Society for Ecological Restoration, Texas Chapter & Texas Riparian Association
Joint Conference
The New Ecology: Managing for Resilience in a Changing World
November 1-2, 2013
Texas Tech University, Llano River Field Station
Junction, Texas

Friday

Keynote: Why Does Everything in Texas Have to be Big?                                                                          John Zak. Associate Dean, TTU College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Soil Biology.

Saturday

Plenary 1: Outside the ‘Zone’: Why We Are All Advocates of Ecology                                                                     Jacquelyn Duke, Senior Lecturer in Biology and the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core (BIC) Program, Baylor University.

Plenary 1: Understanding and Mitigating Soil Legacies to Improve Restoration Success                               Christine Hawkes, Associate Professor of Integrative Biology, College of Natural Resources, The University of Texas at Austin.

Session 1

10:20 Using Watershed Planning Activities and Technology to Convey Riparian Management Messages in the Trinity River Basin of Texas.                                                                                                        Blake Aldredge, Texas A&M University

10:40 The New Ecology: Managing for Resilience in a Changing World.
Kevin Anderson, Austin Water Utility-Center for Environmental Research

11:00 Water Quality Standards and TMDLs Foundations of the Clean Water Act.
Mike Bira, Environmental Protection Agency

11:20 Mitigating the Impacts of Oil and Gas Development in the ‘Last Great Habitat’. The Eagle Ford Shale.       Chase Currie, San Pedro Ranch

11:40 Arundo donax Control and Restoration on Lady Bird Lake in Austin, TX.
Mary Gilroy, City of Austin, Watershed Protection Department, Environmental Resources Management Division

1:20 Age of Residential Development and Recipient Habitat Explain the Distribution and Abundance of Invasive Woody Plants in Central Texas Woodlands.
Gabriel De Jong, Plant Biology, University of Texas at Austin

1:40 Grow Zones: Function Over Form in Riparian Restoration of Urban Creeks.
Ana González, City of Austin, Watershed Protection Department, Environmental Resources Management Division

2:00 Novel Landscapes: Challenges and Opportunities for Design Education.
Sarah Dooling, School of Architecture & Environmental Science Institute, The University of Texas at Austin

2:20 Reconnecting a Community to the Creek: The J.J. Seabrook Stream Restoration, Rain Garden, and Urban Trail Project.
Kristin Pipkin and Michelle Adlong. City of Austin, Watershed Protection Department

2:40 Comparing and Contrasting Grassland Conservation Efforts: Urban Prairies and Landscape-Scale Restoration.
Justin Fischer. University of North Texas

3:00 Does Ecotopic-Based Genetic Diversity Improve Productivity? A Mesocosm Study with Spartina alterniflora.
Courtney Lee. Texas A&M University, Galveston

3:40 Management and Control of Buffelgrass and Kleberg Bluestem to Promote Native Vegetation.
Eric Grahmann. CKWRI, Texas A&M University, Kingsville

4:00 Development of a Regional Scale Tool to Assess Riparian Integrity in Austin, Texas.
Aaron Richter. City of Austin, Watershed Protection Department, Environmental Resource Management Division

4:20A Preliminary Report on Northern Bobwhite Quail Reintroduction at Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area (LLELA).
Ken Steigman, Institute of Applied Science, University of North Texas; LLELA

4:40 Proactive Management of Aquatic Invasive Species Through a Watershed Protection Plan and Partnerships, Upper Llano River, Texas.
Emily Seldomridge. Llano River Field Station, Texas Tech University

5:00 Invasive Species Data Collection: An Ecological Approach to a Complex Problem.
Dan Krenzelok. City of Austin, Planning and Development Review Department, City Arborist Program

Session 2

10:20 Remnant Prairie Reclamation in an Urban Landscape, Houston, Texas.
Stephen Benigno & Carolyn White, Harris County Flood Control District
10:40 An Analysis of Shoreline Stabilization with Coir Logs for Austin, Texas.
Andrew Clamann, City of Austin, Watershed Protection Department, Environmental Resources Management Division

