Pacific Southwest Research Station

Habitat Improvement

The Tahoe basin harbors species and ecological communities of special concern because of their rarity or vulnerability. Scientific research is helping to better manage and conserve these special communities and species, including:

• Tahoe yellow cress (Rorippa subumbellata)
• Lahontan cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi)
• Aspen (Populus tremuloides)
• American marten (Martes americana)
• Sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana)
• Western white pine (Pinus monticola)
• Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis)

Additional research is underway to assess and counter the establishment or proliferation of invasive species, including:

• Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum)
• Curlyleaf pondweed (Potamogeton crispus)
• Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum)
• Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea)
• New Zealand mud snail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum)
• Quagga mussels (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis)
• Zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha)
• Largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides)
• Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus)
• Black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus)
• Brown bullhead catfish (Ictalurus nebulosus)

Research Projects

• Renewing and refining the Tahoe yellow cress Conservation Strategy: incorporating new science and management tools
• Effectiveness of reintroductions and probiotic treatment as tools to restore the endangered Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog (Rana sierrae) to the Lake Tahoe Basin
• Understanding the decline of deepwater sensitive species in Lake Tahoe: What is responsible, eutrophication or species invasions?
• Plant community characterization and ranking of fens in the Lake Tahoe Basin
• Evaluation of Montane Forest Genetic Resources: Implications for Conservation, Management, and Restoration of Whitebark Pine (Pinus albicaulis) in the Lake Tahoe Basin
• Natural and human limitations to Asian clam distribution and recolonization-factors that impact the management and control in Lake Tahoe
• Potential for Pathogen Growth, Fecal Indicator Growth and Phosphorus Release under Clam Removal Barriers in the Lake Tahoe Basin
• Ecological succession in the Angora fire: Forest management effects on woodpeckers as keystone species
• Stocking Guidelines for Aspen Restoration
• Wildlife Habitat Occupancy Models for Project and Landscape Evaluations in the Lake Tahoe Basin
• Development of a risk model to determine the expansion and potential environmental impacts of Asian clams in Lake Tahoe
• The effects of ski resorts in the Lake Tahoe region of California on population dynamics of the American marten
• Natural and anthropogenic threats to white pines from lower montane forests to subalpine woodlands of the Lake Tahoe basin: an ecological and genetic assessment for conservation, monitoring, and management
• Restoring sugar pine in the Tahoe basin: regeneration ecology and recruitment dynamics of sugar pine under various stand structures.
• Restoration and fuel treatment of Lake Tahoe's riparian forests