Ongoing Projects:
The Sierra Nevada Beaver Project: Using Natural Dam Builders to Enhance Climate and Drought Resilience in California
As Earth’s climate continues to warm at an unprecedented rate, drought will have reverberating impacts on people and ecosystems around the world. Nature-based solutions may be a key long-term option for adapting to climate change-induced drought. In California, beavers and the dams they build could offer a natural solution for storing water in the Sierra Nevada Mountain range, where climate related drought is a serious threat. The Sierra Nevada Beaver Project investigates the potential for beavers in the Sierra Nevada to increase water storage capacity for California and act as ecosystem-engineers in the fight against climate change. In collaboration with NASA and the Center for Biological Diversity, we are using cutting edge modelling techniques to estimate beaver dam capacity in California and how restoring beaver populations would change water dynamics across the state.
As Earth’s climate continues to warm at an unprecedented rate, drought will have reverberating impacts on people and ecosystems around the world. Nature-based solutions may be a key long-term option for adapting to climate change-induced drought. In California, beavers and the dams they build could offer a natural solution for storing water in the Sierra Nevada Mountain range, where climate related drought is a serious threat. The Sierra Nevada Beaver Project investigates the potential for beavers in the Sierra Nevada to increase water storage capacity for California and act as ecosystem-engineers in the fight against climate change. In collaboration with NASA and the Center for Biological Diversity, we are using cutting edge modelling techniques to estimate beaver dam capacity in California and how restoring beaver populations would change water dynamics across the state.
Restored off-channel pond habitats create thermal regime diversity and refuges within a Mediterranean-climate watershed
The Klamath watershed in northern California and southern Oregon is impacted by hydropower dams and poor water quality that have devastated populations of native salmonids. High summer water temperature in particular degrades salmonid habitat. One method of restoring cool-water habitats is to construct man-made off-channel ponds that are fed by groundwater and connected to Klamath River tributaries. To assess the effectiveness of ponds for creating cool-water thermal refuge habitat for juvenile steelhead trout and coho salmon, we monitored water temperature from July 2020 to July 2021 in nine off-channel ponds and creeks in the mid-Klamath area. We used Multivariate Autoregressive State-Space (MARSS) models to assess the spatial pattern of thermal regime diversity. Our results indicated that ponds create the maximum amount of thermal regime diversity, meaning that all ponds had distinct temperature regimes that differed significantly from each other, from creeks, and from the mainstem Klamath. Additionally, we found that ponds buffer daily and seasonal changes in water temperature and provide more stable thermal habitats compared to creeks. We also analyzed historical (10 years) pond temperature data via wavelet analysis, and found that the temperature buffering capacity of ponds increases over time, partially due to the development of shading vegetation.
The Klamath watershed in northern California and southern Oregon is impacted by hydropower dams and poor water quality that have devastated populations of native salmonids. High summer water temperature in particular degrades salmonid habitat. One method of restoring cool-water habitats is to construct man-made off-channel ponds that are fed by groundwater and connected to Klamath River tributaries. To assess the effectiveness of ponds for creating cool-water thermal refuge habitat for juvenile steelhead trout and coho salmon, we monitored water temperature from July 2020 to July 2021 in nine off-channel ponds and creeks in the mid-Klamath area. We used Multivariate Autoregressive State-Space (MARSS) models to assess the spatial pattern of thermal regime diversity. Our results indicated that ponds create the maximum amount of thermal regime diversity, meaning that all ponds had distinct temperature regimes that differed significantly from each other, from creeks, and from the mainstem Klamath. Additionally, we found that ponds buffer daily and seasonal changes in water temperature and provide more stable thermal habitats compared to creeks. We also analyzed historical (10 years) pond temperature data via wavelet analysis, and found that the temperature buffering capacity of ponds increases over time, partially due to the development of shading vegetation.
