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Approaches to Evaluate Restoration Effectiveness: Linking Restored Ecosystem Condition to Beneficial Uses and Ecosystem Services
Citation:
Yee, S., L. Sharpe, Katelyn Barrett, A. Borde, B. Branoff, J. Bousquin, G. Cicchetti, B. Clark, H. Diefenderfer, T. Dewitt, K. Forshay, R. Fulford, M. Harwell, C. Hernandez, J. Hoffman, C. Horstmann, C. Jackson, M. Mitchell, D. Nacci, M. Nash, Tamara Newcomer Johnson, E. Reschke, R. Rossi, L. Smith, AND D. White. Approaches to Evaluate Restoration Effectiveness: Linking Restored Ecosystem Condition to Beneficial Uses and Ecosystem Services. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-22/118, 2023.
Impact/Purpose:
The report first provides a review of existing practices for evaluating restoration effectiveness to identify frameworks for how ecosystem services can be integrated into restoration planning and monitoring. The rest of the report follows the generic framework of first identifying what outcomes of restoration are most relevant to stakeholders and how to measure them, then applying data and models to quantify the potential benefits of restoration or to track progress, and finally identifying restoration actions that contribute toward desired outcomes. Several case studies are presented to demonstrate how methods, approaches, or tools were used within a variety of restoration contexts, locations, and ecosystems. The ultimate goal of this report is to provide approaches and case study demonstrations that can be used to 1) Link beneficial use restoration goals to meaningful metrics of ecosystem function and services; 2) Provide environmental managers with approaches they can use to identify and quantify ecosystem services, identify targets, and monitor outcomes; 3) Help identify why restoration is or is not achieving beneficial use goals; and 4) Facilitate communication of restoration in terms of goals that are meaningful and relevant to stakeholders.
Description:
Along the trajectory of restoration implementation from planning to post-restoration monitoring, resource managers have identified a need for information and approaches to help inspire the public to act, evaluate alternatives, gain public support, monitor progress, and communicate benefits. Restoration goals are often tied to the beneficial uses that people get from nature. Yet metrics used to plan, assess, and monitor restoration are frequently biological or ecological, and often do not directly address those beneficial use goals. Restored biological condition can be linked to social and economic benefits through the production of ecosystem goods and services. Ecosystem goods and services are the key intermediate step to linking changes in ecological condition, including restored condition, to the social and economic benefits associated with beneficial uses. To support this, EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD), working with partners through case studies, has been working to provide tools and approaches to identify and quantify effectiveness of restoration in terms of both ecological function and provision of ecosystem services. This research is focused on restoration within the context of R2R2R: Remediation to Restoration to Revitalization. Within this context, restoration is a step toward community revitalization and achieving desired beneficial uses for people, rather than ecological restoration to pristine natural condition. This report presents a series of short briefings on recent ORD research to refine, develop, and provide guidance on mapping, metric, and modeling approaches to assess the potential benefits of restoration and to monitor effectiveness of restoration outcomes. The approaches have primarily been developed through case studies to help ensure partner needs are understood, methods are usable and transferable, methods integrate with existing partner approaches, and provide demonstrations of how methods were applied. Readers are encouraged to seek out cited research for additional information.