Project Started in 1990 on the Ron Risdal Farm. Ron Risdal

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2 Project Started in 1990 on the Ron Risdal Farm Ron Risdal

3 Before/After on Specific Sites ( )

4 Before/After on Specific Sites ( )

5 Buffers On Lon Strum Farm Before Before

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7 Riparian Management Systems Buffers Streambank Bioengineering Channel Control Structures Wetlands Managed Grazing

8 Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS Questions: 1. What are the landowner objectives, concerns, experiences, biases? 2. What is the present condition of the site? 3. What short & long term management practices will assure success? 4. Are other riparian practices needed? 5. What cost-share opportunities are available?

9 Filter Strip

10 Big Bluestem Indian Grass Switchgrass Little Bluestem Canada Rye

11 Reed Canary Grass (Phalaris arundinacea) A hearty grass that regenerates from large rhizomatous rootstocks. Grows up to 7 feet tall. A tough perennial that can form a solid mat and crowd out all other vegetation. Found in low to mid elevations growing in marshes, along streams and ditch banks. Considered native, but a Eurasian ecotype has been introduced widely. Reed canary is a major threat to natural wetlands. It out competes most native species. Invasion is associated with disturbances, such as ditch building, stream channeling sedimentation and intentional planting.

12 Species Suitable for Prairie Plantings Grasses Switchgrass Big Bluestem Indiangrass Side-oats Gramma Little Bluestem Canada Wildrye Forbs Yellow Coneflower Black-eyed Susan Pale purple coneflower Compass Plant Purple Prairie Clover Butterfly milkweed Stiff Goldenrod Blazingstar

13 Iowa Ecotype Project

14 Filter Strip - Site Prep/Installation Planting into bean stubble works best. Avoid disking if possible. If corn, disk and cultipack. If sod, mow early fall, then spray with glyphosate (twice if needed). Plant fall or spring fall will favor forbs. Broadcast or drill and then cultipack. Mow 2-3 years at 6-12 inches several times per year to control weeds. Use flail chopper not sickle mower or Use flail chopper, not sickle mower or brush hog.

15 Filter Strip - Maintenance Various burning strategies Burn each year for 3-4 years then every 3-5 years. Spring burns favor warm season grasses. Fall burns favor forbs. Mowing an option.

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20 Filter Strip - Maintenance Concentrated flow areas entering a buffer require grass waterways in conjunction with the buffer. If sediment builds up along buffer edge use disk to pull it back into the field or concentrated flow area could develop. What to do with reed canary grass?

21 Riparian Forest Buffers and Bottomland Timber Establishment

22 X Green Ash Silver Maple Cottonwood Willow Walnut Hackberry

23 Swamp White Oak Red Oak Burr Oak River Birch Sycamore

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33 Different Combinations for Different Conditions Warm Season Grasses Bird habitat/cover/forage Sediment removal from runoff Organic C inputs to soil Soil structure/infiltration No stream shading/detritus Shrubs Vertical structure/habitat Multiple-stems trap debris Woody roots Little stream shading/detritus Trees Vertical structure/habitat Standing biomass/nutrient store Strong woody roots Stream shading/detritus/debris it i Wind reduction

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38 Lessons Learned: 1. Buffers can remove 95% of sediment & 80% of nutrient load in surface runoff contained in sheet flow 2. Soil quality is greater under buffers than row crops Infiltration rates increased 5x Soil microbial biomass increased 2.5x Perennial root biomass much greater Denitrification rates increased 4x Greenhouse gas emissions greatly reduced Soil organic matter increased (It is all about the carbon!) 3. Buffers reduce stream bank erosion by 60% 4. Buffers provide wildlife habitat (4 times increase of bird species)

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40 Photo from the Des Moines Register's Archive From 1966: Here's the caption that ran with this photo in May, 1966: "This line of junked cars along a p p y, j g bend in the Iowa River south of Iowa City were placed there at least 15 years ago, according to the State Conservation Commission, by a farmer trying to control erosion of his cornfield by the river. Such river-bank junkyards have been utilized along several other streams with the approval of the Conservation Commission."

41 Lane s equilibrium Q s * D 50 ~ Q w * S = Stream Power

42 1930s 1990s

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45 What is the Channel Evolution Stage? Disequilibrium and Channel Evolution Stage Will Override Local Vegetation

46 Restricting Stream Access Downstream Upstream

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57 After Before

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59 Photo by Roger Hill

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61 Red-winged Blackbird Song Sparrow Brown-headed Cowbird Common Grackle European Starling Kildeer Field Sparrow

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63 Red-winged Blackbird Song Sparrow Brown-headed Cowbird Common Grackle European Starling Kildeer Field Sparrow

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65 Gray Catbird Yellow Warbler Brown Thrasher Black-capped capped Chickadee

66 Gray Catbird Yellow Warbler Brown Thrasher Black-capped capped Chickadee Eastern Meadowlark Dickcissel Bobolink Savannah Sparrow

67 Photo by Roger Hill

68 Conservation Buffers and Wildlife Diversify Birds respond to structure Need insects in breeding season Wider is Better Narrow = greater predation Understand Design Implications!

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