Centering 30 × 30 conservation initiatives on freshwater ecosystems
Regional, national, and international 30 × 30 conservation initiatives would be strengthened by including a specific focus on freshwater ecosystem conservation that supplements terrestrial conservation strategies. Globally, freshwater habitats support essential biodiversity and ecosystem services, yet are being lost at disproportionately high rates relative to terrestrial systems. Making freshwater ecosystems an explicit focus of 30 × 30 initiatives would assist in curtailing these losses while advancing 30 × 30's mission to address climate change, economic sustainability, food security, and equitable outdoor access across a variety of landscapes. Here, we explain how fresh water can serve as a key piece of 30 × 30 conservation efforts. We emphasize that to address the challenges of traditional area-based conservation programs, 30 × 30 should (1) focus on watershed-scale conservation planning and (2) evaluate conserved areas based on five freshwater priorities: connectivity, watershed disturbance, flow alteration, water quality, and biodiversity. We use examples from the US state of California to illustrate how addressing freshwater systems can help guide 30 × 30 conservation.
Published here; press release here
Regional, national, and international 30 × 30 conservation initiatives would be strengthened by including a specific focus on freshwater ecosystem conservation that supplements terrestrial conservation strategies. Globally, freshwater habitats support essential biodiversity and ecosystem services, yet are being lost at disproportionately high rates relative to terrestrial systems. Making freshwater ecosystems an explicit focus of 30 × 30 initiatives would assist in curtailing these losses while advancing 30 × 30's mission to address climate change, economic sustainability, food security, and equitable outdoor access across a variety of landscapes. Here, we explain how fresh water can serve as a key piece of 30 × 30 conservation efforts. We emphasize that to address the challenges of traditional area-based conservation programs, 30 × 30 should (1) focus on watershed-scale conservation planning and (2) evaluate conserved areas based on five freshwater priorities: connectivity, watershed disturbance, flow alteration, water quality, and biodiversity. We use examples from the US state of California to illustrate how addressing freshwater systems can help guide 30 × 30 conservation.
Published here; press release here
Past Projects:
Environmental Impact Assessment (eDNA component) for Upper-Trishuli 1 Hydropower Dam
Hydropower development is progressing quickly in Nepal, often with minimal government regulation or environmental impact assessments. The International Finance Corporation hired CMDN to conduct a biodiversity assessment in the Trishuli River before the construction of the Upper-Trishuli 1 dam. CMDN utilized environmental DNA (eDNA) to assess fish biodiversity, and also surveyed basic water chemistry, macroinvertebrates, and periphyton.
Hydropower development is progressing quickly in Nepal, often with minimal government regulation or environmental impact assessments. The International Finance Corporation hired CMDN to conduct a biodiversity assessment in the Trishuli River before the construction of the Upper-Trishuli 1 dam. CMDN utilized environmental DNA (eDNA) to assess fish biodiversity, and also surveyed basic water chemistry, macroinvertebrates, and periphyton.
The prevalence of Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) in street dogs and wildlife in Bhaktapur, Nepal
This study used non-invasive genetic sampling techniques (scat sampling) to screen for and genetically characterize Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) in street dog populations in Bhaktapur (a suburb of Kathmandu). CDV has been known to transfer between canids and large felids, therefore presenting a possible risk to Nepal’s big cats, especially leopards residing in the Kathmandu Valley. We collaborate with partners such as Vet for your Pet- The Animals' Clinic and the Himalayan Mutt Project. In June with help from our partners, we finished collecting over 50 scat samples. Our genetic team identified a new strain of CDV in these samples that is possibly unique to Nepal. Further optimization of the viral genome, and leopard scat sampling, are currently underway.
Check out this introductory video, and take a look at this article by our collaborators at the Himalayan Mutt Project.
This study used non-invasive genetic sampling techniques (scat sampling) to screen for and genetically characterize Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) in street dog populations in Bhaktapur (a suburb of Kathmandu). CDV has been known to transfer between canids and large felids, therefore presenting a possible risk to Nepal’s big cats, especially leopards residing in the Kathmandu Valley. We collaborate with partners such as Vet for your Pet- The Animals' Clinic and the Himalayan Mutt Project. In June with help from our partners, we finished collecting over 50 scat samples. Our genetic team identified a new strain of CDV in these samples that is possibly unique to Nepal. Further optimization of the viral genome, and leopard scat sampling, are currently underway.
Check out this introductory video, and take a look at this article by our collaborators at the Himalayan Mutt Project.
