ECOLOGY: Synthesizing U.S. River Restoration Efforts

Variation in physicochemical responses to urbanization in streams between two Mid-Atlantic physiographic regions

Urban development substantially alters the physicochemistry of streams, resulting in biodiversity and ecosystem function loss. However, interregional comparisons of physicochemical impact in urban streams suggest that geoclimatic heterogeneity may influence the extent of degradation. In the Mid-Atlantic United States, the adjacent Coastal Plain and Piedmont physiographic provinces possess distinctly different hydrogeomorphic properties that may influence how stream ecosystems respond to urbanization. Recent bioassessments have demonstrated that biotic sensitivity to urbanization is relatively acute in the Piedmont, suggesting that physicochemical change as a consequence of urbanization may be greater in that province. We compared hydrologic, chemical, and thermal characteristics of Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain and Piedmont first- through fifth-order streams along gradients of impervious surface cover (ISC) at multiple spatial scales. Linear models were applied to test if conditions in rural streams and the degree of impact from ISC varied between provinces. Mean and maximum summer temperatures in Piedmont streams increased more per unit of ISC than in the Coastal Plain. Contrary to expectations, however, variables that quantified high-flow event frequency, magnitude and duration, exhibited significantly greater impact along the ISC gradient in the Coastal Plain. Most chemical changes associated with increasing ISC were similar in the two provinces, although the interregional chemical composition of rural streams differed substantially for most parameters. Our findings demonstrate consistent interregional heterogeneity in stream ecosystem responses to urbanization. Landscape-scale management decisions with stream ecosystem conservation, mitigation, or restoration as a goal must therefore carefully consider the geoclimatic context in order to maximize effectiveness.

Natural processes in delta restoration: application to the Mississippi Delta

Restoration of river deltas involves diverting sediment and water from major channels into adjoining drowned areas, where the sediment can build new land and provide a platform for regenerating wetland ecosystems. Except for local engineered structures at the points of diversion, restoration mainly relies on natural delta-building processes. Present understanding of such processes is sufficient to provide a basis for determining the feasibility of restoration projects through quantitative estimates of land-building rates and sustainable wetland area under different scenarios of sediment supply, subsidence, and sea-level rise. We are not yet to the point of being able to predict the evolution of a restored delta in detail. Predictions of delta evolution are based on field studies of active deltas, deltas in mine-tailings ponds, experimental deltas, and countless natural experiments contained in the stratigraphic record. These studies provide input for a variety of mechanistic delta models, ranging from radially averaged formulations to more detailed models that can resolve channels, topography, and ecosystem processes. Especially exciting areas for future research include understanding the mechanisms by which deltaic channel networks self-organize, grow, and distribute sediment and nutrients over the delta surface and coupling these to ecosystem processes, especially the interplay of topography, network geometry, and ecosystem dynamics.

Some guiding concepts for conservation biology

The search for generalities in ecology has often been thwarted by contingency and ecological complexity that limit the development of predictive rules. We present a set of concepts that we believe succinctly expresses some of the fundamental ideas in conservation biology. (1) Successful conservation management requires explicit goals and objectives. (2) The overall goal of biodiversity management will usually be to maintain or restore biodiversity, not to maximize species richness. (3) A holistic approach is needed to solve conservation problems. (4) Diverse approaches to management can provide diverse environmental conditions and mitigate risk. (5) Using nature's template is important for guiding conservation management, but it is not a panacea. (6) Focusing on causes not symptoms enhances efficacy and efficiency of conservation actions. (7) Every species and ecosystem is unique, to some degree. (8) Threshold responses are important but not ubiquitous. (9) Multiple stressors often exert critical effects on species and ecosystems. (10) Human values are variable and dynamic and significantly shape conservation efforts. We believe most conservation biologists will broadly agree these concepts are important. That said, an important part of the maturation of conservation biology as a discipline is constructive debate about additional or alternative concepts to those we have proposed here. Therefore, we have established a web-based, online process for further discussion of the concepts outlined in this paper and developing additional ones.

