Presentation Abstract
The Qwuloolt restoration site is approximately 150 hectares of former estuarine wetland in the Snohomish River system that will have tidal inundation returned via levee breach in late 2015. Qwuloolt is one of several large restoration projects planned for the Snohomish River estuary in the next decade for recovery of salmon and other biota, which together could restore several thousand acres and constitute one of the most significant restoration efforts in Puget Sound. In 2008 we began development and implementation of a comprehensive monitoring plan for Qwuloolt that evaluates a broad suite of abiotic and biotic attributes (e.g., land forms, hydrology, and chemistry; taxonomic composition of plant, invertebrate, fish, and bird assemblages). Four years of pre-breach data document clear contrasts between Qwuloolt and adjacent reference sites. Qwuloolt is subsided, hydrologically isolated, and its biota composed of relatively few species and dominated by nonnative, freshwater species. These results provide an invaluable foundation for scientifically rigorous post-breach evaluation of project performance, and contribute to estuary-wide understanding of cumulative effects of restoration and basic estuarine ecology of Puget Sound.
Session Title
Session S-08D: Salmon Recovery: Implementation and Progress I
Conference Track
Species and Food Webs
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2014 : Seattle, Wash.)
Document Type
Event
Start Date
2-5-2014 8:30 AM
End Date
2-5-2014 10:00 AM
Location
Room 611-612
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Restoration monitoring (Ecology)--Washington (State)--Snohomish River Estuary
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Snohomish River Estuary (Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Included in
Pre-project monitoring of the Qwuloolt restoration in the Snohomish River Estuary
Room 611-612
The Qwuloolt restoration site is approximately 150 hectares of former estuarine wetland in the Snohomish River system that will have tidal inundation returned via levee breach in late 2015. Qwuloolt is one of several large restoration projects planned for the Snohomish River estuary in the next decade for recovery of salmon and other biota, which together could restore several thousand acres and constitute one of the most significant restoration efforts in Puget Sound. In 2008 we began development and implementation of a comprehensive monitoring plan for Qwuloolt that evaluates a broad suite of abiotic and biotic attributes (e.g., land forms, hydrology, and chemistry; taxonomic composition of plant, invertebrate, fish, and bird assemblages). Four years of pre-breach data document clear contrasts between Qwuloolt and adjacent reference sites. Qwuloolt is subsided, hydrologically isolated, and its biota composed of relatively few species and dominated by nonnative, freshwater species. These results provide an invaluable foundation for scientifically rigorous post-breach evaluation of project performance, and contribute to estuary-wide understanding of cumulative effects of restoration and basic estuarine ecology of Puget Sound.
