UC Davis Putah Creek Wildlife Tracking

Program: Advancing the performance of

riparian restoration in California's Riparian

Systems

Evaluate importance of Putah Creek’s riparian habitat

Measure wildlife response

Adaptive management

Improve scientific understanding

Putah Creek Terrestrial Wildlife Tracking Effort

DESCRIPTIVE PHASE

COMPLETED

Bio-Tools designed specifically to integrate with and measure success of habitat restoration and management

Established 14 transects for long-term evaluation of creek wide AND site specific patterns of diversity

Established wildlife distribution maps on 22 one mile-long increments

Vegetation baseline assessments on 54 sites along 22 miles of stream

Species list for all vertebrates along the creek

Species list of native bees and butterflies (principal pollinators)

Birds: 5 years of abundance, diversity and distribution data

Bird Nest Box Program: 8 years of productivity data.

Habitat Relationship Models linking biological systems

Patterns Revealed

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Site

RH

JV F

oca

l S

pec

ies

Div

ersi

ty

(N1)

Riparian Habitat Joint Venture Focal Species Diversity

Original DesignationBy RHJV Based on this site

Least Bell’s Vireo

Observations

Special Status Species

1925 Specimen

and Breeding Record

2004

2005

2005

Investigative Phase

Where we are going

Gain understanding of food web and biotic inter-relationships

Quantify insects in floodplain

Measure change at restoration sites

Examine patterns

Vegetation is Fundamental

Measure of Habitat

Measure changes at restoration sites

Establish baseline conditions

Link to future

Efficient habitat management and

restoration

Birds are the final key to understanding the system

Temporal and spatial patterns

Assess food web relationships

Measure productivity

Track Special Status Species

Investigate other limiting factors

Provide meaningful information

Productsbeyond

management

Putah Creek

Terrestrial

Wildlife Evaluat

ion Progra

m

2005 Report

Museum of Wildlife and Fish BiologyDepartment of Wildlife, Fish & Conservation BiologyUniversity of California, Davis

PUBLICATIONSLindgren, E., M.A. Truan, R.E. Melcer Jr., and A. Engilis, Jr. 2006. Putah Creek Terrestrial Wildlife Monitoring Plan. Mus. of Wildlife and Fish Biol. Occasional Papers No.2. University of California, Davis, CA.

Melcer Jr., R. E., E. Lindgren, M. A. Truan, and A. Engilis, Jr. 2006. Yolo Bypass Riparian Bird and WildlifeMonitoring Program, 2005 Progress Report. Mus. of Wildlife and Fish Biol. University of California, Davis, CA.

Truan, M.A., A. Engilis, Jr., and I.E. Torres. 2005. Putah Creek Terrestrial Wildlife Monitoring Plan: 2004 Results. Mus. of Wildlife and Fish Biol. Occasional Papers No.1. University of California, Davis, CA

Truan, M.L. 2004. Spatiotemporal Gradient Analysis in Shredded Ecosystems: The Effects ofLinear Fragmentation on Biodiversity. PhD Dissertation. Univ. of Calif. Davis.

Truan, M.A. 2003. Western Bluebird as host for Brown-headed Cowbird: A new record fromCalifornia. Western Birds 34(2).

OUTREACH

COMMUNICATIONhttp://mwfb.ucdavis.edu/http://www.putahcreek.org/Nestbox.pdfhttp://www.putahcreek.org/http://www.watershedportals.org/lpccc

Why Fund Putah Creek WatershedEstablished Gains

1. Existing long-term, unique dataset

2. Diverse partnerships

3. Proven performance

4. Long-term agreements in place for continuation of wildlife evaluation (through 2017 and beyond)

5. UCD is a member of the LPCCC and waives overhead(Substantial cost savings)

Why Fund Putah Creek WatershedNeeds and Objectives

1. Analyze existing data set

2. Expand restoration planning role of wildlife team

3. Capture food web dynamics

4. Improve restoration performance

5. Develop model program for analysis of California riparian systems