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Restoring Native Oak Savanna & Prairies

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Restoring Native Oak Savanna & Prairies What is an oak savanna? Suggested reading Restoring Native Oak t Harrington, Constance & Warren Devine, Simply put, a prairie is a grassland with no A Practical Guide to Oak Release, United trees. An oak savanna is a grassland with States Forest Service: PNW-GTR-666, Savanna & Prairies scattered oaks, usually with a spreading February 2006 canopy. An oak woodland is a dense stand of t Thompson, J.; Move Over, Douglas Fir: oak trees that create a continuos canopy. Oregon White Oaks Need Room to Grow, Science Findings, December 2007 Why restore oak savanna & prairies? Project support t Less than 2% of savanna and prairie habitats remain in the Willamette Valley. t Friends of Buford Park & Mt. Pisgah t As native savannas and prairies disappear, so t Lane County Parks Division do species that need these habitats. t Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife t Oregon Department of Forestry t Over 150 plant, animal and insect species t Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board depend on these habitats. t US Fish & Wildlife Service t Nearly all locally-rare species use the prairie and oak savanna habitats. t The greater Mt. Pisgah area, including Buford Park, contains perhaps the largest prairie and oak savanna remnant in public ownership (over 1,000 acres). What are the bene!ts? t Beautiful wild!ower displays and better vistas. t Reduced danger of destructive wild"re. t Better birding and habitat for grass-nesting birds (like the Western meadowlark, Oregon’s state bird). Rare species that will bene!t include: t Western bluebird t Western meadowlark t White breasted nuthatch FRIENDS t Several bat species of Buford Park & Mt. Pisgah t Wayside aster Friends of Buford Park & Mt. Pisgah 1SPUFDUJOHBOEFOIBODJOHOBUJWF t Western pond turtle 10#PYt&VHFOF 03t FDPTZTUFNTBOEDPNQBUJCMFSFDSFBUJPO t Native bees, butter!ies and pollinators tXXXCVGPSEQBSLPSH JOUIF.U1JTHBIBSFB Oak savanna & prairie Why remove trees from savannas and prairies? What about climate change? restoration strategies t To conserve rare oak savanna and prairie With predictions for increased habitats. temperatures and more intense summer t To improve habitat for rare plants and drought, it is likely that oak savanna and prairie t Arrest Douglas "r encroachment of wildlife. ecosystems will become increasingly important white oak habitat. Remove !rs and t To reduce woody fuels that could result in for biodiversity. They may also help reduce the create snags for wildlife. a destructive wild"re. risk of destructive wild"res. Mt. Pisgah habitats t To prepare the site for bene"cial, can serve as a source of native !ora and fauna t Foster vigor, acorn production historically-based ecological burning. to restore other sites, but only if we act to and larger canopies in oak trees. protect them now. Thin selected, small diameter oak Why is it called “habitat restoration?” How did the projects develop? trees with sparse canopies to reduce In this case, removing trees restores open competition for water, nutrients and oak savanna habitat. This restores ecosystem Oak savanna and prairie restoration is a top sunlight. functions necessary to support plants and priority in the statewide Oregon Conservation animals once common throughout the Strategy (Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, Willamette Valley, including species still 2007). Friends of Buford Park & Mt. Pisgah t Retain woody debris within present at Mt. Pisgah. proposed both the Spring Box Savanna and understory to provide wildlife Meadowlark Prairie projects to Lane County, habitat. Pile slash to bene!t small Why intervene in this seemingly which owns the park and approved these rodents, reptiles and other wildlife. natural progression? projects. Sta# of Friends of Buford Park & Scatter large limbs and branches to Mt. Pisgah and Lane County are closely Oak savannas and prairies may disappear coordinating to implement the work. provide perch points and structure if no action is taken. They are already gone for insects, reptiles and birds. from about 98% of their historic Willamette How do we know this will work? Valley range. These habitats have been lost t Enhance native understory to development, agriculture, "re suppression, These methods have been used successfully on the Ft. Lewis Military Reservation in vegetation. Control invasive encroachment from evergreen trees, and invasion by exotic species. Washington, at Bald Hill in Corvallis, along the vegetation and plant a diverse City of Eugene Ridgeline Trail, and many other Nearly all of our locally-rare species need mix of native shrubs, grasses and locations in the Paci"c Northwest. oak savanna and prairie habitats. If we lose wild"owers to bene!t a host of those habitats, we lose those species. Lessons learned from this habitat enhancement project could be applied to wildlife species. Among the rare species that bene"t from other areas of Buford Park. oak savanna and prairie habitat restoration t Conduct periodic ecological burns are a host of native bees, butter!ies and other to maintain the prairie. Partner with pollinators that depend on the much wider Oregon Department of Forestry to diversity of !owers present in oak savanna and conduct ecological burns that double prairie habitats. as wild!re training. According to a leading entomologist at Oregon State University, over three-quarters of Willamette Valley native bees that use these habitats have been lost ..
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