Prioritize Restoration Actions Research Articles

RePlant Alfa: Integrating Google Earth Engine and R Coding to Support the Identification of Priority Areas for Ecological Restoration

Land degradation and climate change are among the main threats to the sustainability of ecosystems worldwide. As a result, the restoration of degraded landscapes is essential to maintaining the functionality of ecosystems, especially those with greater social, economic, and environmental vulnerability. Nevertheless, policymakers are frequently challenged by deciding where to prioritize restoration actions, which usually includes dealing with multiple and complex needs under an always limited budget. If these decisions are not taken based on proper data and processes, restoration implementation can easily fail. In order to help decision-makers take informed decisions on where to implement restoration activities, we have developed a semiautomatic geospatial platform to prioritize areas for restoration activities based on ecological, social, and economic variables. This platform takes advantage of the potential to integrate R coding, Google Earth Engine cloud computing, and GIS visualization services to generate an interactive geospatial decision-maker tool for restoration. Here, we present a prototype version called “RePlant alpha”, which was tested with data from the Central Zone of Chile. This exercise proved that integrating R and GEE was feasible, and that the analysis with at least six indicators for a specific region was also feasible to implement even from a personal computer. Therefore, the use of a virtual machine in the cloud with a large number of indicators over large areas is both possible and practical.

Multi‐scale habitat selection of key frugivores predicts large‐seeded tree recruitment in tropical forest restoration

AbstractLarge‐seeded, animal‐dispersed (LSAD) trees include some of the most valuable and threatened species in the tropics, but they are chronically underrepresented in regenerating forests. Toucans disperse many LSAD species, so attracting toucans to regenerating forests should help re‐establish more diverse tree communities. We ask: (1) What constitutes suitable toucan habitat in premontane southern Costa Rica? (2) How much do small‐scale restoration strategies influence toucan visitation compared to landscape‐scale habitat suitability outside of restoration sites? (3) How well does toucan visitation predict the richness of LSAD tree species recruiting into regenerating forests? We combined habitat suitability models with long‐term toucan observations and comprehensive tree recruitment surveys to assess these questions in a multi‐site forest restoration experiment. Restoration treatments included tree plantations, natural regeneration, and applied nucleation. Habitat suitability obtained by modeling for three sympatric toucan species was predicted by elevation and the extent and age of landscape forest cover. Within suitable landscapes, toucans visited areas restored via tree planting ≥5 yr sooner and ≥2× more often than plots restored via natural regeneration. Tree plantations in suitable toucan habitat at the landscape scale had LSAD tree recruitment communities that were 2–3× richer in species than plantations in poor toucan habitat, and 71% (15/21) of all recruiting LSAD tree species were found only in plantations where landscape habitat was suitable for the largest toucan, Ramphastos ambiguus. Results support a multi‐spatial‐scale model for predicting toucan‐mediated dispersal of LSAD trees. Tree planting increases toucan visitation and LSAD tree recruitment, but only within landscapes that represent suitable toucan habitat. More broadly, habitat suitability modeling for key seed dispersers can help prioritize restoration actions within heterogenous landscapes.

Establishing Targets for Regional Coastal Wetland Restoration Planning Using Historical Ecology and Future Scenario Analysis: The Past, Present, Future Approach

Regional approaches to coastal wetland restoration are one of the best ways to ensure that these threatened habitats persist in the face of sea level rise. Regional approaches provide a mechanism for prioritizing restoration actions in areas where future conditions will promote maximum resiliency while still providing for an appropriate composition of plant and animal habitats across the region as a whole. Developing a regional restoration strategy requires understanding historical losses relative to contemporary habitat distributions, predicting future changes due to sea level rise (and other stressors), and evaluating management actions with the potential to offset expected future losses. In this study, we present an approach to assess historical losses and future management options for more than 100 individual wetlands along the Southern California (USA) coast ranging in size from a few tenths of a hectare to over 250 ha. This analysis was conducted to support development of a regional wetland strategy that will guide restoration in Southern California for the next several decades. The approach consisted of reconstructing historical wetland distribution using US Coast and Geodetic Survey T-sheets, mapping current wetlands and classifying them into archetypes that represent different settings and processes, and predicting future distributions based on a hypsometric model of elevation changes under various sea level rise and management scenarios. Historical analysis revealed that two-thirds of the 331 wetlands present in ca. 1850 and 75% of vegetated estuarine habitat area has been lost, with most losses occurring in small to medium size wetlands. Up to 69% of the remaining marshes and flats could be lost with 1.7 m of sea level rise, with an associated increase in subtidal habitat. However, potential future losses could be largely offset, and total area could increase under scenarios of facilitated wetland migration and sediment augmentation. Although the future distribution of wetlands would likely be different from current conditions, sufficient habitat would be provided region-wide. This analysis demonstrates how regional analysis of historic, present, and likely future conditions can support a strategy that could lead to net wetland gain under future sea level rise conditions. However, immediate and decisive action is necessary.

