Ecosystem Restoration Projects Research Articles

Learnings from the past to inform future ecosystem restoration projects: an Australian perspective

Learnings from the past to inform future ecosystem restoration projects: an Australian perspective

Communities in ecosystem restoration: The role of inclusive values and local elites' narrative innovations

Abstract Ecosystem restoration practices are gaining prominence in coping with the crisis of ecosystem degradation. To improve the long‐term effectiveness of restoration activities, community engagement in restoration projects needs to be strengthened. In communities where traditional and local values drive adaptation to environmental changes, a community‐engaged restoration approach requires the integration of restoration techniques and local value systems. In two pastoral communities on the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau, we used the Q method to explore pastoralists' attitudes towards grassland degradation and restoration and to understand different levels of community engagement in grassland restoration activities. Through this study, we aim to promote an understanding of the value‐based approach of local communities to enable better community engagement for the long‐term effectiveness of ecosystem restoration projects and contribute to the achievement and synergy of global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The study revealed eight types of pastoralists with different attitudes in two communities, with the type of Active Agents leverages transformative restoration action through creating value‐inclusive narratives of grassland restoration in the community with a higher level of engagement in restoration practices. Alongside this, we explored the pastoralists' perspectives of biodiversity in restoration and the importance of local elites in facilitating multiple‐actor cooperation in restoration projects. We recommend that decision‐makers recognize the significance of local worldviews and values in facilitating environmental adaptations, as well as the irreplaceable role played by local people in developing value‐inclusive narratives that align with the local cultural context. Open dialogues and sufficient communication between multiple stakeholders are needed to build mutual trust and accumulate social capital for driving transformative actions in traditional communities. Such approaches are essential to foster community engagement and gain better momentum in ecosystem management initiatives. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Exploring the Response of Ecosystem Services to Socioecological Factors in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China

Understanding the response of the mechanisms driving ecosystem services (ESs) to socioecological factors is imperative for regional sustainable ecosystem management. However, previous studies of the mechanisms driving ESs have focused more on the degree and direction (positive and negative) of effects on ES supply or the supply–demand balance, while their nonlinear response processes have not been fully considered. In this study, a theoretical framework was developed through integrating land use/land cover data and supply and demand matrices with random forest models to assess response processes, including the relative importance and marginal effects, of essential factors that drive ES demand, supply, and supply–demand balance. Using the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) as an example, our results indicated that the ES deficit regions (332 of 1070 counties or 14.45% of the area) of the YREB were located mainly in the three national urban agglomerations. Moreover, this study indicated that natural environmental factors (such as slope and precipitation) significantly influence the supply and supply–demand balance of ESs, while socioeconomic factors (such as cropland ratios and population density) profoundly influence the demand for ESs. However, cropland ratios were the most important drivers of ES supply, demand, and supply–demand balance in the YREB. Moreover, three types of response processes were identified in this study: logarithmic increase, logarithmic decrease, and volatility increase. Specific driving factors (e.g., proportion of cropland area, precipitation, population density, and slope) had significant threshold effects on the supply–demand balance of ESs. The turning points that can be extracted from these response processes should be recommended for ecosystem restoration projects to maintain regional sustainable ecosystem management.

Diversity and Distribution Patterns of Dragonflies in The Region Bagek Kembar Ecotourism, Sekotong

Dragonflies have an important role as environmental bioindicators, especially as indicators of the success of mangrove ecosystem restoration projects and their distinctive color has becomes an ecotourism attraction, so this research is important to do. This research aims to determine the diversity and distribution patterns of dragonflies in the Bagek Kembar Sekotong Mangrove Ecotourism area. This is an explorative descriptive study and was carried out between December 2023-January 2024. The research method used was catching dragonflies with insect nets following three transect paths along the river flow in the Bagek Kembar Sekotong Mangrove Ecotourism area. Analysis of species diversity data using the Shannon Wiener diversity index and calculation of the dragonfly distribution pattern index using the variance test. Based on the research results, 9 species of dragonflies were obtained, including 8 species of dragonflies (Anisoptera) and 1 species of dragonflies (Zygoptera). The diversity index (H') of dragonflies at the observation location is 1,866. The conclusion is that diversity of dragonflies at the research location is in the medium category. The distribution pattern of dragonflies at the research location shows that one Potamarcha congener species has a regular distribution pattern and the other 8 species that had groups distribution pattern.

