Abstract
Stream restoration practice typically relies on a geomorphological design approach in which the integration of ecological criteria is limited and generally qualitative, although the most commonly stated project objective is to restore biological integrity by enhancing habitat and water quality. Restoration has achieved mixed results in terms of ecological successes and it is evident that improved methodologies for assessment and design are needed. A design approach is suggested for mesohabitat restoration based on a review and integration of fundamental processes associated with: (1) lotic ecological concepts; (2) applied geomorphic processes for mesohabitat self-maintenance; (3) multidimensional hydraulics and habitat suitability modeling; (4) species functional traits correlated with fish mesohabitat use; and (5) multi-stage ecohydraulics-based mesohabitat classification. Classification of mesohabitat units demonstrated in this article were based on fish preferences specifically linked to functional trait strategies (i.e., feeding resting, evasion, spawning, and flow refugia), recognizing that habitat preferences shift by season and flow stage. A multi-stage classification scheme developed under this premise provides the basic “building blocks” for ecological design criteria for stream restoration. The scheme was developed for Midwest US prairie streams, but the conceptual framework for mesohabitat classification and functional traits analysis can be applied to other ecoregions.
Highlights
Since the 1990s, stream restoration practice in the Unites States (US) has grown significantly, largely motivated by goals to: improve instream habitat, riparian corridors and water quality, comply with regulations for compensatory mitigation, stabilize channels and banks for land and infrastructure protection, remove fish passage barriers, and enhance aesthetics in urban corridors [1,2,3,4,5]
Though the physical sciences are employed to a greater extent than the ecological sciences, the most commonly stated objective for projects is to restore the biological integrity by enhancing habitat and water quality [4,5]
The more heterogeneous and complex the physical habitat structure, the greater potential for different species-habitat relationships to occur, which create more diverse biological communities [21,125,126,127]. By identifying these relationships based on species functional traits, the ecological significance of process-based hydraulic and geomorphic measures can be systemically developed as ecological design criteria
Summary
Since the 1990s, stream restoration practice in the Unites States (US) has grown significantly, largely motivated by goals to: improve instream habitat, riparian corridors and water quality, comply with regulations for compensatory mitigation, stabilize channels and banks for land and infrastructure protection, remove fish passage barriers, and enhance aesthetics in urban corridors [1,2,3,4,5]. Considering the current practices and reported project project goals were defined, and the organism group (i.e., fish, macroinvertebrates, mussels, periphyton) biological responses, improvements are needed on how to incorporate ecological criteria into the used to assess outcomes [1,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24]. Considering the current practices and reported project biological restoration design process, and better understand the potential capacity for ecological recovery within responses, improvements are needed on how to incorporate ecological criteria into the restoration design stressed ecosystems. When ecology is considered in stream restoration design, fluvial geomorphology, engineering hydraulics, and aquatic ecology are generally applied sequentially in this listed order (Figure 1a).
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