Identifying habitat correlates of latent occupancy when apparent annual occupancy is confounded with availability for detection

Estimating relationships between landscape variables and the presence of a species via occupancy modeling is a common practice for many animal species. However, estimating these relationships can be difficult for species where availability for detection is driven by factors that match the traditional primary sampling period. We present a new hierarchical formulation of the occupancy model to estimate these relationships in the presence of among-year variation in availability for detection for the threatened Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii). There were large swings in apparent annual proportion of area occupied ranging from 0.19 to 0.66, with year-to-year changes in the apparent annual proportion ranging from −25.7% to 230.2%. The model estimated the true latent proportion of area occupied was 0.57 (95% Cr.I. 0.51–0.631). The predictive raster surface developed from the novel model formulation validated well using an independent data set (Pearson's r=0.948), with radio-telemetered desert tortoises spending disproportionately more time in higher predicted probability of occurrence portions of the study area. The coefficients from the model, and more specifically the occupancy probability predictive raster surface developed from them, can be used by land managers to guide future survey efforts and to spatially prioritize restoration actions across a 35,000ha conservation reserve. In general, acknowledging the challenge of confounding availability for detection with apparent annual occupancy and using the modeling framework presented here can be used to determine fundamental relationships between landscape configuration and latent occupancy for a variety of heretofore unaddressed species.

Review of Tools for Identifying, Planning, and Implementing Habitat Restoration for Pacific Salmon and Steelhead

AbstractA key challenge in watershed restoration is identifying the appropriate assessments, data, and analyses needed to identify disrupted natural processes, lost and degraded habitats, and limiting factors to ultimately identify and design successful restoration projects. This has proven particularly challenging for large restoration programs focused on recovery of threatened and endangered salmon and trout where numerous tools, models, and other assessments have been developed to assist with habitat restoration at the watershed, reach, and project scale. Unfortunately, it is often unclear which step in the restoration process these various assessment tools will actually address. To assist with identifying the appropriate assessment tool (e.g., model, data collection, analysis, and survey), we reviewed major categories of watershed restoration assessment tools to determine their goals, inputs, outputs, and their utility in helping plan, prioritize, and implement restoration actions. The major categories of assessment tools reviewed were: (1) life cycle and fish–habitat models, (2) watershed assessment methods and techniques, (3) reach assessments, (4) prioritization tools, and (5) common monitoring methods to identify, prioritize, and plan river and watershed restoration projects. We specifically indicated whether these assessment tools directly or indirectly assisted with the key steps in the restoration process that are required to develop successful restoration plans and projects. These steps involve assessing watershed conditions, identifying limiting habitats and life stages, identifying problems and restoration actions, selecting restoration techniques, prioritizing restoration actions, or designing actual restoration projects. It is important to recognize that no single assessment tool will address all the steps in the restoration process. Selecting appropriate assessment tools requires a clear understanding of the goals of the restoration program and which step in the restoration process will be addressed by a particular tool. We provide recommendations for how restoration practitioners and managers can use our review to help select the appropriate assessment tools needed for their watershed.

Are culvert assessment scores an indicator of Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis population fragmentation?

Fragmentation is a major threat to the integrity of stream ecosystems and maintaining connectivity is a primary goal for conservation to promote natural system functioning. In human dominated systems with extensive anthropogenic fragmentation, resource managers are faced with prioritizing restoration actions to provide the most cost-effective conservation strategies. Road crossings, particularly poorly designed culverts, limit fish passage and thus population connectivity and access to seasonally important resources. Culvert assessment protocols, such as the one developed by the North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative (NAACC), are useful tools for managers to evaluate culvert passability and prioritize restoration actions across broad spatial extents, however the justification of such protocols requires empirical field based investigations. In this study we collected Brook Trout genetic samples from 28 headwater streams, of which 17 were separated by a culverted road crossing and 11 were included as a comparison to natural genetic structuring. The objectives of this research were to 1) determine what effect culverts had on the genetics of Brook Trout populations, 2) evaluate the ability of the NAACC culvert assessment protocol to predict genetic patterns and 3) identify the culvert characteristics that best explained genetic variability. We found significant increases in genetic differentiation at sites with culverts compared to those without, but no differences in genetic diversity metrics. Although the NAACC classifications did not predict the extent of genetic differentiation, the openness ratio of culverts (cross sectional area/length) was significantly correlated, suggesting it may need to receive a higher weighting in assessment protocols. Our results highlight the necessity to match appropriate prioritization strategies with desired management objectives in order to design the most effective conservation actions.

