National Wetland Inventory mapping for the Colorado portion of the Southern Rockies Landscape Conservation Cooperative

Prepared for: Bureau of Reclamation WaterSMART Program, Applied Science Grants for: the Southern Rockies Landscape Conservation Cooperative.January 2014.Includes bibliographical references

Restoration prioritization of the Cache La Poudre Watershed

Prepared for: Laura Jane Musser Fund, Environmental Initiative.December 2014.The largest and most destructive fire in the history of Larimer County, the High Park Fire, burned 87,200 acres within the Cache la Poudre watershed with aftereffects including increased flooding, significant erosion, and increased threats to many natural and cultural resources. The natural resources which have been impacted, and will continue to be threatened, include: water used for municipal, domestic, hydropower, and agricultural supply; soil productivity across the forested region; critical habitat for federally listed threated or endangered species; and native plant communities on lands where invasive and noxious species are absent. Currently, restoration work has been completed ad hoc in areas that may not maximize the benefit for the larger public. A comprehensive planning effort was needed to combine stakeholder interests and scientific knowledge to prioritize and maximize future restoration efforts on these publicly owned lands. Our goal was to bring together expert stakeholders to identify the risks and values at risk within the watershed. While this was originally viewed as an activity that would focus solely on the burn area, initial feedback we received suggested we adapt the research to include not only the recently burned area, but the entire watershed, and beyond that, the entire county. As Larimer County had significant interest in our process and provided input to the final model, and to make the results as widely applicable as possible, we decided to use the Larimer County boundary as our research extent. This would allow for the prioritization of restoration activities within the burned area, but also prioritize areas in the Cache la Poudre Watershed and the adjacent Big Thompson Watershed (which was significantly degraded by intense flooding in September 2013). We also adapted the research to include other risks and factors that were not initially included in the post-fire analysis. To accomplish our goal of prioritizing areas across the landscape for restoration activities to reduce risk and increase ecological health, we invited expert stakeholders from local municipalities, the state and federal government, and academic researchers to a workshop for them to provide feedback on risks and values at risk within the watershed

Requirements for Collaboration With Schools: Public and Private Leaders Speak Out

If organizations are truly to collaborate, rather than merely cooperate, there will necessarily be a sacrifice of autonomy as they share visions, resources, decisions, and accountability

State of Colorado's biodiversity

Moderator: David Anderson.Presented at the 8th international congress for wildlife and livelihoods on private and communal lands: livestock, tourism, and spirit, that was held on September 7-12, 2014 in Estes Park, Colorado.How are we doing in conserving Colorado's Biodiversity? How much of it is left? Are there landscapes in Colorado where we still have the basic fabric intact to conserve entire systems? Are there hotspots where actions are more urgent than others? Are there species and places that we’ve successfully conserved through our actions? What role might private lands play in the big picture for conserving Colorado's biodiversity, now and in the future? What strategies are most likely to be effective given what remains? These are some of the many big questions that The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Colorado Natural Heritage Program (CNHP) have worked to answer collaboratively. Our efforts, which culminated in the publication of the State of Colorado's Biodiversity, began as a way to support TNC's Measures of Success Program, but we soon realized that answering these questions would benefit leaders, managers, decision makers, as well as the general public and the private landowners in whose hands so much of our sustainable future rests. With an emphasis on private lands, we will share the results of this work, examine how it is being implemented broadly to support conservation statewide, and how it is serving as a model for other such efforts

Ecology of an irrigation system, The: wetland creation in an agricultural landscape

2012 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.Irrigation has increased the agricultural productivity of the arid American West, but has also greatly altered the natural landscape. Irrigation canals transport water to 17 million ha of currently irrigated land. Because water is a limited resource in the west, and irrigated agriculture uses approximately 90% of all the water diverted from rivers, much attention has been paid to the efficiency of irrigation systems. Irrigation canals have been shown to leak up to 50% of the water they transport, affecting both groundwater recharge and return flows to rivers, though little work has been done documenting the ecological effects of irrigation canal seepage on wetland ecosystems. This study sought to identify the hydrologic processes linking canals and reservoirs to wetlands, identify the types of wetlands supported by irrigation canal seepage, and document the area of wetlands supported by irrigation within the service area of an irrigation company. All wetlands within the North Poudre Irrigation Company service area in Larimer County were mapped and their hydrologic source determined from visual clues. Groundwater monitoring wells were installed in wetlands adjacent to canals and reservoirs to identify the hydrologic influence of canal seepage on wetland hydrologic regime. To further demonstrate the hydrologic source of wetlands, stable oxygen isotopes were analyzed within wetlands and possible adjacent water sources. Vegetation characteristics and species percent composition was related to environmental variables to highlight the types of wetlands supported by an irrigation infrastructure. A total of 176 wetlands covering 652 ha were mapped, 92% of which were visually connected to the irrigation infrastructure. Wetland water tables fluctuated with adjacent canal flow, with increases in the water table when canals started transporting water, and decreases in water table depth during times when canals did not carry water. Isotopic data indicate that canal leakage is the hydrologic source for adjacent wetlands within the study area. The isotopic signature of canal water matched that of wetlands closer to canals, with evaporatively enriched isotopic signatures in wetlands further from canals. Wetland vegetation composition was related to both salinity and groundwater depth, with salt flats dominated by Atriplex spp. forming in areas with high salinity, marsh communities dominated by Typha latifolia and Schoenoplectus acutus forming in areas with low salinity and deeper standing water, and meadow communities dominated by Carex nebrascensis and Schoenoplectus pungens forming in areas with low salinity and water tables closer to the ground surface. Though land conversion and water diversions have led to dramatic reductions in historic wetland area in some places, it is clear from this study that current agricultural landscapes create wetlands that rely on excess irrigation water for their hydrologic maintenance. Any future changes in irrigation practices or water distribution may have negative consequences on wetland ecosystems

