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  • Horse Creek Crossing
  • Tree Wrapping For Beavers
  • West Nose Ground Water
  • Big Spring Creek
  • The 2022 Trout Hatch
  • Bighill Creek Vandalism
  • Lateral Margin Habitat
  • Bio-Engineering Habitat
  • Ranch House Spring Creek
  • Examining a Pool Habitat
    • Millennium Creek Project
  • Examining a Pool Habitat
  • Millennium Creek Update
  • Stream Tender Magazine
  • Indigenous Opportunities
  • BVHD Website
  • Stream Tender Magazine 2
  • Creek Maintenance
  • Spawning Channel
  • Building a log v-weir
  • Bighill Creek Movie 2023!
  • Bighill Creek Anthology
  • Caddis Fly Larvae
  • Ghost Bay Re-contouring
  • More
    • Home
    • Guy Woods Blog
    • Urban Trout Hatchery
    • Spawning
    • West Nose Creek Willows
    • Jumpingpound Creek
    • Bighill Creek
    • The Middle Bow River
    • Willow Habitat Unit
    • Millennium Creek's Trout
    • Planting The Water's Edge
    • Horse Creek Crossing
    • Tree Wrapping For Beavers
    • West Nose Ground Water
    • Big Spring Creek
    • The 2022 Trout Hatch
    • Bighill Creek Vandalism
    • Lateral Margin Habitat
    • Bio-Engineering Habitat
    • Ranch House Spring Creek
    • Examining a Pool Habitat
      • Millennium Creek Project
    • Examining a Pool Habitat
    • Millennium Creek Update
    • Stream Tender Magazine
    • Indigenous Opportunities
    • BVHD Website
    • Stream Tender Magazine 2
    • Creek Maintenance
    • Spawning Channel
    • Building a log v-weir
    • Bighill Creek Movie 2023!
    • Bighill Creek Anthology
    • Caddis Fly Larvae
    • Ghost Bay Re-contouring
  • Home
  • Guy Woods Blog
  • Urban Trout Hatchery
  • Spawning
  • West Nose Creek Willows
  • Jumpingpound Creek
  • Bighill Creek
  • The Middle Bow River
  • Willow Habitat Unit
  • Millennium Creek's Trout
  • Planting The Water's Edge
  • Horse Creek Crossing
  • Tree Wrapping For Beavers
  • West Nose Ground Water
  • Big Spring Creek
  • The 2022 Trout Hatch
  • Bighill Creek Vandalism
  • Lateral Margin Habitat
  • Bio-Engineering Habitat
  • Ranch House Spring Creek
  • Examining a Pool Habitat
    • Millennium Creek Project
  • Examining a Pool Habitat
  • Millennium Creek Update
  • Stream Tender Magazine
  • Indigenous Opportunities
  • BVHD Website
  • Stream Tender Magazine 2
  • Creek Maintenance
  • Spawning Channel
  • Building a log v-weir
  • Bighill Creek Movie 2023!
  • Bighill Creek Anthology
  • Caddis Fly Larvae
  • Ghost Bay Re-contouring
The willow in the photo was planted in our riparian program

The Riparian willow habitat unit

The planted native willow can provide a single habitat unit, which can proivde cover habitat for one fish or more. Some trout are more comfortable in schools or pods, but others prefer a more solitary exstistance.

Riparian planting for trout habitat

Single Habitat Objectives

The use of riparian planting in stream restoration or fish habitat enhancement is a well known science. However, riparian planting, targeting the creation of trout habitat and for a stream's well being, is a relatively new science, so we have to observe nature. Once we understand the natural processes, we can begin to emulate what the stream would normally provide in a undisturbed natural area. This can all be achieved with only natural materials such as plant cuttings. In fish habitat science, your largest benefit of having plants right along the water's edge will come fast. Then over time, spread out from the edge to the bankfull width and what people refer to as the high water mark.