Modelling functional fish habitat connectivity in rivers: A case study for prioritizing restoration actions targeting brown trout

Abstract Throughout the world, decreased connectivity of fluvial habitats caused by artificial river channel alterations such as culverts, weirs and dykes is seen as an important threat to the long‐term survival of many aquatic species. In addition to assessing habitat quality and abundance, wildlife managers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of taking into account habitat connectivity when setting priorities for restoration. In this paper, a new approach of spatial analysis adapted to rivers and streams is proposed for modelling 2D functional habitat connectivity, integrating distance, costs and risk of travelling between habitat patches (e.g. daily use, spawning, refuge) for particular fish species, size classes and life stages. This approach was applied to a case study in which brown trout (Salmo trutta) habitat accessibility was examined and compared under various scenarios of stream restoration in a highly fragmented stream in Ile‐de‐France. Probabilities of reaching spawning habitats were estimated from a trout‐populated area located downstream of the barriers and from potential daily‐use habitat patches across the stream segment. The approach successfully helped prioritize restoration actions by identifying options that yield the greatest increase in accessible spawning habitat areas and connectivity between spawning habitat and daily‐use habitat patches. This case study illustrates the practical use of the approach and the software in the context of river habitat management.

Microhabitat heterogeneity and a non‐native avian frugivore drive the population dynamics of an island endemic shrub, Cyrtandra dentata

Summary Understanding the role of environmental change in the decline of endangered species is critical for designing scale‐appropriate restoration plans. For locally endemic rare plants on the brink of extinction, frugivory can drastically reduce local recruitment by dispersing seeds away from geographically isolated populations. Dispersal of seeds away from isolated populations can ultimately lead to population decline. For localized endemic plants, fine‐scale changes in microhabitat can further limit population persistence. Evaluating the individual and combined impact of frugivores and microhabitat heterogeneity on the short‐term (i.e. transient) and long‐term (i.e. asymptotic) dynamics of plants will provide insight into the drivers of species rarity. In this study, we used 4 years of demographic data to develop matrix projection models for a long‐lived shrub, Cyrtandra dentata (H. St. John & Storey) (Gesneriaceae), which is endemic to the island of O'ahu in Hawai'i. Furthermore, we evaluated the individual and combined influence of a non‐native frugivorous bird, Leiothrix lutea, and microhabitat heterogeneity on the short‐term and long‐term C. dentata population dynamics. Frugivory by L. lutea decreased the short‐term and long‐term population growth rates. However, under the current level of frugivory at the field site the C. dentata population was projected to persist over time. Conversely, the removal of optimum microhabitat for seedling establishment (i.e. rocky gulch walls and boulders in the gulch bottom) reduced the short‐term and long‐term population growth rates from growing to declining. Survival of mature C. dentata plants had the greatest influence on long‐term population dynamics, followed by the growth of seedlings and immature plants. The importance of mature plant survival was even greater when we simulated the combined effect of frugivory and the loss of optimal microhabitat, relative to population dynamics based on field conditions. In the short‐term (10 years), however, earlier life stages had the greatest influence on population growth rate. Synthesis and applications. This study emphasizes how important it is to decouple rare plant management strategies in the short vs. long‐term in order to prioritize restoration actions, particularly when faced with multiple stressors not all of which can be feasibly managed. From an applied conservation perspective, our findings also illustrate that the life stage that, if improved by management, would have the greatest influence on population dynamics is dependent on the timeframe of interest and initial conditions of the population.

