Long-term aquatic habitat restoration: Mahogany Creek, Nevada, as a case study
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Authors: T. J. Myers, and S. Swanson
Date: 1996
Journal: Water Resources Bulletin
Volume: 32
Number: 2
Pages: 241-252
Summary of Methods: The long-term recovery from abusive grazing of an aquatic habitat and limitations of this recovery was assessed on two watersheds in the Black Rock Mountains of northwestern Nevada. In 1976, Mahogany Creek was no longer grazed by livestock and Summer Camp Creek was put into a rest-rotation grazing system. Aquatic and riparian variables such as pool variables, cover, HCI, water width/depth, bank stability, percent silt, percent cobble/gravel, and silt substrate were measured over 14 years.
Article Summary / Main Points: Bank stability increased the most when livestock were excluded as compared to rest-rotation grazing. Streambank stability was not only influenced by livestock trampling but also flooding and vegetation type. Pool percent, pool measure and pool quality decreased on both sites throughout the study period, with higher quality habitat occurring on the ungrazed sites. There was no trend in gravel/cobble percent, width/depth ratio, HCI with regard to time or management.
Vegetation Types: Riparian and Wetlands
MLRA Ecoregions: 23 Malheur High Plateau
Agrovoc Control Words: Riparian zones Grazing Rivers
Article Review Type: Refereed
Article Type: Documented Case History
Keywords: watershed management, wildland hydrology, sedimentation, environmental monitoring, climatic perturbations, aquatic habitat, rangeland streams
Annotation: The results from this non replicated documented case history are only applicable to these streams in Northeastern Nevada. Additional research needs to be done to make it widely applicable though similar trends and processes may be present in other areas. These results are consistent with some of the findings that came out of another case study done by Myers and Swanson (1995, N Am J Fish Manage 15:428-239) that is available in the RSIS database.
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