Evaluation of side-effects of glyphosate mediated control of giant reed (Arundo donax) on the structure and function of a nearby Mediterranean river ecosystem

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the application of the herbicide Herbolex (Aragonesas Agro, S.A., Madrid, Spain) to control giant reed (Arundo donax), which has glyphosate as active ingredient, on the structure and function of a nearby river ecosystem. Specifically, we assessed glyphosate environmental fate in the surrounding water and its effects on transplanted Daphnia magna, field collected caddisfly (Hydropsyche exocellata) and on benthic macroinvertebrate structure assemblages. Investigations were conducted in the industrialized and urbanized Mediterranean river Llobregat (NE Spain) before and after a terrestrial spray of glyphosate. Four locations were selected to include an upstream site and three affected ones. Measured glyphosate levels in river water following herbicide application were quite high (20-60 microg/l) with peak values of 137 microg/l after three days. After 12 days of its application, leaching of glyphosate from sprayed riverbanks was quite high in pore water (20-85 microg/l) but not in the river. Closely linked with the measured poor habitat and water physico-chemical conditions, macroinvertebrate communities were dominated by taxa tolerant to pollution and herbicide application did not affect the abundance or number of taxa in any location. Nevertheless, significant specific toxic effects on transplanted D. magna and field collected H. exocellata were observed. Effects included D. magna feeding inhibition and oxidative stress related responses such as increased antioxidant enzyme activities related with the metabolism of glutathione and increased levels of lipid peroxidation. These results emphasize the importance of combined chemical, ecological and specific biological responses to identify ecological effects of pesticides in the field.

Bioaccumulation syndrome: identifying factors that make some stream food webs prone to elevated mercury bioaccumulation

Mercury is a ubiquitous contaminant in aquatic ecosystems, posing a significant health risk to humans and wildlife that eat fish. Mercury accumulates in aquatic food webs as methylmercury (MeHg), a particularly toxic and persistent organic mercury compound. While mercury in the environment originates largely from anthropogenic activities, MeHg accumulation in freshwater aquatic food webs is not a simple function of local or regional mercury pollution inputs. Studies show that even sites with similar mercury inputs can produce fish with mercury concentrations ranging over an order of magnitude. While much of the foundational work to identify the drivers of variation in mercury accumulation has focused on freshwater lakes, mercury contamination in stream ecosystems is emerging as an important research area. Here, we review recent research on mercury accumulation in stream-dwelling organisms. Taking a hierarchical approach, we identify a suite of characteristics of individual consumers, food webs, streams, watersheds, and regions that are consistently associated with elevated MeHg concentrations in stream fish. We delineate a conceptual, mechanistic basis for explaining the ecological processes that underlie this vulnerability to MeHg. Key factors, including suppressed individual growth of consumers, low rates of primary and secondary production, hydrologic connection to methylation sites (e.g., wetlands), heavily forested catchments, and acidification are frequently associated with increased MeHg concentrations in fish across both streams and lakes. Hence, we propose that these interacting factors define a syndrome of characteristics that drive high MeHg production and bioaccumulation rates across these freshwater aquatic ecosystems. Finally, based on an understanding of the ecological drivers of MeHg accumulation, we identify situations when anthropogenic effects and management practices could significantly exacerbate or ameliorate MeHg accumulation in stream fish.

Nitrogen dynamics at the groundwater-surface water interface of a degraded urban stream

Few studies have quantified the impact of urbanization on the biogeochemistry of streams at the groundwater-surface water interface, a zone that may be critical for managing nitrogen transformations. We investigated the groundwater ecosystem of Minebank Run, a geomorphically degraded urban stream near Baltimore, Maryland in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Our objectives were to identify the spatial and temporal extent of chemical, microbial, and hydrological factors known to influence denitrification, a microbial process that removes nitrate nitrogen (NO(3)(-)). Measurements of denitrification enzyme activity confirmed that subsurface sediments at Minebank Run, especially those with high concentrations of organic carbon, have the capacity to denitrify NO(3)(-). Levels of NO(3)(-) in groundwater were lower where more dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was available, suggesting that denitrification and removal of NO(3)(-) in groundwater were limited by DOC availability. Groundwater NO(3)(-) was highest when groundwater levels were highest, which, in turn, corresponded to high oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), indicative of high groundwater-surface water exchange. Stream flow patterns controlled stream bank and bed infiltration and, subsequently, dictated groundwater levels. Declines in water levels likely increased subsurface mixing, which led to low ORP conditions that sustained NO(3)(-) removal via denitrification. The groundwater-surface water interface is a zone of active nitrogen transformation. Management efforts that increase DOC availability to denitrifiers, reduce stream-flow velocity and flashiness, and increase groundwater residence time will likely improve the nitrogen removal capacity of urban stream channels.

