| Wetland Vegetation Mapping | Wetland Plant Key | Klamath Tribal Culture | Tailored Outdoor Ed | Chiloquin Treatment Wetland |
We have four projects we're developing at this time:
- The first is a project with the Bureau of Land Management and possibly The Nature Conservancy to develop vegetation maps of our local wetlands.
- Another is to develop a Wetland Vegetation Key Database to facilitate identification of wetland plants. The database will be searchable and will contain pictures of key distinguishing plant characters.
- Thirdly, we are working on a project to capture some of the traditional Klamath Tribal technology and cultural activities in book and video format.
- And finally we hope to develop a project exploring the ways to tie educational methods to student preferences and backgrounds to make outdoor education more effective across the diversity of students in the Klamath Basin.
- We are also hoping to cooperate with the City of Chiloquin and the US Fish & Wildlife Partnership Program to restore a small wetland for tertiary water treatement, but this project is on hold at present.
Vegetation Mapping
We are developing within KWERI the capability to generate high-resolution vegetation maps to characterize vegetation zones within wetlands and to chart movement of the boundaries of these zones over time. We hope to partner with Meghan Halabisky at the University of Washington in Dr. Monika Moskal's Laboratory to adapt their approach to wetland mapping of arid region wetlands to this high-resolution vegetation mapping. The 2009 NAIP 0.5 meter images will provide the basis of our maps. We will segment these maps into defined regions based upon their spectral properties, and then through field work and image interpretation, assign various regions to vegetation types. If all goes according to plan, once these segments or regions are assigned to vegetation types, a computer algorithm will expand the assignment across the larger region of interest.
We will subsequently attempt to expand the mapping across all the wetlands of the northern portion of Upper Klamath Lake. When we are able to generate accurate vegetation maps across a particular wetland, we will be in a postion to map boundary changes that occur as a function of restoration management practices. This will facilitate the Adaptive Management Practices of the federal agencies responsible for these projects and help the community of wetland scientists to better understand the factors responsible for generating particular changes.
The Wood River Wetland is being managed by the Bureau of Land Management with a particular emphasis on reversing the subsidence that occurred upon draining. The high biomass species, Typha latifolia, Sparganium eurycarpum, Schoenoplectus acutus, and to a lesser extent, Eleocharis macrostachya are thought to be most advantageous for building peat and consequently raising the surface of these wetlands. Patterned after the studies on Twitchell Island in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, modulation of water levels to maintain water at levels low enough to be conducive for growth of these species while at the same time avoiding low water levels that facilitate the breakdown of the biomass that they produce, should maximize the rate of subsidence reversal. If KWERI is able to map the relevant vegetation zones and measure changes in their extent over time, land managers will have a great resource to help them judge the effects of their actions on the wetlands.
We also believe having a quantified description of the vegetation of the UKB wetlands will encourage others to explore the possibilites of projects in this area. It will provide information regarding the types and extent of vegetation and thereby give a clearer picture of habitat possibilities and specific wetland characteristics available.
Wetland Plant Key Database
KWERI has developed a database with all the plant species found locally by compiling available species list and adding new species that we find in our work. We are developing this database to make it easily searchable using visible characteristics, and we are compiling photographs of the plants including particularly photographs of key characters that distinguish species. We have found that in many manuals and keys there are not adequately detailed photos or drawings of key structures used to distinguish species. Because of this, the user often is left with a sense of ambiguity about the presence or absence or more commonly the degree of a key characteristic. The plan is to develop a searchable database where eventually all such characters are pictured.
This effort has been inspired by a desire to make available in modern formats the equivalent of the drawings that are available in the more professional manuals such as that of Hitchcock and Cronquist. We will develop a database to which we (and others) can add photos over time that unambiguously display all key characters of each species. We also will convert the database to either an app for smartphone-type devices or a web accessible form such that it can be easily queried in the field and photos can be displayed at a resolution equivalent to devices used in the field such as hand lenses.
Traditional Klamath Tribal Culture, Technology & Ethnobotany
KWERI is working with Ivan Jackson, a Klamath Tribal member that has dedicated the last 20+ years of his life to rediscovering and preserving the traditional ways of life of his people. We hope to help Ivan transfer his knowledge to the written word with illustrations and photography adequate to reproduce his work, and perhaps get some video documentation as well. He uses all locally gathered materials, many from the wetlands, to make clothing, basketry, bows and arrows, fishing spears and nets, housing, matting, boats, tools and all the other necessities of traditional Klamath Tribal life. He is also knowledgable about the seasonal cycle of activities his ancestors followed and their methods of hunting and gathering the resources they required.
We are very excited about this project and believe Ivan's knowledge and skills to be unparalleled with respect to this region. We believe getting this information recorded for posterity to be a project exemplary of our effort to tie local natural history with our cultural and scientific mission.
Tailoring Outdoor Education to the Student
KWERI is conceptualizing at this time a project to investigate the impact of student preferences and backgrounds on the outcomes of their outdoor education experience. We hope this will allow us and others to tailor our programs to reach a broader diversity of students. This is inspired by a desire to meet students "where they are" to help them interpret their surroundings and understand better the interplay of humans and our environment. We will include factors such as learning style preferences, but also plan on exploring other aspects of student preferences and perspectives, as well.
Chiloquin Water Treatment Wetland
This project is on hold presently because of word from Mark Cobb, Chiloquin Mayor, that the county is reluctant to pursue this effort and they still own the land. KWERI still believes this is an excellent opportunity for the kids of Chiloquin to participate "hands-on" in a restoration project, but Chiloquin needs the cooperation of the county to proceed.
Chiloquin City Council has expressed an interest in restoring a wetland next to the site of the Old Chiloquin Lumber Mill. This mill closed down several years ago, and the land has been cleaned up to a limited extent under the direction of the Environmental Protection Agency. There had once been a wetland at the nothern border of this site. It was proposed that though the water discharged from the city water treatment plant into the Williamson River meets all quality standards at this time, it could be further improved if that water was channeled through a wetland prior to flowing into the river. The City Council voted to explore this alternative and voted to include our Executive Director, Jim Litts, on the staff of project managers developing this option. The City Council was particularly interested in the idea of including the schools in the stewardship of this project.
Since this wetland is immediately adjacent to Chiloquin Elementary and High Schools, this fits perfectly into our mission of restoring wetland functions in conjunction with expanding stewardship opportunities for students. This project is in partnership with an experienced project manager from the US Fish & Wildlife Partnership Program. We are very excited about the potential it offers both in terms of restoring a wetland and in terms of providing a wonderful outdoor classroom experience for many years to come for Chiloquin school students.