Leveraging co-production within ecosystem restoration to maximize benefits to coastal birds

Coastal Louisiana's ecosystems are threatened by anthropogenic factors exacerbated by climate change induced sea-level rise. The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill resulted in injuries and deaths to coastal birds in Louisiana, and the ongoing loss of habitat has limited the potential for successful nesting of resident birds throughout the coast. Habitat loss is being addressed through increased large-scale ecosystem restoration as a result of settlement funds from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. To further inform bird restoration in Louisiana, an avian restoration guidance document (Guidance for Coastal Ecosystem Restoration and Monitoring to Create or Improve Bird-NestingHabitat, 2023) was developed to maximize restoration benefits for coastal breeding birds while also achieving broader habitat restoration objectives. The developed restoration guidance was co-produced by subject-matter experts and professionals, including avian experts, engineers, and coastal restoration project managers. The result of this cross-disciplinary effort was specific and targeted guidance that presents designable habitat features that are in the control of project engineers and are also important high-value bird nesting habitats (e.g., shoreline access, elevation heterogeneity and edge habitat). For the first time in Louisiana, defined nest-site characteristics and monitoring approaches are readily available to inform ecosystem restoration project implementation. The restoration document specifically emphasizes bird species that breed and nest in coastal habitats in Louisiana, and restoration managers can use these guidelines to explicitly incorporate bird nesting habitat features into coastal restoration planning, design, and implementation. In developing this guidance, many knowledge gaps and data needs were identified specific to engineering and project design, enabling the research community to frame research questions around specific coastal restoration questions. The co-production of science model applied here for avian resources is applicable to a wide range of other living marine resources that may benefit from large-scale ecosystem restoration and is an example of the benefits of working relationships, communications, and common goal setting.

Elevation Changes in Restored Marshes at Poplar Island, Chesapeake Bay, MD: II. Modeling the Importance of Marsh Development Time

AbstractTidal marshes in the Chesapeake Bay are vulnerable to the accelerating rate of sea-level rise (SLR) and subsidence. Restored and created marshes face the same risks as natural marshes, and their resilience to SLR may depend upon appropriate design and implementation. Here, the Coastal Wetland Equilibrium Model (CWEM) was used to assess the resilience of tidal marshes at the Paul S. Sarbanes Ecosystem Restoration Project at Poplar Island (PI) in mid-Chesapeake Bay, MD, where dredged material from navigation channels is being used to create new tidal marshes planted with Spartina alterniflora in the low marsh and S. patens in the high marsh. The site is microtidal with low inorganic sediment inputs, where the rate of marsh elevation change is dominated by the production of organic matter and, therefore, is proportional to net ecosystem production (NEP). The model demonstrated the importance of marsh development for surface elevation gain. In created marshes, the buildout of belowground biomass adds volume and results in faster growth of marsh elevation, but the gains slow as the marsh matures. Elevation gain is the lessor of the recalcitrant fraction of NEP sequestered in sediment or the rate of increase in accommodation space. Marshes can keep up with and fill accommodation space with sequestered NEP up to a tipping point determined by the rate of SLR. The PI low marsh platform was forecasted to drown in about 43 years after construction at the current rate of SLR. Marsh loss can be mitigated by periodic thin layer placement (TLP) of sediment. CWEM was used to simulate PI marsh responses to different TLP strategies and showed that there is an optimal design that will maximize carbon sequestration and resilience depending on the trajectory of mean sea level.

Short-term effects of substrate surface structure on macroinvertebrates community structure and functional characteristics

