Conservation Planning for Aquatic Biological Integrity in the Klamath-Siskiyou Ecoregion Using Multiple Spatial Scales

Executive Summary

March 2001

Natural resource planning and management requires regional analyses in order to provide trends, overviews, and spatially explicit concepts and designs over a wide range of ecological topics. Recently, the Conservation Biology Institute completed a conservation assessment for the region in which physical, cultural, and biological features were analyzed to formulate a conservation plan founded on scientifically defensible goals. Terrestrial considerations were more heavily emphasized over aquatic concerns and we focused only on intermediate spatial scales. Whether terrestrial or aquatic, conservation assessments and plans should strive to be truly multi-scalar. It seems natural and intuitive to do so since ecosystems are made up of many subsystems, often organized and described as a nested hierarchy, but a truly multi-scalar approach has proven to be technically challenging for many reasons. The nested nature of watersheds presents perhaps one of the best analytical foundations for conducting ecological studies.

This report contains three main sections: (1) Landscape Change in the Klamath-Siskiyou from 1972 to 1992, (2) Subwatershed Assessment of the Rogue Basin with an Emphasis on Salmonids, and (3) Watershed Characterization and Impact Assessment in the Applegate and Sucker Creek Watersheds. The objective of this project was to analyze the Klamath-Siskiyou region from an aquatics perspective and demonstrate how a multi-scale approach could be used to make improvements in conservation planning and resource management particularly as it pertains to aquatic biodiversity.

Section II

A management plan for the Rogue Basin will need to take into account the major factors affecting habitat quality and salmon at this spatial scale. Despite some limitations, our GIS-based model (designed to assess relative subwatershed condition in the Rogue Basin) provides a useful tool for salmon recovery in the Rogue Basin with applicability elsewhere. Strengths of the model include the fact that it is simple, organized at the watershed level as recommended by the National Research Council, and uses readily available surrogate data to examine suitability of watersheds for aquatic biotic integrity. In addition, our analysis allows natural resource managers to locate problem areas within the larger subbasins of the Rogue Basin, and identify and prioritize smaller subwatersheds for further examination at finer scales, as recommended in the Southwest Initiative. In this way, conservation efforts and habitat protection and restoration can be targeted for more detailed analysis and management action.

Section III

The catchment model developed for the Little Applegate and Sucker Creek watersheds may provide a valuable tool for assessing and managing aquatic resources in the region, particularly as it applies to site-specific conservation actions. Of the three sections in this report, this section contains the newest watershed mapping and assessment concepts that will require substantial field verification with subsequent model modification before a useful, spatially explicit predictive tool is available. Our goal is to conduct the necessary fieldwork during the summer of 2001 to improve the modeling approach and then try to modify the technique so it can be used in other areas.

For more information, please contact Jim Strittholt.