Integración de datos de inventario y modelos dehábitat para predecir la regeneración de especies leñosas mediterráneas en repoblaciones forestales

Navarro-Cerrillo, R. M., Clavero, I., Lorenzo Vidaña, A., Quero J. L., Duque-Lazo J. 2016. Forest Inventories and habitat models to predictregeneration of Mediterranean woody species in forest plantations. Ecosistemas 25(3): 6-21. Doi.: 10.7818/ECOS.2016.25-3.02 Can we model the potential habitat of natural regeneration of Mediterranean woody species in forest plantations using distribution models? In this paper, dasometric variables from a forest inventory of Sierra de Baza Natural Park, combined with environmental variables (climatic, topographic) and biotic variables were analyzed to assess which factors influence the regeneration of seven woody species (Pinus sylvestris, P. nigra, P. pinaster, P. halepensis, Quercus ilex, Crataegus monogyna and Acer opalus). Modeling potential habitat for regeneration was done using Maxent in the current climate, and two future climate scenarios. The combination of biotic and climatic variables was important to predict regeneration of Pinus species, A. opalus subsp. granatense and C. monogyna, while the regeneration of Q. ilex was more related to climate predictors. In future climate change scenarios, P. halepensis optimum regeneration habitat could increase significantly, whereas the remaining species tend to moderate decreases (25%) for the period 2000-2050. Our results highlight the importance of species distribution models as a useful tool for achieving greater naturalization of forest plantations by identifying areas of future climatic optimum distribution. We further demonstrate the potential of forest inventory data to monitor changes in regeneration and prioritize restoration actions to facilitate regeneration.

Can stream and riparian restoration offset climate change impacts to salmon populations?

Understanding how stream temperature responds to restoration of riparian vegetation and channel morphology in context of future climate change is critical for prioritizing restoration actions and recovering imperiled salmon populations. We used a deterministic water temperature model to investigate potential thermal benefits of riparian reforestation and channel narrowing to Chinook Salmon populations in the Upper Grande Ronde River and Catherine Creek basins in Northeast Oregon, USA. A legacy of intensive land use practices in these basins has significantly reduced streamside vegetation and increased channel width across most of the stream network, resulting in water temperatures that far exceed the optimal range for salmon growth and survival. By combining restoration scenarios with climate change projections, we were able to evaluate whether future climate impacts could be offset by restoration actions. A combination of riparian restoration and channel narrowing was predicted to reduce peak summer water temperatures by 6.5 °C on average in the Upper Grande Ronde River and 3.0 °C in Catherine Creek in the absence of other perturbations. These results translated to increases in Chinook Salmon parr abundance of 590% and 67% respectively. Although projected climate change impacts on water temperature for the 2080s time period were substantial (i.e., median increase of 2.7 °C in the Upper Grande Ronde and 1.5 °C in Catherine Creek), we predicted that basin-wide restoration of riparian vegetation and channel width could offset these impacts, reducing peak summer water temperatures by about 3.5 °C in the Upper Grande Ronde and 1.8 °C in Catherine Creek. These results underscore the potential for riparian and stream channel restoration to mitigate climate change impacts to threatened salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest.

Shoreline Armoring in an Inland Sea: Science‐Based Recommendations for Policy Implementation

AbstractShoreline armoring can impact a variety of ecosystem functions, goods and services provided by beaches. Shoreline managers struggle to balance genuine need for armoring to protect infrastructure versus unacceptable losses of ecosystem functions––whether these be in beaches, sand dunes, or marshes. We use our recent research effort in the Salish Sea, Washington, as a case study to illustrate how highlighting the negative consequences of shoreline armoring to publicly important ecosystem functions may help to strengthen implementation of policy and prioritize restoration actions. We focus on two distinct mechanisms of armoring impact that link strongly to key beach functions, and recommend: (1) where armoring is clearly necessary, place or move it as high on the beach as possible. Armoring emplaced relatively low on the shore is more likely to affect a variety of ecosystem functions from forage fish spawning to beach recreation; (2) prioritize protection or restoration (armor removal) of feeder bluffs that are critical for sediment supply to the beach; this sediment is essential to the maintenance of beach functions. In addition, we recommend that nature‐based alternatives to armoring be given preferential regulatory consideration and that outreach efforts clarify the advantages of these engineering methods.

Shrubland resilience varies across soil types: implications for operationalizing resilience in ecological restoration.