Stones are one of the important natural materials in soil bioengineering and are widely used in river ecosystem restoration projects. After stones are introduced into the river channel, they become a crucial component of the riverbed substrate. Substrate is a crucial habitat for macroinvertebrates. The surface structure of substrate plays a vital role in providing habitat for a greater diversity of macroinvertebrates, thus contributing significantly to the enhancement of riverine biodiversity. This study was conducted in the headwater streams of Changbai Mountain. Complexity was introduced to the substrate surface by adding rough treatments on concrete blocks, as well as different sizes of grooves and holes. The study found that the control substrate (GK0/GT0) took the shortest time (7 d) to establish a relatively stable macroinvertebrate community. In contrast, other treated substrates required a longer time to form relatively stable communities due to the increased available living space on the substrate surface. Overall, various diversity indices were relatively higher on rough substrates compared to smooth substrates. Specifically, at 28 d, the groove-treated substrate MT1 had the highest species richness (18.67) and Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H′, 2.85), which were 2.68 times and 1.54 times higher than the control, respectively. Similarly, at 28 d, the hole-treated substrate MK1 exhibited the highest species richness (20.35) and H′ (2.84), which were 2.90 times and 1.53 times higher than the control, respectively. With the gradient changes in groove and hole sizes, macroinvertebrate species richness, density, H′, Margalef richness index (dM), and Simpson dominance index (D) on different substrates showed an initial increase followed by a decrease trend. Additionally, attached organisms were the dominant taxa on all treated substrates, with higher densities of burrowers in hole-treated substrates and more swimmers in groove-treated substrates. Substrates with larger holes favored the settlement of larger-bodied macroinvertebrates, while substrates with small grooves had higher abundances of various-sized macroinvertebrate groups. It is evident that differences in substrate surface structure have a significant impact on macroinvertebrate diversity and functional characteristics. Therefore, in river ecosystem restoration projects, adding necessary textural structures to the substrate surface can enhance the effectiveness of river ecosystem restoration.

Elevation Changes in Restored Marshes at Poplar Island, Chesapeake Bay, MD: I. Trends and Drivers of Spatial Variability

AbstractTidal marshes provide numerous ecosystem services, but are threatened by recent increases in global sea level rise (SLR). Marsh restoration and creation are important strategies for mitigating marsh loss, restoring ecosystem services, increasing coastal community resilience, and providing much needed habitat for threatened species. Dredged material resulting from navigation channel maintenance can provide a substrate for these restoration projects. Few studies, however, have addressed the sustainability of these marshes. The Paul S. Sarbanes Ecosystem Restoration Project at Poplar Island, where fine-grained, nutrient-rich dredged material from upper Chesapeake Bay is being used to create > 302 ha of tidal marshes, provides a case study. The low supply of inorganic sediment is counteracted by abundant nutrients, stimulating high rates of organic matter production and elevation change. Using > 10 years of data from 39 surface elevation tables, we found that the mean low marsh rate of elevation change (7.7 ± 3.21 mm year−1) was double the mean high marsh rate (3.6 ± 0.47 mm year−1) and exceeded the natural reference marsh (3.0 ± 2.28 mm year−1) and relative SLR (5.7 mm year−1). By stimulating organic matter production, the high nutrient substrate appears to offset the low inorganic sediment inputs in mid-Chesapeake Bay. Spatial variability was correlated with initial elevation, but was also influenced by local factors that may affect sediment redistribution within the marshes.

Negotiating Environmental Crisis within Forest Ecosystem Restoration Projects in Puncak and Lombok, Indonesia

Negotiating Environmental Crisis within Forest Ecosystem Restoration Projects in Puncak and Lombok, Indonesia

Creating wetland islands to enhance shoreline habitat for fish recruitment in a modified shallow lake

Abstract Soft shoreline engineering is increasingly used to combine shoreline fortification with the enhancement of biodiversity and biological production of land–water transitions. From 2016 to 2021, the large‐scale ecosystem restoration project Marker Wadden has created new multiple wetland islands from local sediments in the highly modified Lake Markermeer, the Netherlands. Instead of replacing steep rip‐rap shorelines with soft shorelines, new islands with soft land–water transitions were engineered to offset the marked declines in bird and fish populations in this Natura 2000 area, protected under the European Union Birds and Habitats Directives. This new approach was evaluated by assessing the added value of the newly created wetland islands with soft shorelines to the existing steep rip‐rap fortified shores of the lake, for the enhancement of fish spawning and nursery habitat. Young‐of‐the‐year fish densities at the Marker Wadden islands were highest in sheltered bays and wetlands with nutrient‐rich silt sediments, and lowest at wind‐exposed sandy beaches. Both newly engineered soft shorelines and existing rip‐rap shorelines contributed to habitat diversity, although fish densities declined considerably with increasing exposure to wind‐induced wave power. Building soft shorelines as a new archipelago instead of replacing existing shoreline habitats increased the total length of the land–water transitions in the lake. The 800 ha Marker Wadden archipelago covers only 1% of the 70,000 ha lake surface area, but provides a 16% increase in shoreline habitat and a fivefold increase in soft shoreline for the lake. We conclude that designing wetland islands as a means of lake restoration can contribute effectively to sheltered habitat enhancement for fish spawning and nurseries, and thereby to the potential conservation of fish communities. The approach of building islands achieves this without compromising the complementary functionality of the original, more mature, shorelines of the lake.