A single habitat unit can grow and provide multiple habitats as the willow spreads thru its own growth, or starts clonal colonies from a single root system. This is often referred to as suckering. Deciduous trees such as Aspen are great root spreading clonal colonies. Once the native plants are started, the natural seed dispersal starts immediately, even first year plantings can produce catkins and seed flowering. All we have to do is get things started and mother nature will create the masterpiece!

Single and multiple willow habitat units

Multiple planted single habitat units

On eroding stream banks - roots provide stability

On eroding stream banks - roots provide stability

They all start out as individual plantings, and in some areas of the creeks, the survival is good, and other areas require multiple plantings.

On eroding stream banks - roots provide stability

On eroding stream banks - roots provide stability

On eroding stream banks - roots provide stability

Planted willows can provide both habitat and stream bank stability, which helps keep the stream's water quality in better condition, which helps the trout!

After a few years of growth

On eroding stream banks - roots provide stability

The inside of bends are also planted

Soon after planting, a few years time, the change in the appearance of the trout stream is becoming more apparent. The increased habitat provides more living space for the wild trout population.

The inside of bends are also planted

Growth constricts the flow and deepens the stream channel

The inside of bends are also planted

The inside bends in the stream channel can be transformed into pool habitats and willows just add that much more habitat into the future home of all trout.

Growth constricts the flow and deepens the stream channel

Growth constricts the flow and deepens the stream channel

Growth constricts the flow and deepens the stream channel

The more that the stream channel is constricted with willow growth, the deeper the channel will scour during high flow events, like floods and run-off in the spring.

How Long Does It Take

Growth constricts the flow and deepens the stream channel

Growth constricts the flow and deepens the stream channel

The most popular question that volunteers will ask during a planting, is how long does it take for willows to grow. My answer:

"The growth rate is dependant on the soil and growing conditions where each planting is located. I usually tell volunteers that it will take approximately 5 or 6 years before you will notice any major change in a planted section of stream channel!"

Photo Gallery

Can you see the large brown trout? It is holding close to a planted willow habitat unit.

Trout and Habitat

How Densely can a habitat unit be populated?

Focusing on the density of trout in one willow habitat unit

Some trout are more gergarious than others. Brook trout for example, are very comfortable spending the winter months, below ice, in a very confined area. Their cold blooded metabolism is slowed down considerably in the winter, and the trout conserve their energy. It is all about survival! So if there is some space below the cover of a willow plant, overhanging the stream channel, multiple trout can find refuge and survive the winter on their reserve fat.

How many brook trout are in these photos?

The photographs above tell a story

In the first photo above, you can see the reflection of the camera flash in the eye of seven brook trout. There are two or more other trout that don't show their eyes. Look for the blue light of the reflection in their eyes.


Rainbow trout and cutthroat trout are also comfortable in numbers, in a confined space. When I was a boy, I would snorkle the Jumpingpound Creek and find pods of rainbow trout, holding below large chunks of fallen sandstone, from the cliffs above. The cliffs were now safe to swim below, so it wasn't like I was sticking my neck out to investigate trout habitats!


Any type of shady nook below large rocks or overhead woody cover, will do for any wild trout population. It goes one step further with willow habitat units. The planted willows in our Bow Valley Riparian Recovery and Enhancement Program are planted up on the stream bank and also horizontally into the stream bank, so they will provide fish habitat when they grow large enough. This habitat is not only for trout, but the aquatic invertebrates that dwell in suspended lateral margin habitat do thrive if that habitat is drowned willow limbs and tree trunks.


The aquatic invertebrates don't have to contend with the huge amounts of silt and suspended fines that smoother the stream beds and limit invertebrate population densities. The following video will help give you a better idea of what I mean when I talk about the relationship between willows, leaves and other organic matter that provides microscopic life forms a home and their important role in a healthy trout stream!




Video

Check out this great video of lots of water living invertebrates thriving in leaves and twigs

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