What are we monitoring and why? Using geomorphic principles to frame eco-hydrological assessments of river condition

Monitoring and assessment are integral components in adaptive management programmes that strive to improve the condition of river systems. Unfortunately, these procedures are generally applied with an emphasis upon biotic attributes and water quality, with limited regard for the geomorphic structure, function and evolutionary trajectory of a river system. Geomorphic principles convey an understanding of the landscape context within which ecohydrologic processes interact. Collectively, geo-eco-hydrologic understanding presents a coherent biophysical template that can be used to frame spatially and temporally rigorous approaches to monitoring that respect the inherent diversity, variability and complexity of any given river system. This understanding aids the development of management programmes that 'work with nature.' Unless an integrative perspective is used to monitor river condition, conservation and rehabilitation plans are unlikely to reach their true potential.

Moving beyond the banks: hyporheic restoration is fundamental to restoring ecological services and functions of streams

Stream restoration needs to consider the hyporheic zone just as much as the surface and benthic regions.

Demonstration as a means to translate conservation science into practice

To be relevant to societal interests and needs, conservation science must explicitly lend itself to solving real-world problems. Failure to evaluate under field conditions how a new technology or method performs or the cost of its implementation can prevent its acceptance by end users. Demonstration, defined here as the translation of scientific understanding into metrics of performance and cost of implementation under real-world conditions, is a logical step in the challenging progression from fundamental research to application. Demonstration reduces scientific uncertainty and validates the hypothesis that a management approach is both effective and financially sustainable. Much like adaptive management, demonstration enables researchers and resource managers to avoid trial-and-error approaches and instead conduct unbiased assessment of management interventions. The participation of end users and regulators in the development and execution of demonstration projects ensures that performance measures are credible and increases the probability that successful innovations will be adopted. Four actions might better connect science to the needs of resource managers via demonstration. First, we recommend that demonstration be conducted as a formal process that documents successes and failures. Second, demonstration should be budgeted as an integral component of government agencies' science programs and executed as a partnership between researchers and managers. Third, public and private funders should increase the opportunities and incentives for academics to engage in demonstration. Fourth, social influences on adoption of new technologies and methods should be further explored. When end users can evaluate explicitly whether a new approach is likely to achieve management objectives, save money, and reduce risk under uncertainty, the professional community successfully has bridged a chasm between research and application.

Climate change and river ecosystems: protection and adaptation options

Rivers provide a special suite of goods and services valued highly by the public that are inextricably linked to their flow dynamics and the interaction of flow with the landscape. Yet most rivers are within watersheds that are stressed to some extent by human activities including development, dams, or extractive uses. Climate change will add to and magnify risks that are already present through its potential to alter rainfall, temperature, runoff patterns, and to disrupt biological communities and sever ecological linkages. We provide an overview of the predicted impacts based on published studies to date, discuss both reactive and proactive management responses, and outline six categories of management actions that will contribute substantially to the protection of valuable river assets. To be effective, management must be place-based focusing on local watershed scales that are most relevant to management scales. The first priority should be enhancing environmental monitoring of changes and river responses coupled with the development of local scenario-building exercises that take land use and water use into account. Protection of a greater number of rivers and riparian corridors is essential, as is conjunctive groundwater/surface water management. This will require collaborations among multiple partners in the respective river basins and wise land use planning to minimize additional development in watersheds with valued rivers. Ensuring environmental flows by purchasing or leasing water rights and/or altering reservoir release patterns will be needed for many rivers. Implementing restoration projects proactively can be used to protect existing resources so that expensive reactive restoration to repair damage associated with a changing climate is minimized. Special attention should be given to diversifying and replicating habitats of special importance and to monitoring populations at high risk or of special value so that management interventions can occur if the risks to habitats or species increase significantly over time.