Testing hydrologic performance standards to evaluate wetland restoration

2018 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.Defining success in wetland restoration can be difficult and subjective, as each restoration project has distinct goals. When wetland restoration projects fail to achieve their identified goals, it is often due to inadequately restored water levels. Incorrect water levels can lead to invasion by exotic species, or can alter the type of wetland that was supposed to be restored. To provide guidance to local wetland restoration efforts I investigated the hydrologic niche of Carex pellita, a wet meadow species commonly planted in wetland restoration, along with Typha latifolia, a species of cattail which commonly invades restored sites. Restored wetlands often have higher water levels than naturally occurring wetlands, and the prevailing assumption has been that hydrologic conditions in restored wetlands are not suitable for this species of Carex. Using experimental transplants across a hydrologic gradient, I found that Carex has a much wider hydrologic niche than previously thought. It produced either the same or more biomass in the high water level transplant treatment than in the low water level control plot. Typha responded negatively to being transplanted into areas with lower water levels. My results indicate Typha have filled their entire hydrologic niche in these wetlands and have competitively excluded Carex pellita to a smaller portion of its potential distribution. I also evaluated existing hydrologic and vegetation datasets from regulatory wetland restoration projects across the United States to help inform the development of wetland mitigation policy. The objective of regulatory wetland mitigation is to restore or create wetlands to offset the losses of wetland acreage and function incurred from impacts to existing wetlands. Unfortunately, wetland acreage and function are not always successfully replaced, and performance standards are now used in hopes to improve wetland mitigation outcomes. Because of the agreement in the scientific literature about the role of hydrology in creating and maintaining wetland structure and function, hydrologic performance standards may be an ecologically meaningful way to evaluate restoration outcomes. However, a framework for hydrologic performance standards has not been created or tested to date. I analyzed existing datasets from past and ongoing wetland mitigation projects to identify the number of years it took water levels in restored wetlands to match reference sites, and to test whether similar water levels between restored and reference sites leads to higher cover of native species. Wetland types differed in the number of years it took for water levels to match reference sites. Vernal pools in California took nine years to match reference sites, fens and wet meadows in Colorado took four years, and forested wetlands in the southeastern US were hydrologically similar to reference sites the first year following restoration. Plant species cover in all three restored wetland types was related to the water level similarity to reference sites. Native cover was higher when water levels were more similar to reference sites in some vernal pools, fens, and wet meadows, and was lower in areas where water levels were different. Exotic species cover showed the opposite relationship in fens and wet meadows, where hydrologic similarity led to low cover of exotic species. Forested wetlands showed no consistent relationship between tree seedlings or species richness and hydrologic similarity with reference sites. Based on the general agreement of the importance of hydrology for wetland form and function, hydrologic performance standards should be used in wetland mitigation. My research shows that hydrologic performance standards may also lead to increased vegetation success in some wetland types

National wetland inventory mapping of the Arkansas Headwaters Subbasin

Prepared for: EPA Region 8 Wetlands Program.March 2016.Includes bibliographical references (pages 44-45).Wetlands are an integral component of Colorado's landscape and provide a host of beneficial services, such as wildlife habitat, flood abatement, storm water retention, groundwater recharge, and water quality improvement. Wetlands and riparian areas in the Arkansas Headwaters subbasin support biologically significant resources, including plants animals and natural communities. Decisions about wetland management should be based on a solid understanding of their extent and distribution. Yet for most of Colorado, including the Arkansas Headwaters subbasin, these data have historically been lacking because National Wetland Inventory (NWI) mapping by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was available only on paper. The goal of this project was to create an up-to-date digital map of wetlands in the Arkansas Headwaters subbasin to aid regulatory, conservation and management decisions. The first step was to digitize original 1970–80s NWI maps for areas of the basin lacking digital data. The second step was to create new, updated NWI maps for the subbasin. The last step was to compare the historical and contemporary mapping to evaluate trends in the extent and type of aquatic resources. From this analysis, we attempted to qualitatively distinguish what changes in the mapping represented true changes in the landscape and what changes came from updated mapping methodologies. … Through the NWI mapping and field excursions to the area, it is clear that water development projects over the past 100 years have had a profound and lasting impact on the wetland and aquatic resources of the Arkansas subbasin. With increasing population growth forecasted for the larger Arkansas Basin and the Front Range, and the potential for a warming and drying climate, action should be taken to conserve the important wetland resources of the Arkansas Headwaters subbasin.In partial fulfillment of grant CD-96814101

