HR: 16:00h
AN: H34A-01 INVITED    [Abstracts]
TI: Conceptualizing and Communicating River Restoration
AU: * Jacobosn, R B
EM: rjacobson@usgs.gov
AF: U.S. Geological Survey, 4200 New Haven Road, Columbia, MO 65201, United States
AB: River restoration increasingly involves collaboration with stakeholders having diverse values and varying technical understanding. In cases where river restoration proceeds through collaborative processes, scientists are required to communicate complex understanding about riverine ecosystem processes to broad audiences. Of particular importance is communication of uncertainties in predictions of ecosystem responses to restoration actions, and how those uncertainties affect monitoring and evaluation strategies. I present a relatively simple conceptual model of how riverine ecosystems operate. The model, which has been used to conceptualize and communicate various river-restoration and management processes in the Lower Missouri River, emphasizes a) the interdependencies of driving regimes (for example, flow, sediment, and water quality), b) the filtering effect of management history, c) the typical hierarchical nature of information about how ecosystems operate, and d) how scientific understanding interacts with decision making. I provide an example of how the conceptual model has been used to illustrate the effects of extensive channel re-engineering of the Lower Missouri River which is intended to mitigate the effects of channelization and flow regulation on aquatic and flood-plain ecosystems. The conceptual model illustrates the logic for prioritizing investments in monitoring and evaluation, interactions among ecosystem components, tradeoffs between ecological and social-commercial benefits, and the feedback loop necessary for successful adaptive management.
DE: 1825 Geomorphology: fluvial (1625)
DE: 1856 River channels (0483, 0744)
DE: 4815 Ecosystems, structure, dynamics, and modeling (0439)
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting