The subject area of habitat restoration and enhancement includes restoring and enhancing City-owned open space areas to make them more livable for native plant and animal species.  Native plants and animals in the Central Valley are stressed by loss of habitat and habitat linkages, invasive species, loss of natural fire regimes, water pollution, human disturbances during sensitive times, and other factors.  Active habitat restoration and enhancement, as well as long-term habitat management, are essential to reducing the effects of these stressors and to increase the long-term viability of these species. 

The City owns significant land that currently provides, or has the potential to provide, highly valuable and varied wildlife habitat.  Some of the native plant and animal species that you might see at one of the City’s open space areas include:

• Trees. Boxelder, California buckeye, black walnut, sycamore, Fremont cottonwood, valley oak, red willow, yellow willow, and black willow;

• Shrubs. Coyote bush, mulefat, button-willow, California wild rose, California grape, and Mexican elderberry;

• Grasses and Sedges. Field sedge, Santa Barbara sedge, deergrass, meadow barley, blue wildrye, slender wheatgrass, creeping wildrye, wild oat, soft chess brome, rip-gut brome, and Italian ryegrass; and

• Wildlife. Birds-of-prey, songbirds, small- to medium-sized mammals, various amphibians, reptiles, various water fowl and wading birds, warm-water and anadromous fish species, and semi-aquatic mammals (i.e., water birds, amphibians, aquatic reptiles, hawks, owls, wood ducks, bats, woodpeckers, and mammals, including coyotes, beavers and river otters).

When planned properly, restoration and enhancement activities can also mitigate unwanted access and use of City property, like illegal camping and dumping.

North Davis Upland Habitat Area

Three acres of City-owned, vacant land at the corner of F Street and Anderson Road is in the midst of being transformed into a new wildlife habitat area with walking paths for the public to enjoy.  The City's newest open space area, named the North Davis Upland Habitat Area, features native plantings (i.e., new trees, shrubs, grasses and wildflowers), walking gravel paths accessible to people with disabilities, natural seating areas, pond overlook areas, and interpretive panels (coming soon!).

The five-year project was a collaboration between the City, the Open Space and Habitat Commission, and the Friends of North Davis Ponds.  It stemmed from community feedback the City received during a public outreach effort in 2016.  The community expressed an interest in seeing more habitat restoration projects done within the city limits using money generated by the City’s open space protection parcel tax (Measure O), which generates about $685,000 a year for the acquisition and maintenance of the City’s open space areas.

Nest Box Project 

The City is currently working with the UC Davis Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology to establish additional songbird habitat through a network of nest boxes in parks and open space areas in the North Davis area, specifically for listed Western Bluebirds.  The museum coordinates and trains volunteers to monitor and maintain the boxes, collect data, assist with banding of birds, and provide environmental education and outreach to the community.

The network of nest boxes provides nesting habitat for secondary cavity nesting birds, such as Western Bluebird.  This project was established in 2019 through a partnership between the UC Davis Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology, the City of Davis’s Open Space Program, the Friends of North Davis Pond, and the UC Davis student chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology.  Volunteers erected a trail of 20 nest boxes along the Covell Greenbelt all the way north to the North Davis Pond and North Davis Upland Habitat Area.  The boxes have produced 50-60 nests and about 200 chicks have fledged.

 Elderberry Mitigation Area

City open space staff have established a nursery for elderberry plants on the north bank of South Fork Preserve to mitigate for several elderberry plants that needed to be removed for a new trail along the south bank of South Fork Preserve.  Staff have planted more than 70 plants (elderberry plants and supporting plants) in an effort to establish a thriving elderberry habitat for the Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle.  The beetle was listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act in 1980.  The beetles are dependent on elderberry host plants and are imperiled by clearing of riparian forests for agriculture and urban development, grazing along streams, invasive predators and pesticide use.

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