The estimated $7 billion restoration of the Kissimee River/Florida Everglades ecosystem,the rebuilding of wetlands in the Mississippi River delta, and the restoration of coastal wetlands in Louisiana under the Coastal Wetland Protection, Preservation, and Restoration Act of 1990 are among the largest of thousands of ecological restoration projects under way or planned in the United States.

The enormous complexity of natural ecosystems, however, has thwarted the success of many projects. A review of early restoration efforts by the National Research Council showed that although many programs are known to fail, quality, well-planned monitoring improves the probability of success.

To assist planners in conducting cost-effective monitoring, Battelle’s Dr. Ronald M. Thom, a pioneer in the development of coastal ecosystem restoration techniques, developed a straightforward approach to ecosystem restoration, consisting of five components:

1. Planning
2. Construction and Implementation
3. Assessment of Performance
4. Management of the System
5. Dissemination of the Results

The key element in the planning phase is the development of clear goals that provide guidance for judging system performance. Planning the restoration project requires conceptual modeling, site assessments, and cost estimation.

The conceptual model details the structural aspects of the system that must be developed to meet the goals, as well as the environmental factors that control such development (Figure 1). The conceptual model forces participating scientists, engineers, and planners to examine what they do and do not know about the system and can be used to direct research.

Figure 1. Key to the success of any restoration project is developing a conceptual model. In this model of a riparian wetland-stream ecosystem, the red arrows indicate a main pathway a restorationist would use to improve stream invertebrate production. The driving factor is sunlight. The riparian vegetation shades the stream and provides leaf litter that improves conditions for the invertebrates.

If the site lacks those characteristics necessary to reach performance goals, the restoration project will likely fail. Thorough site assessments are the best insurance against cost overruns, which most frequently result from surprises encountered during construction. Assessors, whether conducting a simple walk-through or extensive sampling and experimentation, must ask fundamental questions, such as:

• Do conditions at the site fall within tolerance ranges of the species to be restored?
• Why are target species not present?
• Why is the planned ecosystem not functioning?
• Is it feasible to change limiting conditions?

The end of the planning stage involves cost estimation. Restoration managers must account for land acquisition, engineering design, and construction, among other factors.

Project engineering and design is a product of the collaboration between ecosystem scientists and engineers. Importance is placed on sharing knowledge about ecosystem requirements and tolerances. In general, projects that require less physical restructuring of the site are more likely to develop successfully without human intervention. Projects requiring more engineering to massively rework the site often have a higher degree of uncertainty.

Post-implementation monitoring should focus on a parameter indicative of the original goal, e.g., water level to assess hydrology or vegetation cover to assess plant community development. There are numerous low-cost ways to effectively monitor a restoration project, such as keeping track of local weather through the Internet, taking photographs from specific points, or having a steward frequently walk the site and record observations. Site monitoring provides the input needed to adjust the treatment of, and prognosis for, the ecosystem.

Figure 2. Applying the ocntinual evaluation process of adaptive management leads to cost-effective, successful restoration projects.

During the project, restoration management plans should be modified according to the principles of adaptive management (Figure 2). In this way, knowledge gained through monitoring is translated into restoration policy.

It is imperative to document and disseminate restoration project information to learn from experience and eliminate costly, repetitive errors. The science of ecosystem restoration is in its infancy; every project is a unique learning process. Projects are more cost-effective and have a higher degree of success through planning, application of science-based methods, monitoring, and adaptive management.

Battelle continually works to improve restoration methods and is available to assist in any phase of your restoration program, be it large or small. For more information, please contact Ron Thom at ron.thom@pnl.gov or phone (360) 681-3657.