Ecosystem Restoration Projects Research Articles

The cultural politics of water in the Everglades and beyond

“Getting the Water Right” is the motto of Everglades restoration, which is among the world’s largest and costliest ecosystem restoration projects. In Florida and globally, getting the water right is as much a social and cultural project as it is scientific or political. In this 2015 Lewis Henry Morgan Lecture, Jessica Cattelino builds from ethnographic research in the Everglades to explore the cultural politics of water. Examining how Everglades residents—including Seminole and non-Seminole farmers and ranchers, water managers, and environmentalists—value water, she considers the distinctive forms that nature takes in settler colonial societies like the United States. In the United States, nature and indigeneity are co-produced with uneven effects. Only by unsettling the non-analogical processes that link indigeneity with nature can we “get the water right” in the Everglades and beyond. Watch the Lecture Here: http://haujournal.org/haunet/cattelino.php

Recurrence intervals of spatially simulated hydrologic metrics for restoration of Cape Sable seaside sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus mirabilis) habitat

Marl prairie, a diverse graminoid-dominated freshwater vegetation community in the Florida Everglades, provides a specialized niche for the federally endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow (CSSS). This paper describes a regional habitat suitability modeling approach to evaluating how changes in management from Everglades restoration may affect the CSSS. The Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow Marl Prairie Indicator (CSSSMarlPrairie) is a spatially explicit model that integrates frequency (return periods) of target hydrologic conditions to simulate the anticipated response of marl prairie CSSS habitats to fluxing hydropatterns resulting from restoration projects, water management operations, and climatic change. The model integrates CSSS field survey data with the hydrologic targets at the resolution of the hydrologic simulation model (in this case, the Regional Simulation Model). The application of return periods for hydrologic events provides a novel approach for simulation of anticipated marl prairie responses in the southern Everglades and is readily applicable to evaluating targets of modeled wetland restoration scenarios elsewhere. CSSSMarlPrairie is intended to be used for decision support, in association with a suite of ecological models for additional species of management concern, to facilitate planning of ecosystem restoration projects such as those in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan and recovery of the marl prairie habitats of the CSSS. A tentatively selected restoration plan for the central Everglades is projected to have mostly minor overall impacts to marl prairie CSSS habitats. Local substantial habitat shifts in and adjacent to designated habitat boundaries have been identified, however, that warrant management consideration.

Assessing accuracy and precision for field and laboratory data: a perspective in ecosystem restoration

Unlike most laboratory studies, rigorous quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) procedures may be lacking in ecosystem restoration (“ecorestoration”) projects, despite legislative mandates in the United States. This is due, in part, to ecorestoration specialists making the false assumption that some types of data (e.g. discrete variables such as species identification and abundance classes) are not subject to evaluations of data quality. Moreover, emergent behavior manifested by complex, adapting, and nonlinear organizations responsible for monitoring the success of ecorestoration projects tend to unconsciously minimize disorder, QA/QC being an activity perceived as creating disorder. We discuss similarities and differences in assessing precision and accuracy for field and laboratory data. Although the concepts for assessing precision and accuracy of ecorestoration field data are conceptually the same as laboratory data, the manner in which these data quality attributes are assessed is different. From a sample analysis perspective, a field crew is comparable to a laboratory instrument that requires regular “recalibration,” with results obtained by experts at the same plot treated as laboratory calibration standards. Unlike laboratory standards and reference materials, the “true” value for many field variables is commonly unknown. In the laboratory, specific QA/QC samples assess error for each aspect of the measurement process, whereas field revisits assess precision and accuracy of the entire data collection process following initial calibration. Rigorous QA/QC data in an ecorestoration project are essential for evaluating the success of a project, and they provide the only objective “legacy” of the dataset for potential legal challenges and future uses.

Ecosystem response to interventions: lessons from restored and created wetland ecosystems

Summary Current efforts to restore and create ecosystems require greater understanding of ecosystems’ responses to commonly used physical and biological intervention approaches to overcome ecological and technological limitations. We estimated effect sizes from measurements of biotic assemblage structure and biogeochemical functions at 628 restored and created wetlands globally, in comparison with 499 reference wetlands. We studied the recovery trajectories of wetlands where different restoration or creation approaches were used under different environmental settings. Although the variance explained by a linear mixed‐effects models was low (6–7%), the study of recovery trajectories showed that the restoration or creation approach had no significant effects in most environmental settings. In particular, wetlands where surface modification and flow re‐establishment were used followed similar recovery trajectories regardless of whether they were revegetated or not. We even found potential detrimental effects of biological manipulations on the recovery of the plant assemblage, particularly in cold climates and in wetlands restored or created in agricultural areas. Since physical interventions are required to recover or create the hydrological conditions of degraded or new wetlands, and given the high cost (22–73%) of biological interventions (i.e. revegetation), the need for biological interventions is, in most cases, unclear. Our results highlight the urgent need to increase our understanding of the long‐term effects of restoration and creation actions in our aim to engage in large‐scale ecosystem management strategies for wetlands. Synthesis and applications. These results suggest that, currently, the recovery and development processes of restored and created wetlands can be driven by spontaneous processes rather than by the response of wetlands to human interventions other than those targeted to restore hydrological conditions that existed prior to disturbance. However, given the synthetic nature of the data set, the mixed nature of available data and the limited number of measures we found to estimate recovery, caution must be exercised when adapting the results presented here to the planning and execution of specific ecosystem restoration projects.

Database Management for Large Scale Reclamation Projects in Wyoming: Developing Better Data Acquisition, Monitoring, and Models for Application to Future Projects

This paper will highlight the need for database creation and management associated with large-scale land reclamation and ecosystem restoration projects and suggests considerations for future improv...

Enhancing ecosystem restoration efficiency through spatial and temporal coordination.

In many large ecosystems, conservation projects are selected by a diverse set of actors operating independently at spatial scales ranging from local to international. Although small-scale decision making can leverage local expert knowledge, it also may be an inefficient means of achieving large-scale objectives if piecemeal efforts are poorly coordinated. Here, we assess the value of coordinating efforts in both space and time to maximize the restoration of aquatic ecosystem connectivity. Habitat fragmentation is a leading driver of declining biodiversity and ecosystem services in rivers worldwide, and we simultaneously evaluate optimal barrier removal strategies for 661 tributary rivers of the Laurentian Great Lakes, which are fragmented by at least 6,692 dams and 232,068 road crossings. We find that coordinating barrier removals across the entire basin is nine times more efficient at reconnecting fish to headwater breeding grounds than optimizing independently for each watershed. Similarly, a one-time pulse of restoration investment is up to 10 times more efficient than annual allocations totaling the same amount. Despite widespread emphasis on dams as key barriers in river networks, improving road culvert passability is also essential for efficiently restoring connectivity to the Great Lakes. Our results highlight the dramatic economic and ecological advantages of coordinating efforts in both space and time during restoration of large ecosystems.

Ecological and social implications of employing diameter caps at a collaborative forest restoration project near Flagstaff, Arizona, USA

The issue of implementing diameter caps as a means of preserving old-growth trees on forest restoration projects continues to permeate collaborative land management discussions and treatment decisions on public lands in the Southwest and, indeed, throughout the western United States. We examine the ecological and social results of the collaborative Fort Valley Ecosystem Restoration Project on U.S. Forest Service lands near Flagstaff, Arizona. Since this experiment had areas treated with and without a diameter cap, we sought to determine: 1) the ecological consequences of implementing a 16-inch diameter cap, 2) whether the fears and concerns of the environmental groups who proposed the diameter cap were, in fact, warranted, and 3) how the local collaborative responded to implementing the diameter cap. The ecological data revealed that a site's management history played a major role in how a diameter cap would affect the restoration of stand structure in terms of tree density and tree size. The data suggest that, if implemented, diameter caps are best applied in a manner that takes into account both site conditions and stand management history. In general, we found the concerns about the loss of old-growth trees due to thinning treatments were not realized at Fort Valley. Finally, stakeholder surveys indicate that while the discussion of diameter caps caused tension within the collaborative group, the overall goal of forest restoration was not compromised.