Ecosystem health evaluation of urban rivers based on multitrophic aquatic organisms

The ecosystem health evaluation method of urban rivers is significantly different from natural rivers, because of intensive human interferences and ecological restoration measures. Biotic integrity index (IBI) provides a method to quantify the response of aquatic organisms to environmental stress. Multi-trophic aquatic organisms may exhibit different responses and sensitivities to stress factors, which affects the reliability of the IBIs. This study proposed a hypothesis that the biota with the higher trophic level (whose habitat was not completely destroyed) or that of the biota with the shorter life cycle would be more sensitive in urban rivers. To prove the above hypothesis, the ecosystem health status of urban rivers was evaluated by the IBIs across multitrophic groups, including benthic invertebrates, zooplankton, phytoplankton, periphyton algae and microorganisms. The reliability of the IBIs was assessed by estimating their relationship with water quality index (WQI). The spatial distribution differences of the IBIs were distinguished by spatial autocorrelation analysis. The results showed that the IBI based on benthic invertebrates cannot mask the effects of dredging. Compared with the IBIs from other trophic groups, the correlation coefficients between the IBIs based on zooplankton and microorganisms and WQI were higher. Moreover, the evaluation results of Z (Zooplankton)-IBI and M (Microorganism)-IBI were able to discriminate the least, medium and highly impaired site groups divided by WQI. For the spatial response mode, Z-IBI and M-IBI could identify the high-value river sections under ecosystem restoration projects, and Z-IBI could also identify the low-value river sections under intensive human interferences. Therefore, Z-IBI and M-IBI could be recommended as the priority application in urban rivers. The constructed ecosystem health evaluation framework for urban rivers would play a guiding role in reducing impairments and restoring water ecosystem quality.

Restoring blue carbon ecosystems unlocks fisheries' potential

Globally, blue carbon ecosystems, including salt marsh, mangroves, and seagrasses, and the associated ecosystem services they provide, have declined substantially. In response, ecosystem restoration has recently increased but the scale and urgency of these activities has been limited by the lack of economic drivers. Herein, a multidisciplinary approach is presented that links hydrologic restoration with ecologic outputs to highlight the economic potential for commercial fisheries that could arise from restoring a drained floodplain. Initially, stable isotope models are used to predict the return of Eastern school prawn (approximately 300 kg yr−1 ha−1). Hydrologic models are then applied to determine the area of salt marshes and mangroves (over 2,000 ha) that could be potentially restored via tidal introduction. Together, these results indicate that ecological restoration in this region could contribute an annual benefit of approximately 230 tons of additional Eastern school prawn harvest, which could be valued at $3.1 ± 1.3 million AUD to commercial fisheries. This would represent a growth of nearly 50% from current annual harvest in the state. Given that this assessment excludes other values that would be gained, such as other species of fisheries value, carbon sequestration, biodiversity, and flood control, it represents a conservative financial estimate. Overall, this analysis highlights the scale of fisheries co‐benefits from tidal restoration projects, and how business cases for large‐scale blue carbon ecosystem restoration projects could be developed using multidisciplinary approaches.

Do adaptive policy adjustments deliver ecosystem-agriculture-economy co-benefits in land degradation neutrality efforts? Evidence from southeast coast of China.

Ecosystem restoration projects (ERPs) facilitate land degradation neutrality (LDN). However, the response dynamics and interactions of sectors within ecosystem-agriculture-economy nexus (EAEN) have not been sufficiently explored, which constrains the coordinated efficacy of LDN efforts. To bridge the knowledge gaps, the present study selected a land restoration hotspot in southeastern China as a case to investigate the simultaneous responses of the EAEN sectors to ERPs from a novel social-ecological system (SES)-based LDN perspective. Various biophysical models and Manne-Kendall trend test as well as multi-source spatially explicit data and socioeconomic statistics were applied to quantify the co-evolution of natural and socioeconomic indicators. ERPs converting cropland to woodland and grassland promoted vegetation restoration, reduced soil erosion, and enhanced carbon sequestration. However, cropland loss initially resulted in a decline in grain productivity. Policy adjustments and improvements in ecosystem restoration efforts and agricultural production conditions improved food security and increased agricultural production capacity. Effective policymaking and favorable resident engagement accelerated the transformation from a grain-production-based agriculture to diversified industries and, by extension, economic output, income, and population. The success of socioeconomic development under the SES framework for LDN demonstrated that this strategy could achieve the desired environmental, agricultural, and economic targets. EAEN under the SES conceptual framework provides an inclusive, comprehensive LDN perspective and improves ERP efficacy. The findings of the present work might be applicable to other land restoration areas challenged by the complex interactions among multidimensional factors. Comparably successful implementation of these ERPs could be realized if individual environmental and socioeconomic conditions are thoroughly considered during the formulation of coordinated development policies.

