Strawberry Creek Restoration: Advancing Stewardship in the North Fork

This paper presents historical overviews and original ecological surveys on the North Fork of Strawberry Creek in Berkeley, California to better inform the Kingman Hall Creek Restoration Project. Analysis of geomorphologic changes in the North Fork of Strawberry Creek during urbanization reveals the legacy of alterations on contemporary ecology. Case studies varying in time, scale, and approach contextualize restoration efforts in the entire Strawberry Creek Watershed. The impacts of urbanization and culverting are evidenced by an ecological snapshot of current creek conditions between LBNL and the UC Berkeley Campus. Rod and level topographic surveys, ArcGIS permeability analysis, vegetation analysis, avian surveys, and macroinvertebrate counts conducted at three distinct locations along the North Fork provide a multipronged baseline survey of current conditions. Topographic surveys show a higher degree of incision below culverted stream sections. ArcGIS permeability analysis reveals a highly urbanized watershed, especially around the restoration project site. Vegetation analysis shows the prevalence of invasive species in urbanized riparian ecosystems. Avian surveys found the majority of birds in riparian areas of the North Fork to be generalist ground foragers. Finally, macroinvertebrate surveys found that the complexity and richness of benthic insects decrease after culverting, suggesting a need for further restoration work along the creek. Our surveys found that the impacts on stream health due to culverting and urbanization are beyond the scale of the Kingman Hall Creek Restoration Project. This paper is intended to provide a baseline for future research on the North Fork.