In Mediterranean regions and other areas with variable climates, interannual weather variability may impact ecosystem dynamics, and by extension ecological restoration projects. Conditions at reference sites, which are often used to evaluate restoration projects, may also be influenced by weather variability, confounding interpretations of restoration outcomes. To better understand the influenc...

CARL R. RUETZ III*, JOEL C. TREXLER†, FRANK JORDAN‡, WILLIAM F. LOFTUS§ and SUE A. PERRY¶ * Annis Water Resources Institute, Grand Valley State University, 740 West Shoreline Drive, Muskegon, Michigan 49441 USA; † Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199, USA; ‡ Department of Biological Sciences, Loyola University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, U...

At a global scale, aquatic ecosystems are being altered by human activities at a greater rate than at any other time in history. In recent years, grassroots efforts have generated interest in the restoration of degraded or destroyed aquatic habitats, especially small wetlands and streams where such projects are feasible with local resources. We present ecological management lessons learned from...

As an important part of the global ecosystem, wetlands and their dynamics greatly influence regional eco-environment systems. To understand the distributions, change processes and temporal-spatial characteristics of the wetlands of the inland river basin in an arid region (Heihe River Basin, HRB), this paper employed multi-source remote sensing data to facilitate multi-temporal monitoring of th...

The U.S. Geological Survey is contributing scientific findings and synthesized results from its South Florida Ecosystem Program toward development and implementation of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. Findings derived from hydrological and ecological studies and extensive data collected to monitor and characterize the Everglades ecosystem are being integrated into the development...

Since the late 1990s, China has been implementing one of the largest ecological restoration initiatives in not only the country but also the world—the Natural Forest Protection Program (NFPP). An overarching question is how severe the regional deforestation had become before the NFPP was initiated and whether the forest condition in the protected area has significantly improved afterwards. The ...

Restoring historic lake-fringe wetlands is considered a favorable means of reducing lake phosphorus levels; however, it is unclear how various strategies for managing wetland connectivity influence phosphorus release. We investigated the relationships between temperature and soil characteristics of restored wetlands to identify management strategies that minimize external phosphorus loading to ...

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 wetl...

[1] New space-based observations of South Florida with interferometric SAR (InSAR) reveal spatially detailed, quantitative images of water levels in the Everglades. The new data capture dynamic water level topography, providing the first detailed picture of wetland sheet flow. We observe localized radial sheet flow in addition to well-known southward unidirectional sheet flow, modelled as a lin...

The Conceptual Wetland Mitigation Plan for Phase II expansion to the John J. Briscoe Reservoir (Briscoe Reservoir) near Monroe, Georgia uses innovative approaches to restoring palustrine wetland functions to existing lacustrine habitats. This paper presents strategies for the design of forested and scrub-shrub wetland habitats in former wastewater treatment ponds and wetland design approach and...