AMPHIBIANS AND FISH. Darren Fong Aquatic Ecologist, National Park Service. Emily Burns Director of Science & Education, Save the Redwoods League

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1 REDWOOD FORESTS BIRDS Tom Gardali Director, Pacific Coast & Central Valley Group, Point Blue Conservation Science AMPHIBIANS AND FISH Darren Fong Aquatic Ecologist, National Park Service PLANTS Emily Burns Director of Science & Education, Save the Redwoods League FIRE Michael Swezy Watershed Manager, Marin Municipal Water District Saturday October 29, 2016

2 The conifer forest- and mixed hardwoodassociated birds: mostly good and very good for an at-risk flycatcher Thomas Gardali Director Pacific Coast and Central Valley Group

3 What did we do? 1. We chose 18 representative species 2. We created a database Steller's Jay Northern Spotted Owl Dark-eyed Junco Hermit Warbler Pacific Wren Olive-sided Flycatcher Brown Creeper Black-throated Gray Warbler Sharp-shinned Hawk Golden-crowned Kinglet Pileated Woodpecker Audubon's Warbler Band-tailed Pigeon Red-breasted Nuthatch Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Varied Thrush Red Crossbill

4 How are conifer- mixed hardwood forest birds doing? GOOD! Caution Caution

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6 Conclusions Condition rating for conifer- mixed hardwood forest birds is good This group is well sampled Thank You Co-authors: Renee Cormier Lizzy Edson Allen Fish Bill Merkle Photographs: Steve Zamek Peter LaTourrette The Olive-sided Flycatcher is increasing here but declining range-wide. Thomas Gardali Director Pacific Coast and Central Valley Group

7 Darren Fong Aquatic Ecologist National Park Service AMPHIBIANS

8 Typical Conditions in Redwood Forest Microclimate Abundant moisture (fog drip) Cool, shady and protected Habitat structure Large downed woody material Seasonal or permanent drainage features

9 What things like cool, shady, protected habitats? Not sun-divas!! No Foothill-yellow legged frogs (except in North Coast rivers-eel and Van Duzen with adjacent redwoods) No California red-legged frogs Typical amphibian residents in our Redwood habitats Streams California giant salamanders (CGS) Breeding and larval development Perennial water Large rocks for cover California and rough-skinned newts

10 Inhabitants of Redwood riparian/terrestrial habitats Ensatinas Slender salamanders Juvenile and adult stages of CGS and newts Habitat requirements Downed large wood Thick duff

11 Conclusion No long-term monitoring or even complete inventory of amphibians using redwood forests/streams in One Tam area (info gap) Amphibians sensitive to changes in forest floor structure, moisture conditions on land, non-native animals (streams) and streamflow Darren Fong Aquatic Ecologist Golden Gate National Recreation Area

12 FISH IN THE REDWOOD FORESTS OF ONE TAM Darren Fong Aquatic Ecologist Golden Gate National Recreation Area

13 Conditions in Redwood Forest Streams Microclimate Abundant moisture (fog drip) Cool, shady and protected Summer fog helps maintain creek life

14 Typical Conditions in Redwood Forest Streams Natural forest processes maintain good creek conditions Habitat structure for small Redwood streams Large downed woody material Large wood maintains pools Riparian trees provide undercut banks and food EVEN TREE ROOTS IMPORTANT!!!!

15 What are typical fish in redwood creeks? California has 6 fish provinces (zones of similar influences) Coastal redwoods in NorCal in the North Coast Province

16 RESIDENT FISH Sculpin (3-4 species) Bottom dwellers Poor upstream dispersal (sensitive to natural/artificial droughts) Threespine stickleback Slow moving parts of streams Sacramento sucker California roach A native minnow not a cockroach

17 ANADROMOUS FISH (Spawn freshwater and return to ocean to rear) Lamprey (1-2 species) Adults return from ocean to breed Coho salmon (federally endangered) Spawn and die Chinook salmon Largest salmon Steelhead trout (federally threatened) Adults can be repeat spawners

18 Number of Redds Long-term monitoring of steelhead and coho in some of the One Tam streams Coho population in Redwood Creek declining NOAA Recovery Target Kent Canyon Fern Creek Redwood Creek Year Class 1 Year Class 2 Year Class 3 Habitat restoration and protection actions 20 0 Spawner Year Darren Fong Aquatic Ecologist Golden Gate National Recreation Area darren_fong@nps.gov

19 Emily Burns Director of Science & Education Save the Redwoods League PLANTS

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27 Emily Burns Director of Science & Education Save the Redwoods League Conclusion Slide

28 Mike Swezy Watershed Manager Marin Municipal Water District FIRE

29 Redwood long-lived & resilient Shade tolerant Thick bark Basal sprouts Epicormic branching Adventitious roots Germinates in bare soil Rapid early growth

30 Redwoods in Retreat

31 Redwood Forest Fire Regime on Mt. Tamalpais frequent: mean fire return intervals 8-25 years moderate-sized: >25 acres low intensity fires: <4 ft. flame length ignited primarily by Native Americans and occasionally by lightning maintained old growth forest conditions

32 Fire History Prehuman -11,000 years ago, different plant assemblages, lightning fires Native American Burning European settlement - invasive species, cattle, logging Modern Era - parks, fire suppression, more weeds, Sudden Oak Death Now No large fires for 80 to 100 years Future Longer fire season, less soil moisture, more extreme weather events

33 Fire Regime

34 Old-growth is OK!

35 Challenges

36 What we can do

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39 Redwood and Douglas-fir forests

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42 Old-growth forests are within natural range of variation Second-growth forests are in decline and are at risk in the absence of management Large scale investment are needed for mechanical treatments and prescribed fire in order to restore old-growth conditions in second-growth forests

43 Thank You Photo credit: Paul Myers