Evaluating wetland condition in urban Denver

Moderator: David Anderson.Presented at the 8th international congress for wildlife and livelihoods on private and communal lands: livestock, tourism, and spirit, that was held on September 7-12, 2014 in Estes Park, Colorado.Presenter: Bernadette Kuhn.Denver's urban wetlands are poorly mapped, understudied as critical wildlife habitat, and perpetually subject to frequent anthropogenic disturbance. As Denver County continues to lead the state in population growth, current information on the location and status of these wetlands is needed for city planners, land managers, and the public to prioritize conservation and restoration efforts. Our team conducted field-based wetland assessments at 27 sites within Denver County, as well 4 several locations in Denver's Mountain Parks. We used NatureServe's Environmental Integrity Assessment framework, a multi-metric index based on four major scoring categories: landscape context, biotic condition, hydrologic condition, and physiochemical condition. In addition, we used 2010 color infrared imagery to create an updated National Wetland Inventory GIS layer of wetlands in Denver County. NWI maps have not been updated for the County since 1985. We used our results to create a list of prioritized wetlands for conservation and restoration. Despite the poor ecological condition of most sites, our team identified urban wetlands with high plant diversity, rare plant species, and even a rare amphibian occurrence. Our results suggest that although the majority of these wetlands are highly disturbed, they provide critical refuges for wildlife and plant diversity in an otherwise developed landscape

Restauration de zones humides de montagne : le rôle du régime hydrologique et de l'introduction de plantes après 15 ans dans le massif des Rocheuses au Colorado

International audienceTwelve wetland complexes were buried and/or drained by golf course and ski area development in the Colorado Rocky Mountains in the 1980s and early 1990s. We restored all or portions of each wetland, including fens, wet meadows and riparian areas, during 1997-2002. Intensive pre- and post-construction monitoring was used to develop restoration plans and evaluate their success. We revisited the sites to analyze long-term restoration processes in 2013-2016. Prior to construction the depth to the water table was measured weekly in monitoring wells installed through the fill, and into the wetland surfaces during and following restoration. Reference sites for each wetland type were used to characterize water table depth and vegetation for each wetland type. Restoration included removal of fill material and drains to create land surfaces with water table depth and dynamics similar to the reference areas for each wetland type. We planted each site with nursery grown sedges, willows and herbaceous dicots. Post restoration monitoring of water table depth, vegetation composition, sedge shoot density and willow growth was analyzed. The water table depth and dynamics of each restored wetland was similar to suitable reference sites on short and long time scales, indicating a stable hydrologic regime. Carex utriculata reached its maximum shoot density 4-5 years after planting indicating rapid growth and high production. Willow stems were still increasing in height 15 years after planting and basal stem density was also increasing. Most planted herbaceous dicots disappeared, indicating the difficulty of establishing them from plantings. Exotic (non-native) plants have invaded all three wetland types, with their highest cover in riparian areas. Critical factors that led to success were careful hydrological analysis of reference and restoration sites prior to earthwork, creating appropriate land/ground water interactions, and establishing clonal rhizomatous sedges and native willows

Carbon storage and long-term rate of accumulation in high-altitude Andean peatlands of Bolivia

(1) The high-altitude (4,500+ m) Andean mountain range of north-western Bolivia contains many peatlands. Despite heavy grazing pressure and potential damage from climate change, little is known about these peatlands. Our objective was to quantify carbon pools, basal ages and long-term peat accumulation rates in peatlands in two areas of the arid puna ecoregion of Bolivia: near the village of Manasaya in the Sajama National Park (Cordillera Occidentale), and in the Tuni Condoriri National Park (Cordillera Real). (2) We cored to 5 m depth in the Manasaya peatland, whose age at 5 m was ca. 3,675 yr. BP with a LARCA of 47 g m-2 yr-1. However, probing indicated that the maximum depth was 7–10 m with a total estimated (by extrapolation) carbon stock of 1,040 Mg ha-1. The Tuni peat body was 5.5 m thick and initiated ca. 2,560 cal. yr. BP. The peatland carbon stock was 572 Mg ha-1 with a long-term rate of carbon accumulation (LARCA) of 37 g m-2 yr-1. (3) Despite the dry environment of the Bolivian puna, the region contains numerous peatlands with high carbon stocks and rapid carbon accumulation rates. These peatlands are heavily used for llama and alpaca grazing