Prioritization of Riparian Restoration Projects in Kawuneeche Valley at Rocky Mountain National Park using Wildlife Exclusion Fencing
Cooper DJ. 2008. Prioritization of Riparian Restoration Projects in Kawuneeche Valley at Rocky Mountain National Park using Wildlife Exclusion Fencing. Colorado State University
Recommendations for fence exclosures in Kawuneeche Valley. Riparian communities dominated by tall willows are one of the most important habitats for wildlife in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). This habitat is vital for migratory birds, beaver, small mammals, and large mammals, as well as invertebrates. Beaver use tall willows to build dams across streams, and these dams exert a tremendous influence on the hydrologic regime and landform development in many valley bottoms in RMNP (Westbrook et al. 2006). For example in the Kawunechee Valley, beaver dams can divert water onto floodplains, resulting in the inundation of large areas, which maintains existing willow and sedge communities and forms landforms suitable for new community development (Figure 1). In addition, dams influence ground water levels producing large areas with high water tables during the summer (Figure 2). The hydrologic influence of beaver dams is much greater than that produced by large floods in the Kawunechee Valley, and beavers are a key geomorphic engineer that has driven the formation of floodplains, fluvial landforms, and wetland and riparian habitat (Westbrook et al. 2006).
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Cooper, David
- Date of Issue
- 2008-06
- Units
- ROMO
- Keywords
- Beaver, Beaver Dam, Elk, elk browsing, Flooding, stream reach, wildlife exclusion fencing, Willow