In ecosystems with alternative stable states, restoration success can be thought of as overcoming the resilience of an undesirable state to promote an alternative state that yields greater ecosystem services. Since greater resilience of undesirable states translates into reduced restoration potential, quantifying differences in resilience can enhance restoration planning. In the context of shrub-encroached rangeland restoration, shrubland resilience is the capacity of a woody vegetated state to absorb management interventions designed to produce a more desirable grass-dominated state, and remain within its current regime. Therefore, differences in the resilience of a state can be quantified in a relative sense by measuring whether a state switches to an alternate state following perturbation or remains in its current stability domain. Here we designed an experimental manipulation to assess the contribution of soils to differences in the relative resilience of a shrub-invaded state. In this large-scale experiment, we repeated perturbations across a gradient of soil textures to inform restoration practitioners of differences in the relative resilience of shrubland occurring on different soil types to common rangeland restoration practices. On each soil type, we compared the relative ability of the shrubland state to withstand chemical and mechanical brush control treatments, commonly employed in this study region, to untreated controls. While the shrubland community composition did not differ prior to the study, its capacity to absorb and recover from brush removal treatments depended on soil type. Shrubland resilience to chemical and mechanical brush removal was highest on coarse soils. On these soils, brush removal temporarily restored grassland dominance, but woody plants quickly regained pretreatment levels of dominance. However, shrublands on fine soils did not recover following treatments, continuing to be grass-dominated for the duration of the study. This study highlights a simple approach for prioritizing restoration actions by mapping the locations of different soil attributes that support shrub-dominated states with differing levels of resilience to brush control. This experimental approach provides a basis for operationalizing resilience in restoration and prioritizing management actions across a range of environmental conditions, which is critical given the economic constraints associated with broad-scale mechanical and chemical interventions for rangeland restoration.

Prioritizing barrier removal to improve functional connectivity of rivers

Summary Freshwater systems are severely impacted by connectivity reduction due to the construction of dams and weirs. The breach of this longitudinal connectivity imperils freshwater fish species world‐wide. There is thus an increasing need for numerical tools that help decision‐makers correctly allocate resources to prioritize restoration actions. This study provides a methodology for prioritizing the removal of barriers. It is based on spatial graphs, which represent structural units as nodes and relationships between nodes as links, and uses habitat suitability modelling (Boosted Regression Trees) to weight nodes. To exemplify the application of this procedure, we used the Tagus River network and evaluated the impact of the dams (29 built between 1928 and 2004) on the occurrence of each of two fish species (Iberian barbel Luciobarbus bocagei – representing large potamodromous fish; and southern Iberian chub Squalius pyrenaicus – representing small water‐column residents) and on the combination of both. Results show that dam construction on the Tagus was responsible for a 48·4–54·4% reduction in river connectivity for different fish species. Actions to promote connectivity in just seven of the dams would increase connectivity by 35·0–37·2%. The removal of a single barrier chosen through prioritization had a greater overall connectivity increase than the random removal of seven barriers. Synthesis and applications. The proposed prioritization method, using spatial graphs and habitat suitability modelling, makes it possible to model the impact of the removal or placement of an insurmountable barrier on the overall functional connectivity of a river network, facilitating resource allocation and minimizing the impact of new barrier implementation.

Identifying Suitable Habitat for Chinook Salmon across a Large, Glaciated Watershed

AbstractEcosystem management requires information on habitat suitability across broad scales; however, comprehensive environmental surveys in remote areas are often impractical and expensive to carry out. Intrinsic Potential (IP) models provide a means to identify on a broad scale those portions of the landscape that can provide essential habitat for various freshwater fish species. These models are derived from watershed patterns and processes that are persistent and not readily affected by human activities. We developed an IP model for rearing habitat of Chinook Salmon throughout the Copper River watershed (63,000km2) in southcentral Alaska, utilizing digital elevation models, expert opinion, and field surveys. Our model uses three variables—mean annual flow, gradient, and glacial influence—and adequately predicts where probable habitat for juvenile Chinook Salmon occurs across this large landscape. This model can help resource managers map critical habitat for salmon throughout the Copper River watershed, direct field research to appropriate stream reaches, and assist managers in prioritizing restoration actions, such as culvert replacement. Intrinsic Potential modeling is broadly applicable to other salmonid species and geographies and may inform future work on the ecological impacts of climate change in polar and subpolar river systems.

Prioritizing Restoration Actions for the Islands of Mexico

Science-based planning and prioritization can help achieve greater return on investment of limited conservation funds. We conducted a GIS-based multicriteria decision analysis to prioritize efforts to eradicate populations of invasive alien species that threaten native biota on the islands of Mexico. We evaluated 29 Mexican islands with documented presence of invasive mammals and characterized the following attributes of each island: presence of endemic taxa, presence of threatened species, presence of important seabird nesting areas, species richness, likelihood of reinvasion, eradication feasibility, and economic cost. We categorized the islands into 4 priority categories for eradication action. The highest priority islands where eradication efforts are feasible are Socorro, Espíritu Santo, María Cleofas, and María Magdalena islands, where eradication of 11 invasive mammal populations could advance the restoration of an additional 35,813 ha, thereby reducing the extinction risk of approximately 80 endemic taxa.

