This week’s exciting and unexpected thing was watching this barred owl swoop into the creek and catch a crayfish! Then they flew to another branch and I assume plucked off the pinchers before chowing down! I had no idea owls ate crayfish and I also had no idea we had crayfish in this very urban stream. You learn a little every day 🤷‍♀️ #owl #nature #crayfish #riparian

Ashbridge Creek, a tributary of Mill Creek, PA

This tiny creek feeds into a branch of Mill Creek. I don’t know the normal water level, but it had a lot of water due to a heavy rain 😉

This creek runs by a township/community park with playgrounds for small kids, tennis courts, and walking/jogging paths 😊

There has been a riparian restoration project, which made some good changes - I saw many fish, probably minnows 😊

#FlyFishing #Fishing #Nature #Environment #Water #Riparian

Wanted to do a shoutout to the artist for this really beautiful educational sign I came across today. #yyc #WildlifeArt #riparian #riparianecology

#Spiraea douglasii is in the #RoseFamily native to western North America AKA #hardhack & #DouglasSpirea & #Steeplebush & #RoseSpirea

#Indigenous #FirstPeoples used this #plant to make brooms & to hang seafood to cook.
It's used in #riparian #revegetation projects for hardiness/quick growth.

#NativePlants #VancouverIsland #PNW #PacificNorthwest #PlantID #CoastalBC #Wildflowers #BCnativePlants #PNWnativePlants #vanisle #Cowichan #PlantsOfPNW #Westcoast #florespondence #BloomScrolling

Taking 2 friends to #W̱MÍYEŦEN  #NatureSanctuary on Sunday.

It's a 42 acre #protected #forest & #riparian area ​that supports #biodiversity while #preserving #ecosystems & #WildlifeHabitat . ​Also the home of Highlands #NatureHouse on water’s edge, within the #tranquil #NaturalEnvironment - #inspiring an #awareness of #nature as #teacher & essential #ally

https://www.marylakeconnections.ca

#conservation #yyj #VictoriaBC #vanisle #VancouverIsland #PNW #PacificNorthwest #ecology #NatureStewardship

I am in love with this green heron I found on my afternoon hike. I think e admirably proves my theory that green herons are the bridge trolls of #riparian habitats.

#Wetlands #Birds #Oregon #Trolls

Handweeding and adding *Lomandra hystrix *plus a few assorted trees into a SE QLD #bushregeneration #riparian trial site, a mix of a #Miyawaki style on #Syntropic rows. All grown from seed in a home nursery, and watered once at planting time. No fertiliser or any amendments in field, soaked in seaweed and worm castings the day of planting. No herbicide will ever be used. The 2m *Commersonia bartramia* on right of frame of Photo 1+2 is 4 months old.

The resulting tree growth will be thinned to best performers while maintaining species #biodiversity and spacing. Some will be volunteered for #biomass production through #pollard or a form thereof, more often than not the faster-growing pioneer species. You may think the spacing is crazy but if I grow 50 tubes from the same seed batch, there may be 5 great performers, 30 OK, 5 poor, and 10 thinned in nursery. Even where they are planted onsite could be a difference in growth rates.

Photos 3+4 are 3 months old, have had less rainfall, and are at tractor spacing if that was ever required for mowing management. Just a test between closer and wider spacing across the site.

This is part of a 40m wide, 10 row system that is 1.5 years at the oldest. As the system matures, herbs and shade-loving species will be added when the weather is good (maybe after #elnino).

Rather than call it Miyawaki/Syntropic mix, how about something like S.A.P - Successional Accelerated Planting? Something tree-related? Any ideas?

#gardeningau

@addie #treesforlifeuk and #SRUC #upland and #riparian research and #bestpractices for #waterquality and #soilhealth have alot to offer. What we do in our own #gardens very important

U.S. Forest Service National Riparian Areas Base Map For The Conterminous United States In 2019
--
https://www.fs.usda.gov/rds/archive/catalog/RDS-2019-0030 <-- shared paper
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https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/8cd69adaaaf541c78f8d867f0ec6b6ef <-- shared story map
--
#GIS #spatial #mapping #opendata #riparian #areas #CONUS #USA #basemaps #ecosystems #vegetation #soil #characteristics #environment #survey #spatialanalysis #monitoring #planning #management #policy #framework #geospatialdatasets #national #raster #floodheight #hydrology #water #NHD #WBD #NHDPlus #hydrologic #wetlands #3DEP #elevation #remotesensing #MRLC #landcover #NLCD #interagency #cooperation
#USFS #USDA #USGS #USFWS

My #Restoration #Ecology class partnered with a local restoration group yesterday. We set up #longterm #monitoring plots that future classes will revisit, and also learned about #riparian restoration and some basic #PlantIdentification

Bonus, it was one of the first nice warm days of spring and a great opportunity to be outside all day. Saw numerous #GreatBlueHerons flying by and some of the first flying #Insects of the season.

