CFP Ecosystem Restoration 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which technique is most effective for restoring riparian vegetation to stabilize stream banks and reduce sediment input?
- Live staking with native willows and dogwoods (Correct answer)
- Planting turf grass along the bank edge
- Installing concrete revetments
- Applying herbicides to remove all vegetation
Correct answer: Live staking with native willows and dogwoods
Live staking with native willows and dogwoods establishes root systems that stabilize banks and provide fish habitat structure.
Question 2: What is the primary goal of large wood (LW) placement in stream restoration?
- Increase flow velocity to scour the channel
- Create hydraulic complexity, pools, and cover for fish (Correct answer)
- Remove sediment from the streambed
- Reduce riparian plant establishment
Correct answer: Create hydraulic complexity, pools, and cover for fish
Large wood placement increases hydraulic complexity, forming pools and cover that enhance fish habitat.
Question 3: Nutrient spiraling length in a stream decreases when restoration efforts successfully increase:
- Canopy cover
- Biotic uptake and retention capacity (Correct answer)
- Channel gradient
- Water temperature
Correct answer: Biotic uptake and retention capacity
Shorter nutrient spiraling lengths indicate higher biotic uptake and retention, reflecting improved ecosystem function.
Question 4: Which metric best indicates successful macroinvertebrate community recovery following restoration of a degraded stream?
- Increase in EPT (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera) taxa richness (Correct answer)
- Dominance of Chironomidae and Oligochaeta
- High abundance of tolerant gastropods
- Reduction in total macroinvertebrate density
Correct answer: Increase in EPT (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera) taxa richness
EPT taxa are pollution-sensitive indicators; their return signals improved water quality and habitat conditions.
Question 5: When reconnecting floodplains to their river channel, the primary ecological benefit for fish is:
- Increased chloride concentrations
- Access to floodplain nursery habitat and food resources (Correct answer)
- Reduced dissolved oxygen during high flows
- Greater channel incision over time
Correct answer: Access to floodplain nursery habitat and food resources
Floodplain reconnection provides fish with spawning and nursery habitat and increases allochthonous food inputs.
Question 6: Reference reach analysis in stream restoration primarily serves to:
- Identify the nearest downstream impoundment
- Establish restoration targets based on a comparable undisturbed system (Correct answer)
- Determine minimum instream flow requirements only
- Calculate fish population densities before restoration
Correct answer: Establish restoration targets based on a comparable undisturbed system
A reference reach provides design templates and success benchmarks derived from a minimally disturbed, comparable system.
Question 7: Which sediment management practice most directly improves spawning habitat for gravel-spawning salmonids?
- Adding fine clay sediment to existing riffles
- Installing settling basins upstream to trap fine sediment
- Increasing riparian buffers to reduce upland erosion
- Both B and C (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Both B and C
Combining upstream settling basins with riparian buffers reduces fine sediment delivery and improves gravel permeability for egg survival.
CFP Ecosystem Restoration 2
Which technique is most effective for restoring riparian vegetation to stabilize stream banks and reduce sediment input?