Sci-TEK: A GIS-Based Multidisciplinary Method for Incorporating Traditional Ecological Knowledge into Louisiana's Coastal Restoration Decision-Making Processes

Bethel, M.B.; Brien, L.F.; Esposito, M.M.; Miller, C.T.; Buras, H.S.; Laska, S.B.; Philippe, R.; Peterson, K.J., and Richards, C.P., 2014. Sci-TEK: A GIS-based multidisciplinary method for incorporating traditional ecological knowledge into Louisiana's coastal restoration decision-making processes.Making more informed coastal restoration and protection decisions has become increasingly important given limited resources available for ecosystem restoration projects and the increasing magnitude of marsh and barrier island degradation, and associated land loss, across Louisiana's coast. An interdisciplinary team of physical and social scientists, coastal restoration managers, and fishers/resource harvesters of affected coastal Louisiana communities collaborated on this study, with the goal of enhancing restoration decision making by engaging local ecosystem knowledge holders in the process. Together they investigated the feasibility and benefits of integrating the traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of a coastal population with geospatial technology and scientific data sets to assess how the resulting knowledge might inform project planning and implementation for coastal restoration. The primary goal was to provide coastal resource managers with a more comprehensive and transferrable method of assessing localized stakeholder priorities and translating that information into a format compatible with or comparable to products of existing coastal restoration decision-support tools for Louisiana. Through the Sci-TEK process, TEK is recorded in a natural, egalitarian setting and is converted into geographic information system (GIS) models that can facilitate incorporation into the existing restoration-planning process. This is achieved by using remote sensing, science-based data sets, and GIS to produce mapping products that represent the local fishers' and harvesters' TEK. The collaborative team developed a method for effective stakeholder engagement and a process for producing mapping products to aid in restoration location prioritization using information derived and prioritized with TEK. The current model of engagement via public meetings can generate extensive transcripts of public opinion, but it is limited in terms of scope and stakeholder representation. The information obtained with this model is also difficult to incorporate into the scientific toolbox used to make decisions about restoration. By mapping TEK we translated this knowledge into a usable data set layer that incorporates quality control and can be confidently used in combination with existing data sets. Moreover the researchers used the stakeholder engagement process to help address the general lack of understanding by physical scientists and managers/decision makers of the value of TEK, and to illustrate how this participatory process helps to bridge the communication gap that typically exists between scientists and traditional knowledge holders.

Nesting Habitat Creation Enhances Recruitment in a Predator‐Free Environment: Malaclemys Nesting at the Paul S. Sarbanes Ecosystem Restoration Project

AbstractAquatic turtles worldwide are plagued with habitat loss due to development and shoreline alteration that destroys the terrestrial–aquatic linkage which they must cross to reproduce successfully. Furthermore, nesting habitat loss can concentrate nesting, increasing nest predator efficiency. We describe how the Paul S. Sarbanes Ecosystem Restoration Project at Poplar Island created nesting habitat for Malaclemys terrapin (Diamondback Terrapin), and document nesting success in response to construction progress and the absence of raccoons and foxes, the primary nest predators. We monitored terrapin nests throughout the nesting seasons from 2002 to 2011 to determine overall and within‐nest survivorship. Female terrapins began nesting on the restoration project within 1 year but planned construction during the study eliminated some nesting areas and opened previously inaccessible areas. Overall, nest survivorship was considerably higher than mainland nesting areas due to the absence of raccoons and foxes on the island and within‐nest survivorship was similar. Egg size, hatchling size, and the frequency of shell scute anomalies were similar to other terrapin populations, suggesting normal developmental conditions on the island. We documented annual variation in hatchling size that correlated negatively with mean air temperature during the incubation season. Our results indicate that restored or created isolated island habitat can be located rapidly by terrapins and can become an important source of recruitment in regions where nesting habitat is limited and predation is high. Poplar Island illustrates how habitat loss and restoration can affect turtle populations by revealing the changes in nesting patterns and success in newly created, predator‐free habitat.

Environmental effects of land-use/cover change caused by urbanization and policies in Southwest China Karst area – A case study of Guiyang

Land-use/cover change (LUCC) caused by urbanization has impacted environment and become an important factor driving global change. Karst is a very fragile environment and the LUCC can cause massive change of the environment. An integrated approach was used to explore the environmental effect of LUCC with urbanization and China's ecosystem restoration projects during the period 1996–2010. The results show that the area dedicated to arable land, grassland, water area, and unused land have declined by 243.04 km2, 22.96 km2, 2.06 km2 and 13.61 km2, whereas the size of forestland and construction land have increased by 153.85 km2 and 127.82 km2, respectively. The overall environmental quality, measured using environmental quality index, has improved; however, the improvement only occurred in suburb districts. The variation of green land per capital, forestland and grassland were the main reasons for the environmental change. Further environmental degradation caused by urbanization and LUCC possibly continue in the coming decades and therefore environment protection should be the priority for the development in Karst areas.