Landscape characteristics of a stream and wetland mitigation banking program

In the United States, stream restoration is an increasing part of environmental and land management programs, particularly under the auspices of compensatory mitigation regulations. Markets and regulations surrounding stream mitigation are beginning to mirror those of the well-established wetland mitigation industry. Recent studies have shown that wetland mitigation programs commonly shift wetlands across space from urban to rural areas, thereby changing the functional characteristics and benefits of wetlands in the landscape. However, it is not yet known if stream mitigation mirrors this behavior, and if so, what effects this may have on landscape-scale ecological and hydrological processes. This project addresses three primary research questions. (1) What are the spatial relationships between stream and wetland impact and compensation sites as a result of regulations requiring stream and wetland mitigation in the State of North Carolina? (2) How do stream impacts come about due to the actions of different types of developers, and how do the characteristics of impacts sites compare with compensation sites? (3) To what extent does stream compensation relocate high-quality streams within the river network, and how does this affect localized (intrawatershed) loss or gain of aquatic resources? Using geospatial data collected from the North Carolina Division of Water Quality and the Army Corps of Engineers' Wilmington District, we analyzed the behavior of the North Carolina Ecosystem Enhancement Program in providing stream and wetland mitigation for the State of North Carolina. Our results suggest that this program provides mitigation (1) in different ways for different types of permittees; (2) at great distances (both Euclidean and within the stream network) from original impacts; (3) in significantly different places than impacts within watersheds; and (4) in many cases, in different watersheds from original impacts. Our analysis also reveals problems with regulator data collection, storage, and quality control. These results have significant implications given new federal requirements for ecological consistency within mitigation programs. Our results also indicate some of the landscape-scale implications of using market-based approaches to ecological restoration in general.

Using secondary data to analyse socio-economic impacts of water management actions

This paper provides an analysis of the socio-economic impacts of river restoration schemes, and is novel in considering how a wide range of socio-economic variables can be used to understand impacts on the entire resident population within an area. A control-impacted approach was applied to explore differences in socio-economic characteristics of areas within which a restoration scheme had been carried out compared to areas without such a scheme. The results show that significant differences exist between control and impacted areas for a range of socio-economic variables. However, due to constraints in the methods and the data available, there are currently limitations in the extent to which socio-economic impacts of river restoration schemes can be fully explored. Additional datasets that become available in the future may increase the ability to detect associations between improvements in the water environment and socio-economic benefits. However, whilst the secondary data used in this paper are potentially powerful, they should be used alongside other techniques for assessing the impacts of decisions as part of future frameworks to deliver sustainable water management.

A method for comparative analysis of recovery potential in impaired waters restoration planning

Common decision support tools and a growing body of knowledge about ecological recovery can help inform and guide large state and federal restoration programs affecting thousands of impaired waters. Under the federal Clean Water Act (CWA), waters not meeting state Water Quality Standards due to impairment by pollutants are placed on the CWA Section 303(d) list, scheduled for Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) development, and ultimately restored. Tens of thousands of 303(d)-listed waters, many with completed TMDLs, represent a restoration workload of many years. State TMDL scheduling and implementation decisions influence the choice of waters and the sequence of restoration. Strategies that compare these waters' recovery potential could optimize the gain of ecological resources by restoring promising sites earlier. We explored ways for states to use recovery potential in restoration priority setting with landscape analysis methods, geographic data, and impaired waters monitoring data. From the literature and practice we identified measurable, recovery-relevant ecological, stressor, and social context metrics and developed a restorability screening approach adaptable to widely different environments and program goals. In this paper we describe the indicators, the methodology, and three statewide, recovery-based targeting and prioritization projects. We also call for refining the scientific basis for estimating recovery potential.

Restoration of Ecosystem Services for Environmental Markets

Ecological restoration is an activity that ideally results in the return of an ecosystem to an undisturbed state. Ecosystem services are the benefits humans derive from ecosystems. The two have been joined to support growing environmental markets with the goal of creating restoration-based credits that can be bought and sold. However, the allure of these markets may be overshadowing shortcomings in the science and practice of ecological restoration. Before making risky investments, we must understand why and when restoration efforts fall short of recovering the full suite of ecosystem services, what can be done to improve restoration success, and why direct measurement of the biophysical processes that support ecosystem services is the only way to guarantee the future success of these markets. Without new science and an oversight framework to protect the ecosystem service assets which people depend, markets could actually accelerate environmental degradation.

