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ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT & EFFECTIVENESS MONITORING:
NATIVE REVEGETATION
May 2000 Durant McArthur & Jim Olivarez, Co-Chairs
Key Questions:
We have formed a larger committee and plan to involve others as well. The committee includes McArthur, Olivarez, John Fairchild (Utah Division of Wildlife Resources), Larry Holzworth, Loren St. John, Dan Ogle (NRCS), and Steve Shelly and Susan Rinehart (NFS-R1). We will refine our responses at a meeting at the NRCS Aberdeen, Idaho, Plant Materials Center on May 15. We anticipate providing information for consideration for the Native Plant Material Program "Capital Investment" team in such areas as interagency coordination, native plant material adaptation, infrastructure (state and federal), processing equipment, seed gathering and processing, partnerships for long-term native seed production, seed transfer guidelines, native seed production, and private industry.
Proposed Activities:
- Evaluation of Post-Fire Rehabilitation Using Native Plants in the Bob Marshall Wilderness and Adjacent Lands – $65,300
- Revegetation Implementation Monitoring Needs Adjacent to the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness – $30,000
- Additional solicited proposal with revegetation and monitoring in the "big fire 2000" forests (Bitterroot, Helena and Salmon-Challis in non-wilderness areas) or other forests willing to facilitate a monitoring study with appropriate introductory NRCS Plant Materials literature review – $50,700
- Assist with publication of the RMRS General Technical Report, "Restoring Western Ranges and Wildlands," a handbook for restoration of the Inland West (Steve Monsen and Richard Stevens, compilers and principal authors). This is a how-to manual with chapters on Physical Factors, Plant Control and Competition (including fire), Seedbed Preparation and Seeding, Biological Factors (including wildlife habitat, nutrition, plant diseases, and management of restored sites), Guidelines, Species Adaptability, Seed Characteristics and Production (including germination and regulatory laws), and Plant Culture. Note: The primary objective of the Native Species Monitoring Task is to highlight and assist in implementation efficiency and effectiveness. This text is the culmination of 30 years of experience in what works in the Inland West. The transfer of this technology and experience will greatly help in meeting our objective. $54,000
Questions to be Addressed in Monitoring Studies:
- Review the primary questions we are trying to answer in the monitoring studies. Are there any additional questions, and/or clarification of the study questions as proposed?
- What was the pre-fire vegetation condition of the study sites? Were invasive plants already present in the area? If so, could the study be designed in part to examine the effectiveness of treatments in suppressing weed spread?
- What species were used for the revegetation treatments, in what amounts, and what were the seedbed preparation and application methods used? To what degree were the techniques successful?
- What fire intensities existed in the treated area(s)? If variable, can the study examine variation in response to the treatments based on burn intensity?
- What sites (landscape settings) and vegetation types were involved in the treatment areas? Are there nearby untreated areas that could serve as controls if needed?
- Has a protocol for data collection been developed? Can the Adaptiveness Monitoring native species revegetation focus team review such protocol(s) and offer suggestions regarding study design and potential for broadening the applicability of the study?
- Can the study be implemented beginning in 2001 – are or will field crews and resources be available? (The focus team views this as critical from the standpoint that first-year data are valuable for answering questions regarding short-term effectiveness of treatments for erosion control, etc.)
Other Questions:
Specific design and analysis questions will need to be addressed for specific studies. Our committee will require a detailed study plan for each monitoring study but our sense is that study design will need to be adaptive to the particular needs of the individual monitoring studies.
The lead personnel for the activities are Beth Hodder (R-1), Evaluation of Post-Fire Rehabilitation Using Native Plants in the Bob Marshall Wilderness and Adjacent Lands; Dick Wenger (R-4), Revegetation Implementation Monitoring Needs Adjacent to the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness; R-1 or R-4 , university, or NRCS plant materials personnel, Revegetation and Monitoring in the "Big Fire 2000" Forests, and Steve Monsen (RMRS), Restoring Western Ranges and Wildlands.
We anticipate each of the monitoring activities will take a minimum of three years including analysis and report preparation. The GTR should be completed in two years; it is essentially completed now, but editing and production will take some time.
Quality control of products (analysis and reports) is assigned to our committee members – Durant McArthur, Jim Olivarez, and Steve Shelly.
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