Abstract
Societal constraints often limit full process restoration in large river systems, making local rehabilitation activities valuable for regeneration of riparian vegetation. A target of much mitigation and restoration is the federally threatened Valley elderberry longhorn beetle and its sole host plant, blue elderberry, in upper riparian floodplain environments. However, blue elderberry ecology is not well understood and restoration attempts typically have low success rates. We determined broad-scale habitat characteristics of elderberry in altered systems and examined associated plant species composition in remnant habitat. We quantified vegetation community composition in 139 remnant riparian forest patches along the Sacramento River and elderberry stem diameters along this and four adjacent rivers. The greatest proportion of plots containing elderberry was located on higher and older floodplain surfaces and in riparian woodlands dominated by black walnut. Blue elderberry saplings and shrubs with stems <5.0 cm in diameter were rare, suggesting a lack of recruitment. A complex suite of vegetation was associated with blue elderberry, including several invasive species which are potentially outcompeting seedlings for light, water, or other resources. Such lack of recruitment places increased importance on horticultural restoration for the survival of an imperiled species. These findings further indicate a need to ascertain whether intervention is necessary to maintain functional and diverse riparian woodlands, and a need to monitor vegetative species composition over time, especially in relation to flow regulation.
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Acknowledgments
Funding for this project was provided by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency, Sacramento County Parks, Sacramento County Department of Environmental Review and Assessment, American River Flood Control District, Pacific Gas and Electric, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District, Western Area Power Authority, California Department of Water Resources and Reclamation Board, Federal Highways Administration, the City of Sacramento, and the University of California, Davis. The manuscript was greatly improved by comments from Thomas Griggs, Greg Golet, Karen Holl, and several anonymous reviewers. We thank JayLee Tuil, Chris Alford, Jacob Mann, Alex Young, Sara Wood, Vince King, Angela Calderaro, Tasila Banda, Denise Piechnik, Sarah Ross, Trevor Burwell, and Julie Remp, as well as Bobby Jo Close and the California Conservation Corps mapping crew, for their enthusiastic help with the field studies. We are grateful to Peter Buck (SAFCA), Mary Maret, Guy Kolling, Trevor Burwell (Sac Co. Parks), Richard Marck (SRFCD), Rich Marovich (Putah Creek Streamkeeper), Greg Golet (TNC), Jan Lowry and Melanie Trunan (Cache Creek Conservancy), and David Wright and Joe Silveira (USFWS) for insights as well as access to sites and data.
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Vaghti, M.G., Holyoak, M., Williams, A. et al. Understanding the Ecology of Blue Elderberry to Inform Landscape Restoration in Semiarid River Corridors. Environmental Management 43, 28–37 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-008-9233-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-008-9233-0