RT @CopernicusLand: Today is the #WorldWaterDay! 🌊💧

Explore our #CLMS products which cover
global #lakes, inland waters and #soil water, as well as #coastal & #riparian zones, #snow & #ice, and #river networks in Europe!

More info➡️ https://land.copernicus.eu/

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/CopernicusEU/status/1638628886870216704

Riparian Garden Care: Information About Riparian Ecosystems
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/special/spaces/planning-a-riparian-garden.htm

#Gardening #RiparianEcosystem #Riparian

More about the withdrawn #grazing proposal:

“Studies elsewhere have suggested #cattle can be managed to minimize impacts on #riparian areas, but that requires keeping cows out of the streams in the spring and summer, extensive fencing, alternative water projects and other more intensive management approaches.

The Forest Service in a letter to The Western Watershed Project concluded, “the new EA must better define the proposed action and alternatives, clearly describe the existing conditions, clearly disclose the potential site-specific resource effects of the actions for each alternative and describe the actions that may be take under an adaptive management strategy as well as the resource conditions that trigger those actions.”
#forestservice #adaptivemanagement

Graze anatomy: what happens when you put up a fence to keep sheep out?
Fencing small areas to keep out some of Britain’s 33m #sheep can allow native plants and trees to regrow, boosting biodiversity.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/17/graze-anatomy-fencing-fewer-sheep-richer-wildlife--aoe

We see similar results here in the western states. When #riparian areas are protected from #cattle, the vegetation regenerates enough to support #beavers, who then can start impounding #water, raising water tables, and creating more #habitat and vegetation that eventually can be used more managed #grazing.

Here’s an article about beaver dam analogs!

“Researchers are testing artificial beaver dams as a tool to restore degraded #stream systems by improving #riparian habitat and bolstering the late-season water supply.

The structures, known as beaver dam analogs, cause water to pool and spill beyond stream banks, supporting marshland vegetation before seeping into the #groundwater and re-emerging downstream later.

Material such as willow boughs, #sediment and stone comprise the analogs, an option to restore #habitat where resources are insufficient to support #beavers or where the animals would pose a nuisance.

[The study has been] funded with a $75,000 grant from #USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.”

https://www.capitalpress.com/ag_sectors/research/researchers-try-to-copy-beaver-dam-benefits/article_c13a4dba-a1c5-11ed-b7e2-3b5efb2cf83c.html

#Dogwalking miscellany

Water dragons

Over the last few years a large population of water dragons has established itself along the urban banks of the Brisbane River, and they're pretty confident of their territory.

In these dog walking shots, a pair of dragons, and The Triumvirate.

#photography #wildlife #urban #reptiles #WaterDragons #riparian #river #RiverWalk #Brisbane #whimsy #iphoneography #iPhone14Pro

The article continues:

“At the project’s start Guy Creek flowed through a deep channel disconnected from #riparian areas. Riparian vegetation can be essential for #livestock providing a verdant source of late-season forage.

In July 2020, a group of recent high school graduates with the Idaho Conservation Corps spent a week helping the research team build 65 beaver dam analogs within three meadows. The team has been using drones to evaluate gradual changes in the channel. They’ve noticed pools and riffles are forming and sediment is accumulating behind the structures, and they expect to eventually see gains in #groundwater levels and improvements in natural processes such as #nutrient cycling.”

These BDAs are a type of low-tech, process-based river restoration. It’s inexpensive compared to traditional, form-based restoration and scales up quickly.

@Michaelvaliant
#Promptodon #WritingPrompt
Today's Prompt 
#Riparian
The isolated bench sat on the riparian zone. A trasition region and protective barrier between the terra and the world of aquarum. The last time the portal opened Noah sailed the Ark across a flooded Earth. This night the junction glowed and pulsed with power as water slowly trickled across the threshold.
#microfiction #prompt #sffwriter #sff #shortfiction #indiewriter #writingcommunity #writersofmastodon

Welcome to the #Promptodon #WritingPrompt

Today's Prompt (Jan 25):

#Riparian

New Prompts Daily! Write us some fiction using the Word, or the Image of the day (or get tricky and use both!)

For people to find your writing:
1. Use the Hashtags
2. Or respond to this post

Please Boost so we can find more participants!! (thank you!)

#writingCommunity #WritingPrompt #FlashFiction #MicroFiction #sff #fantasy #SciFi #Promptodon #horrorPrompt
Non-Attribution Image from pixelbay

More about the #beaver webinar: “Many of the #stream channels in #Iowa aren’t able to assist with #nutrient and #sediment reductions and may be sources instead due to the straightening of streams, removal of #riparian vegetation, removed in-channel #wood and added artificial drainage to the landscape,” noted Beck. “While contentious, #beaver dams are a free in-stream #Conservation practice that could help improve #water quality and reduce nutrient and sediment loads within the #watershed.”

Info on how to access the webinar can be found here: https://www.extension.iastate.edu/news/can-beavers-be-water-quality-superheroes