South Suburban Parks Wetland Restoration

In 2002, I began some conservation planning with target populations of several species of plants and animals. Two of our more important successes include two rare Front Range plants, American Black Currant (Ribes americana) and Giant Burreed (Spargamium eurycarpum). I set the targets at 5 populations of 30 plants. With American Black Currant we have 2 populations of over 100 plants, 1 population of about 20-30 plants, 2 populations of 15 plants, and 2 populations of less than 5 plants.

Grand total of 7 populations of about 300 or more plants. This is mostly due to weed control, cattail control, and birds eating and defecation the seeds into bare soil areas under trees where weeds were controlled and beside wetlands where cattails where controlled.

Giant Burreed has also done well due to cattail control, due to seeding areas with hand collected seed from populations in the park, and planting locally grown nursery plants. Three populations have been established in created wetlands, one at Grant-Nei, one at Lake 2 South Wetlands, one at the CDOT Mitigation Wetlands. The largest population is in the beaver pond complex where we seeded the site and reintroduced a beaver family.

There is over 100 Giant Burreed plants in this population. We will be hand collecting Burreed seed this fall for more restoration work on this interesting rare wetland plant. Another, the original population discovered in the park, is just upstream of the overlook along the SE Feeder Stream.

There is a grand total of 5 populations with 200 or more plants.

An additional success is the establishment of over 100 Prairie Sandreed plants in three different areas of the park. This plant is easily seen in the triangle along the Greenway trail east of the Pedestrian Bridge, just a 100 feet south of the triangle SW of the Mineral Ave. Trail, In the Cooley East Management Unit just north of the cattle gate. The largest population is in the sandy area in the East Trail South Management Unit. The largest of these populations was seeded in 2000 and the sources of the others are unknown, either natural or seeded in before 1990.

I hope each of you get a chance to see and enjoy these neat native plants.

Thanks to the staff and all those who have contributed in any way to these successes.

Raymond H. Sperger, Resource Specialist

South Platte Park
South Suburban Parks and Recreation
3000 W. Carson Drive
Littleton, CO 80120-2968

303-730-1022 ext. 12
303-730-0282 (fax)
rays@ssprd.org

Profile posted on: September 1, 2005