11:00 Application of a Floristic Quality Index to Determine Vegetation Trend on the Clymer Meadow Preserve, Hunt County, Texas.
Charlotte Reemts, The Nature Conservancy
11:20 Identifying Alteration of Natural Flow Regimes to Assess Stream Health A: Summary of Two EPA Region 6 Healthy Watershed Projects.
Brian Fontenot, Environmental Protection Agency
11:40 Burning and Grazing Exotic-Grass Monocultures to Manage Northern Bobwhite Habitat.
Eric Grahmann, CKWRI, Texas A&M University, Kingsville

1:20 Hydrologic Response of Hillslope Seeps and Headwater Streams of the Fort Worth Prairie.
Shannon Jones, Department of Environmental Science, Texas Christian University
1:40 Keep off the Grass? Mechanical vs. Hand Thinning in the Eastern Hill Country.
Devin Grobert, City of Austin, Wildland Conservation Division
2:00 Assessment of Riparian Vegetation Sensitivity to River Hydrology Downstream of a Major Texas Dam.
Blake Alldredge, Texas A&M University
2:20 Utilizing Mechanisms of Competition to Guide Integrated Pest Management of KR Bluestem (Bothriochloa ischaemum).
Kelly Lyons, Department of Biology, Trinity University
2:40 San Marcos River Habitat Conservation: An Experience in Sustainable Riparian Restoration in City Parks I.
Melani Howard and Vincent Debrock, Heritage Tree Care LLC, City of San Marcos
3:00 San Marcos River Habitat Conservation: An Experience in Sustainable Riparian Restoration in City Parks II.
Melani Howard and Vincent Debrock, Heritage Tree Care LLC, City of San Marcos

3:40 Slender Rush-Pea (Hoffmannseggia tenella): Conservation Through Management – A Case Study.
Ashley McCloughan, Department of Animal, Rangeland, and Wildlife Sciences & CKWRI, Texas A&M University, Kingsville
4:00 Landa Lake Invasive Species Removal Project.
Eric Munscher, SWCA Environmental Consultants
4:20 Detection Probability for a Cryptic, Endangered Cactus: Implications for Restoration and Conservation.
Charlotte Reemts, The Nature Conservancy
4:40 Seeds of Change: A Progressive Approach to Sustainable Urban Stormwater Drainage Management.
Michelle Villafranca, Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge
5:00 Ecological and Societal Resistance to Prescribed Extreme Fire Inhibit Management Efforts to Restore Degraded Texas Rangelands Can We Overcome These Constraints?
William Rogers, Department of Ecosystem Science & Management, Texas A&M University, College Station

Session 3

10:20 Alternate Prairie Restoration Strategies Implemented at Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area (LLELA) to Address Extended Drought Conditions.
Ken Steigman, Institute of Applied Science, University of North Texas; LLELA
10:40 Arundo donax on the Blanco River.
Rachel Ranft, The Nature Conservancy
11:00 Habitat Restoration Over 24 Years on a Central Texas Ranch: Methods and Results on Heavily Browsed and Over Grazed Land Invaded with Exotic Species.
David Mahler, Environmental Survey Consulting
11:20 An Urban Riparian Restoration Program at the Human-Ecology Interface.
Mateo Scoggins, City of Austin, Watershed Protection Department
11:40 Ecoculture: Emergence in Urban Ecology.
Matt Welch, City of Austin, Watershed Protection Department, Environmental Resource Management Division

1:20 Restoration of Native Submersed Aquatic Vegetation for Endangered Species: Year One.
Casey Williams, Bio-West, Inc.
1:40 Drought-Induced Woody Plant Mortality and Community Composition Shifts in an Encroached Texas Savanna: Comparing the 1950s and the 2000s.
Carissa Wonkka, Department of Ecosystem Science & Management, Texas A&M University, College Station
2:00 Role of Natural Resource Literacy in Ecological and Riparian Restoration Success.
Tom Arsuffi, Texas Tech University, Llano River Field Station
2:20 Boggy Creek Riparian Restoration: Willowbrook Reach Case Study.
Staryn Wagner, City of Austin, Watershed Protection Department
2:40 Top 5 Tips for Working on Stream Projects with Teens: Lessons from Austin Youth River Watch.
R. Brent Lyles, Austin Youth River Watch

3:40 – 5:40 The Hydrologic Cycle: Restoring Hydrologic Function via Ecological Enhancement or Making the Rain That Does Fall More Effective from Healthy Uplands to Continuous Base Flow.
Elisabeth Welsh, Austin Youth River Watch