Evaluating Oregon White Oak Habitat Restoration Projects in the South Eugene Ridgeline

Mentor: Peg Boulay

Facilitator: Drew Terhune

Over the past 150 years, fire suppression techniques and the encroachment of conifer forests have drastically reduced the area of historic Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana) savanna. Recent restoration efforts have focused on removal of coniferous species to promote oak vigor and growth. Working with the City of Eugene as part of the Environmental Leadership Program, the goals of our study are to evaluate the success of past restoration project’s attempts to improve Oregon white oak canopy. We will do this through post-management monitoring as well as conducting baseline monitoring studies on oak savanna habitat along the South Eugene Ridgeline. We are re-visiting three study sites from 2010 monitoring efforts and completing tree inventory surveys for two sites newly acquired by the City of Eugene, as well as monitoring heritage trees, analyzing understory habitat, and attempting to ground-truth the City of Eugene’s GIS layers by using the latest GPS technology. With the implementation of this effectiveness monitoring, we hope to show that oak canopy release is a valid method for oak savannah habitat restoration, and provide baseline data for future oak release management and monitoring efforts.