Presentation: After the dams: Plant community recruitment in the Klamath reservoirs

Thursday, October 16, 7:00 pm
Presentation: After the dams: Plant community recruitment in the Klamath reservoirs
Presenter: Dr. Chhaya Werner
Location: In-person presentation at the Siskiyou chapter meeting at Southern Oregon University Science Building, Room 161. Join us in-person or via Zoom in from home. To register for Zoom, go to https://bit.ly/npsotalks.

The removal of four dams on the Klamath River marks one of the largest river restoration projects ever conducted. The drained reservoirs – over 2,000 acres of bare ground – will change rapidly as plants come into this space, both through intentional seeding and planting of native species and unassisted spread of native and nonnative species common in our region. Our research group at Southern Oregon University worked in collaboration with the Yurok Tribe’s Revegetation and Monitoring Branch to study plant community response in seeded and unseeded sections of the reservoirs. We present our observations of establishment patterns in the years immediately following dam removal, with a particular focus on the recruitment of willows and oaks, both species of high ecological and cultural importance.

Chhaya Werner, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Ecology in the department of Environmental Science, Policy and Sustainability at SOU. Her doctoral work at the University of California Davis examined the impacts of fire, drought, and priority effects on plant communities, and was advised by Dr. Truman Young and Dr. Susan Harrison. Her postdoctoral research included developing methods to quantify species interactions in diverse communities, applied to patterns of coexistence in California grasslands. Her current research focuses on mechanisms underpinning plant community dynamics in fire-dependent systems, mountain meadows, and the Klamath reservoirs.