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Lessons Learned from Habitat Restoration Projects in the Great Lakes Areas of Concern.
Citation:
White, D., T. Newcomer-Johnson, M. Mills, A. Trebitz, J. Hoffman, K. Williams, T. Angradi, Jim Lazorchak, G. Beaubien, D. Walters, M. Struckhoff, AND M. Kern. Lessons Learned from Habitat Restoration Projects in the Great Lakes Areas of Concern. 2021 National Conference for Ecological Restoration, Virtual, July 26 - August 05, 2021.
Impact/Purpose:
This work summarizes habitat restoration projects in Great Lakes Areas of Concern. It identifies goals, outcomes, data monitoring programs, and connections to sediment remediation projects and revitalization endpoints. We find that restoration 'success' is defined inconsistently and only evaluated at the project scale. We provide a framework which can be used when evaluating success, such that a conclusion is informative to future habitat restoration works and builds actionable, quantitative knowledge within AOCs.
Description:
U.S. EPA, state and local governments, and industrial and private partners invest heavily in restoration activities relevant to contaminated and impaired sites within the Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs). Common issues at these sites include historical contamination, habitat degradation, loss of biodiversity, and increases in non-native species. These issues have led to beneficial use impairments (BUIs) within AOCs. Since 2010, there has been increased implementation of habitat restoration projects aimed at removing BUIs. Systematic approaches for assessing the effectiveness of habitat restoration efforts are needed. Here, we will present an examination of Great Lakes AOC habitat restoration projects that have been implemented as part of a broader strategy aimed at transforming impaired sites into restored ecosystems that support revitalized and sustainable human communities. Projects were selected for this study that are approximately 5 years post-construction and have adequate baseline data such as planting plans, wildlife population assessments (e.g., aquatic invertebrates, birds, frogs, fish), design specifications, post construction assessments (i.e. as-builts), monitoring reports, etc. against which restoration can be evaluated through long-term monitoring and possibly expanded assessments. Here, we summarize goals, techniques, monitoring programs, quantitative metrics of assessment, and lessons learned of selected habitat restoration projects within AOCs. We find variable collection of pre- and post-restoration data and the metrics monitored between the selected projects. We suggest that assessments of a restoration project should be evaluated using a weight-of-evidence approach within a framework for planning, monitoring, and assessment. This approach and framework would provide assessment consistency and structured data, allowing scalable, programmatic gains to be built.