A Study of Sandy Land Changes in the Chifeng Region from 1990 to 2020 Based on Dynamic Convolution

Desertification is the process of land degradation and the reduction or destruction of biological potential in arid, semi-arid, and semi-humid areas, and its impact on agricultural development and the ecological environment cannot be ignored. Therefore, many researchers have aimed to achieve the acquisition of large-scale sandy land areas using sandy land extraction algorithms based on remote sensing images. However, the sandy land extraction accuracy needs to be improved because of the variable contour features in the remote sensing images and the easy confusion with targets such as the Gobi and bare ground areas. In this study, we combine the dynamic convolution with a U-Net model and propose the DU-Net sandy land extraction model. The method is based on dynamic convolution, which can adaptively learn the complex features of the target and build a dynamic convolutional neural network to achieve high-accuracy extraction of complex targets. DU-Net achieved 86.32% in IoU, 93.22% in precision, 94.5% in recall, and 92.66% in F1-score in sandy land extraction accuracy, which are 4.68%, 2.33%, 3.09%, and 2.76% improvements, respectively, compared with the U-Net static neural network. Based on this, we obtained the spatial and temporal evolution trends of sandy land areas based on Landsat images in the Chifeng region in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. Meanwhile, in order to investigate the mechanism of spatial and temporal changes in the sandy land area in the study region over the past 30 years, the direct and indirect effects of seven climatic and human socioeconomic activity factors on the changes in the sandy land area in the study region were evaluated based on a structural equation model. The results show that the sandy area in the Chifeng region tended to first increase and then decrease over the study period, with the sandy land area reaching its maximum around the year 2000. In addition, the main driving factor for the change in the sandy land area in the Chifeng region has been human socioeconomic activities, with climatic conditions as the secondary driving factor. The method proposed in this paper realizes the rapid extraction of sandy land areas with high accuracy at a large scale and with a long time series and provides a basis for assessing the effectiveness of ecosystem restoration projects.

Seagrass ecosystem services show complex spatial patterns and associations

Seagrass beds support rich biodiversity and provide a range of important ecosystem services, and thus widespread seagrass degradation and decline has prompted broader efforts to protect and restore these habitats. Limited resources for seagrass management and restoration could be better directed by leveraging information about the potential patterns of ecosystem service supply. However, compared to many terrestrial and marine ecosystems, the spatial patterns and relationships among different seagrass ecosystem services are still poorly understood. Focusing on the Florida Gulf Coast as a study system, we performed one of the first spatially explicit assessments of multiple ecosystem services provided by seagrass beds. We developed or modified existing spatial models for five ecosystem services: biodiversity enhancement, nursery habitat, blue carbon, recreation, and coastal protection, using a combination of empirical and model datasets. Using these spatial models, we identified key predictors and quantified the marginal effect of seagrasses on each service. Our models revealed that seagrasses significantly enhance the supply of multiple services, but that there was considerable spatial variation within and among these services, resulting in distinct hotspots where seagrasses are most valuable in providing different services. Contrary to the expectation that all seagrass services will be positively correlated with one another because they are strongly related to seagrass characteristics, we also found positive and negative associations among services, revealing the potential for both co-benefits and trade-offs associated with seagrass management decisions. Finally, we found that biodiversity was not a reliable proxy for most services, as is sometimes assumed, highlighting the need for direct assessments of seagrass services. Our findings emphasize the importance of considering distinct predictors of different ecosystem services when assessing potential delivery from seagrasses and other foundation species, especially when planning and prioritizing ecosystem conservation and restoration projects.

