#UCDavis - Students Lead #HabitatRestoration at #RussellRanch

Fri, March 20, 2026

"At Russell Ranch, just west of campus along Russell Boulevard, a transformation is underway. What was once grazed #pasture and alfalfa field is becoming a thriving #NativeHabitat led by UC Davis students and funded by #TheGreenInitiativeFund, or #TGIF.

"The Russell Ranch Slough Restoration Project, designed and implemented by the Arboretum and Public Garden’s Learning by Leading™ Ecological Land Management, or #ELM, team, is now at its midpoint. Site preparation is complete, invasive species have been cleared, and nearly 200 native trees and shrubs have been planted along the seasonal slough.

" 'Projects like this show students that restoration isn’t theoretical. It’s something they can design and implement themselves,' said Miles DaPrato, environmental steward for the Arboretum and Public Garden and staff mentor for the ELM team.

"Turning Working Land into #WildlifeHabitat

"The 2.5-acre site sits within the #PutahCreek Riparian Reserve, surrounded by agriculture and rural residences. Rather than separating nature from working landscapes, the project shows how the two can work together — creating habitat while improving the ecological function of the land.

"This past fall, students removed old livestock fencing that blocked #wildlife movement, prepared the soil, and seeded the site with locally adapted #NativeGrasses and #wildflowers timed to the first seasonal rains.

"Over the winter, the team planted nearly 200 native trees and shrubs, including #ValleyOak, #Cottonwood, #Willow, #Elderberry and #Toyon. Temporary drip irrigation has been installed to help the young plants establish during their first critical summers. 'You can study restoration in class, but being out here actually doing the work is completely different,' said Keira Folkers, Environmental Engineering, 2026, and Kayden Delvo, Environmental Science and Management, 2026. 'You start to understand the land, the timing of the seasons and the decisions that go into every step.' "

Learn more:
https://publicgarden.ucdavis.edu/news/students-lead-habitat-restoration-russell-ranch

#SolarPunkSunday #California #HabitatRestoration #Wildlife #CoExistence

#MOFGA - #PlantCorridors

By Heather McCargo, Photos by Jean English, Winter 2014-2015

"#NativePlant corridors attract #pollinators and #wildlife to your farm by stretching across your property to connect your piece of #NativeHabitat to nearby #meadows, #wetlands or #woodlands. This creates a much larger area for #NativePollinators to #forage, raise young and migrate. Corridors may run along a road, between fields, in a #swale or on the edge of a #forest, connecting habitats off the property and returning native plants to the parts of the farm not suitable for traditional crops.

This article describes two approaches to creating native habitat corridors: changing #mowing habits to favor native species, and planting woody and herbaceous combinations to increase native plant diversity on the farm.

Populations of all native species are in decline across the state. Our human footprint is taking its toll on wild creatures, including pollinators such as #bees and #butterflies that are so important on the farm for crop pollination. Native plant species each share an evolutionary history with indigenous insects, birds, reptiles, mammals, bacteria and fungi. When native plants are gone, many of these creatures go too, leading to a collapse of ecosystem function. Farmers benefit from the services provided by a healthy ecosystem, such as groundwater recharge; clean surface streams and ponds; pollination; a diversity of birds, spiders and amphibians to eat many insects including crop pests; and beneficial soil fungi and bacteria. Fortunately, when native plants are reintroduced into a landscape, many of these other creatures return.

As farmers and landowners, we can bring native plants, and the attendant diversity, back into the Maine landscape in a way that works with a farmer’s busy schedule. Many native plants thrive in dry, wet and shady areas that are poor sites for traditional farm crops."

Learn more:
https://www.mofga.org/resources/pollinators/plant-corridors/

#SolarPunkSunday #GardeningForPollinators #NativePlantCorridors #Gardening #Farming #Homesteading #Nature #NatureConservation #NatureRestoration #Maine