Tradeoffs between homing and habitat quality for spawning site selection by hatchery-origin Chinook salmon

Spawning site selection by female salmon is based on complex and poorly understood tradeoffs between the homing instinct and the availability of appropriate habitat for successful reproduction. Previous studies have shown that hatchery-origin Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) released from different acclimation sites return with varying degrees of fidelity to these areas. To investigate the possibility that homing fidelity is associated with aquatic habitat conditions, we quantified physical habitat throughout 165 km in the upper Yakima River basin (Washington, USA) and mapped redd and carcass locations from 2004 to 2008. Principal components analysis identified differences in substrate, cover, stream width, and gradient among reaches surrounding acclimation sites, and canonical correspondence analysis revealed that these differences in habitat characteristics were associated with spatial patterns of spawning (p < 0.01). These analyses indicated that female salmon may forego spawning near their acclimation area if the surrounding habitat is unsuitable. Evaluating the spatial context of acclimation areas in relation to surrounding habitat may provide essential information for effectively managing supplementation programs and prioritizing restoration actions.

Landscape scale assessment of stream channel and riparian habitat restoration needs

Human modifications of streams and rivers have caused extensive stream channel and riparian degradation. Cost-effective, rapid assessment tools can be used to better manage such areas by identifying the status of habitats for restoration planning and protection. We used a spatially explicit, reach-scale geographic information system modeling strategy to examine stream channel and riparian condition and prioritize restoration actions. The stream channel condition index uses information on land use, road and railroad density, and sinuosity. The riparian condition index uses calculations of percent forest, patch density, and convexity based on land cover in the floodplain. Reaches were classified into restoration categories based on stream channel and riparian condition model results, land ownership, slope, position in the subwatershed, and adjacency to high-quality habitat. We compared modeled restoration priority rankings with those in the management plan for the East Credit subwatershed in Ontario, Canada. Predicted stream channel restoration priority rankings matched field-based classifications for 86% of the reaches in the East Credit subwatershed. Predicted riparian restoration priority rankings matched field-based classifications for 81% of the reaches. Our methods replicate with fairly good accuracy the results obtained using intensive field surveys and stakeholder input. Managers can use these cost-effective strategy development tools to identify candidate reaches for further study and prioritize stream channel and riparian restoration actions over large regions.

Setting River Restoration Priorities: A Review of Approaches and a General Protocol for Identifying and Prioritizing Actions

AbstractImplicit in the question, “How should I prioritize restoration actions?” is often the unstated question, “What should I restore?” Distinguishing between these questions helps clarify the restoration planning process, which has four distinct steps: (1) identify the restoration goal, (2) select a project prioritization approach that is consistent with the goal, (3) use watershed assessments to identify restoration actions, and (4) prioritize the list of actions. A well‐crafted restoration goal identifies the biological objective of restoration, addresses underlying causes of habitat change, and recognizes that social, economic, and land use objectives may constrain restoration options. Once restoration goals are identified, one of six general approaches can be selected for prioritizing restoration actions: project type, refugia, decision support systems, single‐species analysis, multispecies analysis, and cost effectiveness. Prioritizing by project type, refugia, or a decision support system requires the least quantitative information, and each approach is relatively easy to use. Single‐species, multispecies, and cost effectiveness approaches require more information and effort but often most directly address legal requirements. Watershed assessments provide most of the information used to identify and prioritize actions and should be explicitly and carefully designed to support the goals and prioritization scheme. Watershed assessments identify causes of habitat degradation, habitat losses with the greatest effect on biota and ecosystems, and local land and water uses that may limit restoration opportunities. Results of assessments are translated into suites of restoration options, and analysis of land use and economic constraints helps to evaluate the feasibility of various options. Finally, actions are prioritized based on assessment results and the selected prioritization scheme. In general, we recommend the use of simple decision support systems for cases in which watershed assessments provide incomplete information; the cost effectiveness approach is recommended for cases in which watershed assessments identify (1) restoration actions needed to restore riverine habitats, (2) biological benefits associated with each action, and (3) costs of restoration actions.