Floodplain Forest

Managing the Floodplain: Calling Attention to a Neglected Ecosystem

…visit the sandbar on some bright morning just after the sun has melted the daybreak fog. The artist has now laid his colors, and sprayed them with dew. The Eleocharis sod, greener than ever, is now spangled with blue mimulus, pink dragon-head, and the milk-white blooms of Sagittaria. Here and there a cardinal flower thrusts a red spear skyward. At the head of the bar, purple ironweeds and pale pink joe-pyes stand tall against the wall of willows. And if you have come quietly and humbly, as you should to any spot that can be beautiful only once, you may surprise a fox-red dear, standing knee-high in the garden of his delight.
– Aldo Leopold, “The Green Pasture” (August, A Sand County Almanac)

With their abundance of wetlands and biting insects, river floodplains top few lists for “favorite get away,” yet places like the Lower Wisconsin River and the Leopold Memorial Reserve are lauded as some of the most scenic areas in the state.  These landscapes, defined by seasonal flood events along rivers, also abounded with unique, diverse, and beautiful habitats for native plants and animals, notes Ashley Stanton, who recently earned her Master of Science degree in University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development program.

Ashley, a native of Beloit, delivered a seminar on her findings on Wednesday at the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center Home Range Hall. As part of her studies, Ashley  worked closely with the Aldo Leopold Foundation. Leopold’s “sand farm” lies within the floodplain of the Wisconsin River, and, like many floodplain landscapes, the lands of the Leopold Memorial Reserve have seen great change over the past century as dams, levees, and other structures have changed the flow of the river.

By controlling flooding, the primary means of ecological disturbance has been greatly reduced, and diverse floodplain communities have tended to change into closed canopy upland forests, providing fewer types of habitat and fewer acres of habitat for many native plant and animal species. Ashley looked at possible management scenarios to mimic or re-introduce disturbance to promote greater biodiversity in floodplain ecosystems.

An important requirement of the UW’s Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development program is incorporating a social component into scientific research.  Ashley surveyed 14 public landowners and 63 private landowners for her project—a significant sample of landowners who own or manage over 60,000 acres in the Wisconsin River floodplain between the Wisconsin Dells and Prairie du Chien. While some 30 percent of private landowners said they never use their floodplain property, almost three-quarters reported that they are interested in receiving assistance with managing their property.

Ashley also developed a template that private land owners can use to assess the ecological health of their floodplain property and identify appropriate management opportunities on their land, and she developed a case study for her thesis using the Leopold Memorial Reserve.
Comments and questions may be directed to Ashley Stanton’s advisor and ALF Senior Fellow Stan Temple at satemple@wisc.edu.