Why Soil Landscapes? Digging Dirt! - April 2025

The restoration of riparian and floodplain habitats is important for protecting birds since almost every endangered or threatened bird species in the AltaCal area depends on these habitats. The soil landscape creates recognizable large to fine scale patterns on the land, often expressed in the vegetation that covers soil geologic land forms. The historic Llano Seco Rancho is an ideal place to study soils in the mostly leveled Great Valley because it covers multiple relatively intact soil landscapes and its irregular topography results in frequent flooding, further providing rare opportunities to study fluvial geomorphology and distinctive soil–vegetation patterns. Recognizing and understanding soils is essential for developing and implementing vegetation and habitat restoration and management plans. Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge and the Steve Thompson North Central Valley Wildlife Management Area—Llano Seco Unit provide valuable case studies for illustrating the importance of soils for restoring seasonal wetlands associated with riparian and floodplain habitats along the Sacramento River, and for vernal pools in the upper Butte Basin. Joe Silveira (Laguna Eco) attended CSU Chico (Psychology BA, 1978; Biological Sciences BA, 1984) and CSU Fresno (Biology MA, 1996), and is a Certified Wildlife Biologist (The Wildlife Society, 1996). Joe spent 36 years working in natural resources conservation, including the UC Davis Cackling Goose Project,the International Lesser Snow Goose & Ross’ Goose Project, and the US Fish& Wildlife Service, primarily stationed at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex, where he served as a Wildlife Biologist, and later, Wildlife Refuge Manager, for Sacramento River NWR and the Steve Thompson North Central Valley Wildlife Management Area—Llano Seco Unit. Joe currently serves on The Northern California Botanist’s Board of Directors and Northern California Regional Land Trust Lands Committee. Follow us on social media!   / altacalbirdalliance     / altacalaudubon