Abstract
The incorporation of native plants into the Baduwa’t Estuary overlook encourages the practice of preserving local tribal resources and promotes the valuable ecosystem services provided by the estuary’s bluff. The recent restoration and trail development of the Baduwa’t Estuary public access area highlighted the importance of collaboration with the Wiyot Tribe for incorporating culturally significant plants into the site. Wiyot tribal input should be utilized going forward in preserving cultural environmental resources and enhancing the native coastal prairie biodiversity of the site. An objective of this project is to create recommendations for the site's further development in collaboration with the Wiyot tribe. To create a preliminary recommendation planting plan in the form of a map and written recommendations for the land managers, the McKinleyville Community Services District, and CalTrout the project proponent for the Baduwa’t Estuary Restoration and Public Access project. Our project aims to add to the management of the public access area with a recommended planting plan map to guide future landscaping. Vegetative data was collected during a site inventory analysis (SIA) using the quadrat method along a 300 meter transect tape. Species Diversity and Abundance was calculated through total percent cover and analyzed using the Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index. The UZT produced a species diversity of 2.88 (Table 1), the MZT produced a species diversity of 2.14 (Table 2), and the EZT produced a species diversity of 1.78 (Table 3). Based on the composition of the seed mixes that were spread during site restoration by CalTrout in 2022, we determined the vegetative composition of survivorship from the seed mix and how the herbaceous cover might support coastal prairie enhancement through additional select plantings. Our recommended use of both seeding and direct transplanting of select native coastal prairie flora aims to support cultural and environmental resources.
Date
Fall 2023
Department
Environmental Science & Management
Concentration/Emphasis
Ecological Restoration
Advisor/Professor
Daniel Lipe