Increase in Wedge‐tailed Shearwaters and Changes in Soil Nutrients following Removal of Alien Mammalian Predators and Nitrogen‐fixing Plants at Kaena Point, Hawaii

AbstractA predator‐proof fence was built at Kaena Point Natural Area Reserve, Hawaii in 2010 as part of an ecosystem restoration project. All non‐native mammalian predators were removed and are now excluded. Non‐native plants are being removed and native species are being outplanted. We monitored abundance and reproduction of Puffinus pacificus (wedge‐tailed shearwaters), collected soil samples before and after fence construction, and examined the relationship between changes in shearwater numbers and soil nutrients. Shearwater numbers increased over time, from 11 young produced in 1994 to 3,274 in 2012. The average number of shearwaters produced during the 3 years before and after fence construction increased from 614 ± 249 to 2,359 ± 802 (384% increase). The average number of shearwater pairs attempting to nest also increased during the same periods, from 3,265 ± 827 to 4,726 ± 826 (45% increase). Soil samples from 2010 to 2013 showed an overall decline in concentration of ammonium (NH4+) and no change in concentration of nitrate (NO3−) or orthophosphate (PO43−). However, there was a positive relationship between changes in shearwater numbers and changes in ammonium. Examination of spatial patterns in nutrient abundance showed that the highest nutrient concentrations occurred in areas dominated by the non‐native nitrogen‐fixing plants Leucaena leucocephala and Prosopis pallida. Removal of these plants caused local nutrient declines, but increases in shearwater numbers have countered this at some points. We anticipate that shearwaters and other seabirds will replace non‐native plants as the dominant source of nitrogen and phosphorous and facilitate recovery of a native‐dominated plant assemblage.

Piscivore Responses to Enhancement of the Channelized Kissimmee River, Florida, U.S.A.

AbstractEvaluation of the success of ecosystem restoration projects requires identification of appropriate ecological metrics. Comparison of reconstructed food webs (or subsets thereof) from restored and non‐restored habitats may be a valuable tool to evaluate restoration success because food webs help identify critical predator–prey relationships, keystone species, relative importance of direct and indirect trophic interactions, and other aspects of ecological function. We compared the diets of apex predatory fishes collected from enhanced and non‐enhanced portions of the channelized Kissimmee River, Florida, USA to determine whether food web structure responded to experimental hydrologic manipulations. Diets were reconstructed for black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus), bowfin (Amia calva), chain pickerel (Esox niger), Florida gar (Lepisosteus platyrhincus), largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), and warmouth (Lepomis gulosus) collected from enhanced and non‐enhanced portions of the Kissimmee River. Prey eaten by apex predatory fishes in the enhanced portion of the Kissimmee River were quantitatively and qualitatively different from prey eaten in non‐enhanced portions of the river. Predators in the enhanced portion of the river had fewer empty stomachs, more prey items per individual, more prey types per individual, more fish prey per individual, greater overall richness of prey, and a multivariate suite of prey distinct from predators in non‐enhanced portions of the river. Results from hydrologic manipulations suggest that large‐scale restoration of hydrologic linkages between the main channel and floodplain habitats will positively affect food web structure and ecosystem function in the Kissimmee River.