Rehabilitating China's largest inland river

Wetlands are particularly important for conserving China's biodiversity but riparian wetlands in the Tarim River basin in western China have been reduced by 46% during the last 3 decades. The world's largest habitat for Populus euphratica, which is in the Tarim River basin, significantly shrank. To protect and restore the deteriorated ecosystems along the Tarim River and its associated wetlands, China's government initiated a multimillion dollar river restoration project to release water from upper dams to the dried-up lower reaches of the Tarim River starting in 2000. We monitored the responses of groundwater and vegetation to water recharge in the lower reaches of the river from 2000 to 2006 by establishing nine 1000-m-long transects perpendicular to the river at intervals of 20-45 km along the 320-km river course below the Daxihaizi Reservoir, the source of water conveyance, to Lake Taitema, the terminus of the Tarim River. Water recharges from the Daxihaizi Reservoir to the lower reaches of the Tarim River significantly increased groundwater levels and vegetation coverage at all monitoring sites along the river. The mean canopy size of the endangered plant species P. euphratica doubled after 6 years of water recharge. Some rare migrating birds returned to rest on the restored wetlands in summer along the lower reaches of the Tarim River. The biggest challenge facing decision makers, however, is to balance water allocation and water rights between agricultural and natural ecosystems in a sustainable way. A large number of inhabitants in the Tarim Basin depend on these limited water resources for a living. At the same time, the endangered ecosystems need to be protected. Given the ecological, socioeconomic, and sociopolitical realities in the Tarim Basin, adaptive water policies and strategies are needed for water allocation in these areas of limited water resources.

Effectiveness of engineered in-stream structure mitigation measures to increase salmonid abundance: a systematic review

Engineered in-stream structures are often installed to increase salmonid abundance, either for commercial gain in fisheries or for conservation purposes in degraded habitats. Having been in widespread use for the last 80 years, at an estimated cost of hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars each year, the effectiveness of these structures is still widely debated in the literature. Many studies of varying quality have been undertaken that attempt to address this issue, but it has proved difficult for practitioners to develop a consensus regarding the utility of these structures, despite their continued use. Systematic review methodology was used to formally synthesize empirical evidence regarding the effectiveness of engineered in-stream structures as a management tool to increase salmonid abundance. Meta-analysis shows that evidence regarding the effectiveness of in-stream devices is equivocal. Heterogeneity is significant both for population size and local habitat preference. This heterogeneity is related to stream width, with in-stream devices being less effective in larger streams. Consequently, widespread use of in-stream structures for restoration, particularly in larger streams, is not supported by the current scientific evidence base.

Linking theory and practice for restoration of step-pool streams

Step-pools sequences are increasingly used to restore stream channels. This increase corresponds to significant advances in theory for step-pools in recent years. The need for step-pools in stream restoration arises as urban development encroaches into steep terrain in response to population pressures, as stream channels in lower-gradient areas require stabilization due to hydrological alterations associated with land-use changes, and as step-pools are recognized for their potential to enhance stream habitats. Despite an increasingly voluminous literature and great demand for restoration using step-pool sequences, however, the link between theory and practice is limited. In this article, we present four unique cases of stream restoration using step-pools, including the evolution of the approaches, the project designs, and adjustments in the system following restoration. Baxter Creek in El Cerrito, California demonstrates an early application of artificial step-pools in which natural adjustments occurred toward geomorphic stability and ecological improvement. Restoration of East Alamo Creek in a large residential development near San Ramon, California illustrates an example of step-pools increasingly used in locations where such a channel form would not naturally occur. Construction of a step-pool channel in Karnowsky Creek within the Siuslaw National Forest, Oregon overcame constraints posed by access and the type and availability of materials; the placement of logs allowed natural scouring below steps. Dry Canyon Creek on the property of the Mountains Restoration Trust in Calabasas, California afforded a somewhat experimental approach to designing step-pools, allowing observation and learning in the future. These cases demonstrate how theories and relationships developed for step-pool sequences over the past two decades have been applied in real-world settings. The lessons from these examples enable us to develop considerations useful for deriving an appropriate course of design, approval, and construction of artificial step-pool systems. They also raise additional fundamental questions concerning appropriate strategies for restoration of step-pool streams. Outstanding challenges are highlighted as opportunities for continuing theoretical work.