1100-years history of transformation of the East European forest-steppe into arable land: Case study from Kursk region (Russia)

Large parts of the East European forest-steppe are covered by agricultural and pastoral landscapes with decreasing proportions of semi-natural meadow steppes and fragments of semi-natural woodland. Although numerous palynological records indicate that a total deforestation occurred in the last 500 years, the details of the transformation from natural vegetation into an agrarian landscape are still lacking as well as an evaluation of the political role in this process. This study focuses on the vegetation and fire history at the northern edge of the forest-steppe in the Kursk region (Russia) and aim to reconstruct the transformation process in its historical context. New pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs and charcoal records with decennial to centennial resolution obtained from the Seim River region enable a comprehensive reconstruction of the local and regional landscape history over the last 1,100 years. The palynological records provide unique insights into the heterogeneous vegetation cover of microregions and evidence spatial asynchronous deforestation and crop field creation. Our findings highlight a crucial role of political systems on the formation of agro-pastoral landscapes with small remaining forest patches of today. The heterogeneity of the natural vegetation distribution before major deforestation as well as the duration of human impact should be considered in ecosystem restoration projects. All raw data are submitted to PANGAEA database (https://www.pangaea.de/: Peny PDI-34573, Razdolye PDI-34620). All pictures of NPP are submitted to NPP-ID (http://non-pollen-palynomorphs.uni-goettingen.de/).

The importance of relief for explaining the diversity of the floodplain and terrace soil cover in the Dnipro River valley: The case of the protected area within the Dnipro-Orylskiy Nature Reserve

Floodplains are centers of species diversity, so floodplain habitats often contain protected areas. However, conservation strategies pay little attention to soils, on which the functional stability of both individual ecosystems and landscape chains as a whole depends. Soil morphology provides structural and functional information about floodplain ecosystems. The spatial and temporal heterogeneity of soil morphology is a cost-effective ecological indicator that can be easily integrated into rapid assessment protocols for floodplain and riverine ecosystem restoration projects. Therefore, the aim of our work was to consider the morphological features of soils of the Dnipro-Orylskiy Nature Reserve and assess the role of soil diversity as a factor of structural and functional sustainability of ecosystems of the protected area, as well as to identify the significance of geomorphological predictors for differentiation of soil types to create a soil map of the territory. The World Reference Base for Soil Resources reference soil groups were classified using geomorphological predictors. Soil types were able to explain 90% of the variation in elevation occupied by soils. Arenosols occupied a statistically significantly higher position in topography than other soil types. In turn, Eutric Arenosols occupied a higher position (68.91 ± 0.48 m) than Eutric Lamellic Arenosols (63.32 ± 0.54 m). Other soils occupied positions in the topography that were not statistically significantly different in height. Soil types were able to explain 38% of the variation in elevation that the soils occupied. The highest Topography Wetness Index values were found for Fluvisols (12.73 ± 0.23) and Solonetz (13.06 ± 0.28 m). Differences between these soils were not statistically significant. Topography Wetness Index was slightly lower for Cambisols (11.80 ± 0.21) and Eutric Lamellic Arenosols (12.21 ± 0.28), which also did not differ on this measure. The lowest Topography Wetness Index value was found for Gleysols (11.15 ± 0.17) and Eutric Arenosols (10.95 ± 0.24), which did not differ from each other on this index. Eutric Arenosols and Eutric Lamellic Arenosols are formed at great depths of the water table (7.89 ± 0.50 and 2.62 ± 0.46 m, respectively). Gleysol and Solonetz form at close groundwater level to the surface (0.28 ± 0.27 and 0.21 ± 0.46 m, respectively) compared to Fluvisol and Cambisol (0.46 ± 0.38 and 0.41 ± 0.35 m, respectively). Elevation was the most informatively valuable predictor, but Topography Wetness Index and Vertical Distance to Channel Network significantly improved discrimination. Arenosols were very different from other soils which occupy an automorphic position. Cambisols occupied a transitional position. Other soils occupied hydromorphic positions. Fluvisols and Solonetz occupied wetter positions, while Gleysol occupied less wet positions. Fluvisols and Solonetz differed in the groundwater table. Solonetz predominantly occurred at close groundwater levels. The classification matrix confirmed the possibility of using geomorphological predictors to build a model of spatial variation of soils in the study area. The spatial model demonstrates the organization of the soil cover of the reserve. Calculations showed that Cambiosols occupy 20.7% of the area, Eutric Arenosols occupy 16.0%, Eutric Lamellic Arenosols occupy 17.9%, Fluvisols occupy 15.2%, Gleysols occupy 28.7%, and Solonetz occupy 1.5%.