Restoring the Greater: Everglades Ecosystem

Restoring the Greater: Everglades Ecosystem

Successes, Failures and Suggested Future Directions for Ecosystem Restoration of the Middle Sacramento River, California

Large-scale ecosystem restoration projects seldom undergo comprehensive evaluation to determine project effectiveness. Consequently, there are missed opportunities for learning and strategy refinement. Before our study, monitoring information from California’s middle Sacramento River had not been synthesized, despite restoration having been ongoing since 1989. Our

Benefits of Investing in Ecosystem Restoration

Measures aimed at conservation or restoration of ecosystems are often seen as net-cost projects by governments and businesses because they are based on incomplete and often faulty cost-benefit analyses. After screening over 200 studies, we examined the costs (94 studies) and benefits (225 studies) of ecosystem restoration projects that had sufficient reliable data in 9 different biomes ranging from coral reefs to tropical forests. Costs included capital investment and maintenance of the restoration project, and benefits were based on the monetary value of the total bundle of ecosystem services provided by the restored ecosystem. Assuming restoration is always imperfect and benefits attain only 75% of the maximum value of the reference systems over 20 years, we calculated the net present value at the social discount rates of 2% and 8%. We also conducted 2 threshold cum sensitivity analyses. Benefit-cost ratios ranged from about 0.05:1 (coral reefs and coastal systems, worst-case scenario) to as much as 35:1 (grasslands, best-case scenario). Our results provide only partial estimates of benefits at one point in time and reflect the lower limit of the welfare benefits of ecosystem restoration because both scarcity of and demand for ecosystem services is increasing and new benefits of natural ecosystems and biological diversity are being discovered. Nonetheless, when accounting for even the incomplete range of known benefits through the use of static estimates that fail to capture rising values, the majority of the restoration projects we analyzed provided net benefits and should be considered not only as profitable but also as high-yielding investments. Beneficios de Invertir en la Restauración de Ecosistemas.

DETERMINACIÓN DEL POTENCIAL DE RESTAURACIÓN ECOLÓGICA EN EL PARQUE NACIONAL ENRIQUE OLAYA HERRERA, II ETAPA

The Enrique Olaya Herrera National Park (c.a. 237 ha) is a protected area located in the eastern hills of Bogota in a strategic ecological location. It forms part of the city’s Main Ecological Structure that maintains valuable landscapes in the region. However, the area is subject to a variety of ecological pressures and constraints that have contributed to its degradation. Based on landscape ecology theories, this study zoned the park according to its restoration potential with the objective of setting base-lines for the planning of restoration projects. Firstly, we characterized the physical, biotic and socio-dynamic components of the territory. Secondly, we selected the variables necessary for the evaluation and spacing of the restoration potential of each of these components. Finally, following the evaluation and weighting of the obtained potentials, and using GIS analysis, we determined which areas have high, medium or low ecological restoration potential, generating a 1:5000-scale cartography for the whole study area. The spacing of these landscape units is one of the main concepts of landscape ecology that allows the identification of priorities in projects that need rigorous planning and investment of technical and human resources. By doing this, it will likely contribute to the success of ecosystem restoration projects.

Understanding the sources of uncertainty to reduce the risks of undesirable outcomes in large-scale freshwater ecosystem restoration projects: An example from the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia

Abstract There are a growing number of large-scale freshwater ecological restoration projects world-wide. Assessments of the benefits and costs of restoration often exclude an analysis of uncertainty in the modelled outcomes. To address this shortcoming we explicitly model the uncertainties associated with measures of ecosystem health in the estuary of the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia and how those measures may change with the implementation of a Basin-wide Plan to recover water to improve ecosystem health. Specifically, we compare two metrics – one simple and one more complex – to manage end-of-system flow requirements for one ecosystem asset in the Basin, the internationally important Coorong saline wetlands. Our risk assessment confirms that the ecological conditions in the Coorong are likely to improve with implementation of the Basin Plan; however, there are risks of a Type III error (where the correct answer is found for the wrong question) associated with using the simple metric for adaptive management.

Assessing significant geomorphic changes and effectiveness of dynamic restoration in a coastal dune ecosystem

