Stream Restoration Databases and Case Studies: A Guide to Information Resources and Their Utility in Advancing the Science and Practice of Restoration

Abstract

Abstract The successful application of adaptive management to the science and practice of restoration ecology requires specific knowledge about the outcomes of past restoration efforts. Ideally, project results would be readily available to scientists or other project managers with similar goals or in analogous ecosystems. Recently, there has been a proliferation of Internet‐accessible databases, lists, and case studies of stream and river restoration projects. These resources include a wide range of information that could be accessed to aid natural resource and conservation professionals in restoration. In the U.S. Pacific Northwest, the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center and, on a national scale, the National River Restoration Science Synthesis are combining existing national and regional databases, along with the individual project descriptions, to create comprehensive, web‐based databases of stream restoration projects. In this process, more data sources were discovered than fit the scope of either of these projects. Ten international, 19 U.S. national, and 42 U.S. regional web‐accessible sources of restoration project databases and case studies are listed in this study. However, to easily use information that is currently scattered in multiple files and Web sites, databases would optimally use a common, standardized format. We provide a recommended list of information to be included in restoration databases. These efforts may provide a blueprint for development of compatible international databases of stream restoration projects.