Current Projects (2009)
City of Bellevue forest assessment model
In 2008, SUN and the City of Bellevue assessed the health and condition of over 700 acres of the city's forested open space for seven management categories including forest health, wildlife habitat, water quality, air quality, recreation, public safety and noise and visual buffering. In collaboration with the city, SUN developed a Forest Condition Asssessment Model (FCAM) in 2009 which divides Bellevue's parks into units of unique forest types and gathers information for each forest type located within a park. Using this model, it is possible to address any number of management concerns such as the location of conifer forests that provide good wildlife habitat throughout the city, or the location of areas with very high levels of regenerating invasive trees, etc.
Green Seattle Partnership (GSP) data management and mapping
Seattle Parks & Recreation
In the winter of 2009, SUN developed a database that will enable the GSP to enter information from event logs that are filled out for each volunteer event that takes place throughout the city. In addition, SUN will visit the majority of parks where restoration activities are taking place and meet with park stewards to map active restoration sites. The locations and names of the sites will be regularly updated on SUN's On-line Interactive Habitat Map.
Hamlin Park revegetation study
City of Shoreline Parks & Recreation
In 2007, SUN conducted an inventory of Hamlin Park for the City of Shoreline. During the survey, SUN ecologists mapped 12 habitats within the park ranging from developed areas and shrublands to conifer and madrone forests. One of the most interesting findings is that 15 acres of the park consist of a forest type known as “conifer without understory.” This forest, located within the central matrix of the park, has a dense overstory canopy composed mostly of western hemlock trees with smaller amounts of Douglas fir, western red cedar and western white pine. However, aside from the trees, these areas are completely bare, containing no shrubs, regenerating trees or any type of understory vegetation. Click here to read the Hamlin Park Vegetation Management Plan.
The City of Shoreline is concerned about this unusual situation, and asked SUN to design a revegetation study of the area. In the spring of 2008, SUN ecologists established six experimental plots throughout the park (one in each bare area) using three different soil treatments and various native plant species. We also conducted baseline monitoring of each plot prior to treatment installation and will monitor the plots over the next two growing seasons. At the end of that time, we hope to have a good sense of which treatments are effective and which plant species are the most successful. We also hope to determine whether heavy foot traffic in the park is affecting understory growth. This information will allow the City of Shoreline to expand the planted areas and establish more “understory islands” throughout the park.
Juanita Bay Park
City of Kirkland
Many changes are coming to Juanita Bay Park in 2009. The park is an important recreation destination within the city and provides vital wetland habitat for many species of wildlife. During 2008, SUN mapped invasive species within the wetland portion of the park and created an "action plan" for a restoration project. To read the full action plan, click here. The city is now working with EarthCorps to organize volunteer events in conjunction with trained crews to implement the projects identified in the action plan.
SUN's Citywide Habitat Assessment (CHA)
Launched by SUN in 2005, the Seattle Citywide Habitat Assessment (CHA) is an effort to monitor declines or improvements in the state of Seattle's urban forests. Our 1999-2000 survey of habitats on public lands in Seattle revealed that eight distinct forest types cover approximately 2800 acres throughout the city. Since 2005, SUN has established permanent monitoring plots in five of these forest types and has published two reports: The State of Seattle’s Madrone Forests (2008) and a report on Conifer/Mixed Deciduous Forests (2006). A State of Seattle’s Conifer Forests report will be released in May 2009. The three remaining forest types that need to be surveyed include: wetland, riparian and deciduous forests. SUN would like to thank the Bullitt Foundation and the WA Department of Natural Resources for helping to support this effort. For more details on this project, see our Citywide Habitat Assessment page.
Survey of landscaped parcels
Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT)
In the fall of 2008, SUN surveyed and inventoried more than 10 acres of new landscaped areas maintained by the Seattle Department of Transportation. This information helps to complete the inventory of existing areas that were surveyed by SUN in 2006. These formally landscaped areas include traffic circles, planting strips, extended curb plantings, medians and other landscaping associated with Seattle's roadways. The inventory categorized the different types of vegetation present in each area and catalogued the dominant plant species. This year SUN ecologists are entering the landscaped areas and vegetation type delineations into a geographic information system (GIS). This provides a spatial representation of each area and allows the department to quantify and locate the different vegetation types throughout the city. The information will help the department track and schedule maintenance requirements for these areas to help keep Seattle's streets looking green and beautiful.