A shift from restoring coastal dunes as stabilized landscapes toward more morphodynamic ecosystems is underway. This paper uses results from a recent case study where invasive vegetation was removed from a coastal dune complex in western Canada as a first step in a dynamic ecosystem restoration project. Spatial statistical methods, used in the natural sciences to quantify patterns of significant spatial–temporal changes, are reviewed and the local Moran's Ii spatial autocorrelation statistic is explored for detecting and assessing significant changes. Cluster maps of positive (depositional) and negative (erosional) changes were used to derive statistically significant volumetric changes within discrete geomorphic units (beach, foredune, transgressive dune) over one year following vegetation removal. All units experienced net increases in sediment budgets compared to a pre-restoration surface. The beach experienced the highest episodic erosion and volumetric change and greatest net annual sediment budget. Compared to the beach, the annual sediment budget of the foredune was 19% whereas the transgressive dune was 33%. The foredune recovered rapidly to initial erosion during restoration and subsequent natural events with consistently positive sediment volumes and attained a form similar to that pre-restoration. Aeolian deflation and sand bypassing through the foredune was greatest in the two months following vegetation removal and peak accretion in the transgressive dune resulted from depositional lobes extending from the foredune, smaller dunes migrating within the complex, and growth of a precipitation ridge along the eastern margin.Several methodological and logistical considerations for detecting significant change in dynamic dune landscapes are discussed including sampling strategy design, data normalization and control measures, and incorporating uncertainty and inherent spatial relations within acquired datasets to ensure accuracy and comparability of results. Generally underutilized in coastal geomorphology, spatial autocorrelation methods (e.g., local Moran's Ii) are recommended over spatially uniform threshold approaches for the ability to detect local change processes and explore hypotheses on spatial–temporal dynamics.Finally, several key geomorphic indicators, that are believed to aid in re-establishing ecological conditions and processes that favor more resilient and natural dune ecosystems, are identified for assessing the effectiveness of dynamic restoration projects including: increased aeolian activity, enlarged active sand surface area, positive sediment budgets, increased dune morphodynamics, improved geomorphic diversity, and enhanced geomorphic resilience. Although limited in temporal scope, the case study results show that the initial phase of the restoration treatment was effective in enhancing all indicators except for increasing sand surface area. Given decadal scale observations of climatic changes and longer-term eco-geomorphic trajectory toward stabilization in the region, however, it is unlikely that the geomorphic effectiveness of this restoration effort will continue without continued frequent treatment interventions.

Object-based Vegetation Mapping in the Kissimmee River Watershed Using HyMap Data and Machine Learning Techniques

Accurate and informative vegetation maps are in urgent demand to support the Kissimmee-Okeechobee-Everglades ecosystem restoration project in South Florida. In this study, we evaluated the applicability of fine spatial resolution hyperspectral data collected from the HyMap sensor for both community- and species-level vegetation mapping. Informative and accurate vegetation maps were produced by combining machine learning methods (Support Vector Machines (SVM) and Random Forest (RF)), object-based image analysis techniques, and Minimum Noise Fraction (MNF) data transformation. An overall accuracy of 90% was obtained in discriminating 14 vegetation communities. Classification of a large number of species is also promising. An overall accuracy of 85% was achieved in identifying 55 species using a SVM model. The results indicate that fine spatial resolution hyperspectral data classification using such automated procedure has great potential to replace the manual interpretation of aerial photos for vegetation mapping in heterogeneous wetland ecosystems.

Underwater Archaeology at 41HY147, the Terrace Locality at Spring Lake

Underwater investigations conducted at Spring Lake in the 1970s and 1980s by the late Dr. Joel Shiner contributed to our overall understanding of the archaeological record in Central Texas and its relationship to prehistory in North America. His work not only produced abundant evidence for early Paleoindian occupations associated with freshwater spring sites but also helped to demonstrate a nearly continuous sequence of occupation spanning more than 13,000 years, from Clovis times through the Spanish Colonial era and into the historic period. Using field notes and correspondences held in the records and collections repository at the Center for Archaeological Studies, Texas State University-San Marcos, we reconstruct a history of Shiner’s work at the lake and present new analytic data about the temporally diagnostic artifacts comprising the 41HY147 collection. Results are discussed in the context of regional findings elsewhere. In addition to detailed descriptions of this collection, we have given special attention to preparing high quality illustrations of many of these artifacts, most of which are presented to the public for the first time in this report. Publication of the findings from this early research at Spring Lake illustrates the significance of this site in the cultural landscape, and provides a sound basis for the ongoing and future scientific investigations here. The report was undertaken as an alternative mitigation measure to help offset potentially unavoidable impacts to important cultural resources at Spring Lake that may have occurred as part of the recently completed Section 206 aquatic ecosystem restoration project at the headwaters of the San Marcos River conducted jointly by the United States Army Corps of Engineers and Texas State University.