Putting watershed restoration in context: alternative future scenarios influence management outcomes

Predicting effects of habitat restoration is an important step for recovery of imperiled anadromous salmonid populations. Habitat above three major hydropower dams in the Lewis River watershed, southwestern Washington, USA, will soon become accessible to anadromous fish. We used multiple models to estimate habitat conditions above dams and fish population responses. Additionally, we used scenario planning to predict how habitat and fish will respond to potential future trends in land use due to human population growth and riparian conservation policies. Finally, we developed a hypothetical management strategy (i.e., a set of prioritized restoration projects in specific locations within the watershed) as an example of how a fixed amount of restoration funds might be spent to enhance the success of reintroducing fish above dams. We then compared predicted outcomes from this new strategy to those of six previously modeled strategies. We estimated how the choice of the best management strategy might differ among alternative future scenarios. Results suggest that dam passage will provide access to large amounts of high-quality habitat that will benefit fish populations. Moreover, conservation of existing riparian areas, if implemented, has the potential to improve conditions to a much greater extent than restoration strategies examined, despite expected urban growth. We found that the relative performance of management strategies shifted when fish were allowed to migrate above dams, but less so among alternative futures examined. We discuss how predicted outcomes from these seven hypothetical management strategies could be used for developing an on-the-ground strategy to address a real management situation.

Landscape planning for agricultural non-point source pollution reduction. II. Balancing watershed size, number of watersheds, and implementation effort

Agricultural non-point source (NPS) pollution poses a severe threat to water quality and aquatic ecosystems. In response, tremendous efforts have been directed toward reducing these pollution inputs by implementing agricultural conservation practices. Although conservation practices reduce pollution inputs from individual fields, scaling pollution control benefits up to the watershed level (i.e., improvements in stream water quality) has been a difficult challenge. This difficulty highlights the need for NPS reduction programs that focus efforts within target watersheds and at specific locations within target watersheds, with the ultimate goal of improving stream water quality. Fundamental program design features for NPS control programs--i.e., number of watersheds in the program, total watershed area, and level of effort expended within watersheds--have not been considered in any sort of formal analysis. Here, we present an optimization model that explores the programmatic and environmental trade-offs between these design choices. Across a series of annual program budgets ranging from $2 to $200 million, the optimal number of watersheds ranged from 3 to 27; optimal watershed area ranged from 29 to 214 km(2); and optimal expenditure ranged from $21,000 to $35,000/km(2). The optimal program configuration was highly dependent on total program budget. Based on our general findings, we delineated hydrologically complete and spatially independent watersheds ranging in area from 20 to 100 km(2). These watersheds are designed to serve as implementation units for a targeted NPS pollution control program currently being developed in Wisconsin.

Projecting cumulative benefits of multiple river restoration projects: an example from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River system in California

Despite increasingly large investments, the potential ecological effects of river restoration programs are still small compared to the degree of human alterations to physical and ecological function. Thus, it is rarely possible to "restore" pre-disturbance conditions; rather restoration programs (even large, well-funded ones) will nearly always involve multiple small projects, each of which can make some modest change to selected ecosystem processes and habitats. At present, such projects are typically selected based on their attributes as individual projects (e.g., consistency with programmatic goals of the funders, scientific soundness, and acceptance by local communities), and ease of implementation. Projects are rarely prioritized (at least explicitly) based on how they will cumulatively affect ecosystem function over coming decades. Such projections require an understanding of the form of the restoration response curve, or at least that we assume some plausible relations and estimate cumulative effects based thereon. Drawing on our experience with the CALFED Bay-Delta Ecosystem Restoration Program in California, we consider potential cumulative system-wide benefits of a restoration activity extensively implemented in the region: isolating/filling abandoned floodplain gravel pits captured by rivers to reduce predation of outmigrating juvenile salmon by exotic warmwater species inhabiting the pits. We present a simple spreadsheet model to show how different assumptions about gravel pit bathymetry and predator behavior would affect the cumulative benefits of multiple pit-filling and isolation projects, and how these insights could help managers prioritize which pits to fill.