Restoring gradual land-water transitions in a shallow lake improved phytoplankton quantity and quality with cascading effects on zooplankton production

Land-water transition areas play a significant role in the functioning of aquatic ecosystems. However, anthropogenic pressures are posing severe threats on land-water transition areas, which leads to degradation of the ecological integrity of many lakes worldwide. Enhancing habitat complexity and heterogeneity by restoring land-water transition areas in lake systems is deemed a suitable method to restore lakes bottom-up by stimulating lower trophic levels. Stimulating productivity of lower trophic levels (phytoplankton, zooplankton) generates important food sources for declining higher trophic levels (fish, birds). Here, we study ecosystem restoration project Marker Wadden in Lake Markermeer, The Netherlands. This project involved the construction of a 700-ha archipelago of five islands in a degrading shallow lake, aiming to create additional sheltered land-water transition areas to stimulate food web development from its base by improving phytoplankton quantity and quality. We found that phytoplankton quantity (chlorophyll-a concentration) and quality (inversed carbon:nutrient ratio) in the shallow waters inside the Marker Wadden archipelago were significantly improved, likely due to higher nutrient availabilities, while light availability remained sufficient, compared to the surrounding lake. Higher phytoplankton quantity and quality was positively correlated with zooplankton biomass, which was higher inside the archipelago than in the surrounding lake due to improved trophic transfer efficiency between phytoplankton and zooplankton. We conclude that creating new land-water transition areas can be used to increase light and nutrient availabilities and thereby enhancing primary productivity, which in turn can stimulate higher trophic levels in degrading aquatic ecosystems.

Bridging the Gap Between Conservation Paleobiology and Resource Management: Recognizing the Past is the Key to the Future

A persistent challenge for conservation paleobiologists is communication of information on past environmental changes to resource managers in a way that allows them to apply these data to current restoration efforts. USGS scientists have learned a few lessons over 25 years of conducting applied paleoecology research in collaboration with the Greater Everglades Ecosystem Restoration (GEER) project. The first step is to engage resource managers in conversations prior to beginning research. What are their goals and information needs? Participation in GEER with teams of scientists and decision-makers working together to develop measures of success for Everglades restoration allowed us to overcome this first hurdle. Our initial research showed changes in salinity and freshwater influx over time, but how to use this information was not immediately apparent to management, so continued communication was critical. Through participation in meetings and presentation of our preliminary findings, the management team provided feedback that led us to develop a modern analog-based method to estimate past salinity, which was then used to adjust system-wide hydrologic models to reflect past conditions. Recently, we realized another management information gap — a set of indicator species for nearshore estuarine zones to monitor the effectiveness of upstream changes in flow. Again, by working with managers to determine needs, we combined distribution data of mollusk species in nearshore cores with our modern analog dataset to develop a suite of indicator species. These are a few examples of positive impacts from our long-term collaboration. We believe the key to advancing the use of conservation paleobiologic research in resource management is to communicate frequently and often, listen closely to management, discuss how paleo data can be applied, and be persistent. It is essential that we bridge these gaps because the past is our window to anticipating and planning for future change.

Prospects of emerging PAH sources and remediation technologies: insights from Africa.

Remediation of polluted environmental media is critical to realization of the goals of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (UNDER) project. Many natural-resource dependent economies in Africa are characterized by numerous contaminated sites resulting from conventional and artisanal natural-resource mining. Alongside these extractive activities, there are refining, processing, and power plant operations, agriculture, urban, and infrastructure developments that contribute to increased discharges of toxins into the environment, particularly polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are carcinogenic in nature. As a result, human and environmental receptors (i.e., air, water, soil, and biota) face increasing risk of exposure to higher concentrations of PAH. Evidence exists of widespread PAH contamination and in some instances where corrective action has been taken, residual contaminant levels exceeding regulatory thresholds remain in the environment due to the use of inappropriate and unsustainable remedial methods. Considering the long-term harmful effects of PAH on human and ecosystem health, land use, and the complexity of Africa's environmental deterioration, it is essential to explore remediation strategies that benefit both the environment and the economy. This review examined the status, opportunities, and challenges related to the application of emerging green technologies to remediate PAH-contaminated sites in five African countries (South Africa, Nigeria, Angola, Egypt, and Kenya). This paper concludes that bioremediation presents a sustainable option, considering its low net emissions and environmental footprints, and its low economic cost to Africa's poor communities and overburdened economy. However, an integration of biological and physico-chemical approaches could address various compounds and concentrations of PAH contamination.