocol

Rapid

Cost-effective

Identifies restoration candidates

Technically accessible

Develop Prioritization Methods

Meadow size is currently overestimated, thus an

improved desktop delineation methodology is

needed and groundtruthing

Stepwise approach to more detailed meadow

assessment protocols proved time and cost efficient

Future Effort:

Quantifying restoration benefits

Forage quality

Flood attenuation

Instream flows: summer base flows

Terrestrial and aquatic habitat

Public meadow restoration database

California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG)

delineation.

Desktop delineation based on:

Landsat imagery

Topographic and vegetative attributes

Sales

1st Qtr

2nd Qtr

3rd Qtr

4th Qtr

Meadow Identification

Figure 4:

Freeman Meadow

in the Yuba

watershed is an

example of the

discrepancy

between CDFG

aerial delineation

(58 acres) and

groundtruthed

meadow boundary

delineation (34

acres)

Figure 5:

Distribution

of Condition

Scores for all

26 meadows

assessed. No

meadows

visited were

heavily

impacted.

Targeted Meadow

> 20 acres

> 5,000 ft msl

Scorecard Development

Adapted from habitat condition indices:

EPA Physical Habitat Assessment: Barbour et al.,

1999

Rapid Habitat Assessment (RHA): Purdy & Moyle

2008

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

Elevation (feet)

Num

ber

of

Meadow

s

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 50 >50

Meadow Area (acres)

Nu

mb

er

of M

ea

do

ws

Figure 2: CDFG-delineated meadows of the Yuba

watershed distributed by elevation (a) and area (b)

Figure 6: Ecological functions that restored

healthy meadows can provide

Meadow Delineation Results Natural Condition 52%

Slightly Impacted

36%

Moderately Impacted

12% References

Field Delineation

26 meadows

GPS

groundtruthed

Meadow Assessment Prioritization

In-depth Analysis Selection

Focused on key aspects of meadow function

primarily based on:

Depth of channel incision/floodplain access

Bank stability

Dominance of plant functional groups

Percent bare ground

Conifer or sagebrush encroachment

In-depth Analysis Results: Vegetation

Vegetation ecological function groups based on:

Rooting habit: rhizomatous, cespitose

Wetland rating: Obligate (OBL), facultative

wetland (FACW), facultative (FAC),

facultative upland (FACU), and upland (UPL)

Root depth (for graminoid species)

Life history (annual or perennial)

Life form (grass, grasslike, forb, woody

Plant height

N-fixing capability

In-depth Analysis Results: Channel Condition In-depth Analysis Selection Process

Lowest Meadow Scorecard Condition: 10

lowest scoring meadows

Secondary Matrix incorporating:

Ownership

Accessibility

Size

Restoration funding potential

Jessica D. Strickland, Luke J. H. Hunt, B. Daniel Nylen, and Elizabeth Soderstrom

Barbour, M.T., J. Gerritsen, B.D. Snyder, and J.B. Stribling. 1999. Rapid

Bioassessment Protocols for Use in Streams and Wadeable Rivers:

Periphyton, Benthic Macroinvertebrates and Fish, Second Edition. EPA

841-B-99 002. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Office of Water;

Washington, D.C.

Stillwater Sciences. 2008. Planning to Restore Meadow Functionality in

the Headwaters of the CABY Region. Prepared for the Natural Heritage

Institute, Nevada City,California.

Mountain Meadows of the Sierra Nevada: An Integrated Means of

Determining Ecological Condition in Mountain Meadows – Protocols and

Results from 2006. Sabra E. Purdy and Peter B. Moyle. June, 2009. Work

conducted under sponsorship of The Natural Heritage Institute,

pursuant to California Department of Water Resources Contract No.

4600004497.

California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG). 2005. Meadow polygon

layer. Resource Assessment Program

Weixelman, D. G. Bakker, and J. Fites. 2003. USFS Region 5 Range

Monitoring Project 2003 Report. Adaptive Management Services, U.S.

Forest Service, Nevada City, Ca. 45p.

Weixelman, Dave A, Cooper David J. 2009. Assessing Proper Functioning

Condition for Fen Areas in the Sierra Nevada and Southern Cascade

Ranges in California, A User Guide. Gen. Tech. Rep. R5-TP-028. Vallejo,

CA. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service Pacific Southwest

Region, 42 p.

Table 1:

Decision

matrix for

the seven

meadows not

chosen for in-

depth

analysis.