Climate Change Makes River
Restoration More Important than Ever, Paper Concludes
WASHINGTON, D.C., September 1, 2009
--/WORLD-WIRE/-- Restoring river ecosystems and riparian
corridors can play an important role in combating climate change
impacts to ecosystems by connecting one area to another,
enabling plants and animals to move as the climate shifts. It
also will create places that shelter fish and wildlife from
hotter temperatures, which ecologists call "thermal refugia."
Those are among the conclusions of a new peer-reviewed paper by
seven organizations that evaluated how protecting and restoring
river ecosystems and riparian areas can enhance the ability of
these ecosystems to cope with climate change. This work appears
in the September issue of
Ecological
Restoration with a collection of articles dedicated to the
theme of restoration and climate change. In the paper, the
scientists discuss the importance of replanting riparian
vegetation and ensuring that rivers have sufficient water to
maintain flows that benefit birds, fish and other wildlife, and
human communities. Based on these and other benefits of riparian
restoration, the authors recommend that river restoration
activities continue and expand as the climate changes.
"I often hear people ask: 'if climate change is going to disrupt
natural systems, why should we bother to restore them?'"
explains Nat Seavy, terrestrial research director at PRBO
Conservation Science. "Restoration, especially of riparian
areas, is a critical step toward protecting the integrity of
ecosystems and the benefits they provide - including clean
water, pollination, and flood protection - to wildlife and
humans in a time of rapid climate change."
The authors also discuss the need to modify restoration
strategies to prepare for the uncertain conditions predicted to
accompany climate change, and for ongoing research and
monitoring to evaluate and improve restoration practices.
Recommendations include planting a mix of riparian plants that
are both drought and flood tolerant, ensuring that rivers have
sufficient water to provide for periodic flooding of natural
areas, and increasing habitat restoration on private lands.
"Protecting genetic diversity and native biodiversity with
restoration projects will boost the resilience of society and
nature to potentially catastrophic climate change impacts," says
paper co-author Stacy Small, conservation scientist with
Environmental Defense Fund's Center for Conservation Incentives.
"Working with landowners to restore private lands will also
enhance restoration efforts on adjacent public lands."
For decades, conservationists have been aware that increasing
human populations, development, and changing land use threaten
biodiversity and ecosystem services. Ecological restoration was
originally developed to help speed the recovery of landscapes
disrupted by human activities. Today, there is a growing
awareness that ecological restoration also must look ahead to
consider the potential consequences of a changing climate.
"Because dams and water diversions have disrupted natural water
regimes, simply protecting the river isn't enough," explains
Thomas Griggs, senior restoration ecologist with River Partners,
an organization that has led restoration efforts along the
Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. "Over the last 20 years,
we've learned how to speed the return of birds and other
wildlife to these important habitats by planting the vegetation
that would have come back as a result of natural flooding. In
the next 20 years, we will need to look ahead to understand how
climate change will impact these systems, and ensure that our
efforts are successful into the future."
Working collaboratively with partners across disciplines is
increasingly important for effective restoration. The authors
that collaborated on this project work for government agencies
(the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land
Management), academic institutions (University at California
Davis), and non-profit organizations (PRBO Conservation Science,
The Nature Conservancy, Audubon California, Environmental
Defense Fund, and River Partners).
"This paper exemplifies the importance of partnering to prepare
for climate change," explains Ellie Cohen, executive director of
PRBO Conservation Science. "By building diverse teams with
unique knowledge and on-the-ground experience we can develop
practical solutions supported by sound science."
Authors were Nathaniel Seavy, Thomas Gardali, and Christine
Howell (PRBO Conservation Science), Gregory Golet (The Nature
Conservancy), Thomas Griggs (River Partners), Rodd Kelsey
(Audubon California), Stacy Small (Environmental Defense Fund),
Joshua Viers (UC Davis), and James Weigand (Bureau of Land
Management).
PRBO Conservation Science is a non-profit
conservation and education organization dedicated to advancing
conservation through birds and ecosystem research. Founded in
1965 as Point Reyes Bird Observatory, PRBO Conservation Science
partners with hundreds of governmental and non-governmental
agencies as well as private interests to ensure that every
dollar invested in conservation yields the most for biodiversity
-- benefiting our environment, our economy, and our communities.
Visit PRBO on the web at
www.prbo.org.
Environmental Defense Fund is a national
nonprofit organization that links science, economics, law and
innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough
solutions to the most serious environmental problems. EDF's
Center for Conservation Incentives (CCI) is an initiative to
develop and expand landowner incentives for the conservation of
natural resources and rare plants and animals. For more
information visit: www.edf.org.
Contact: Stacy Small, PhD, Conservation Scientist,
(202)572-3263, ssmall@edf.org
Audubon California is building a better future
for California by bringing people together to appreciate, enjoy
and protect our spectacular outdoor treasures. Audubon
California is a field program of Audubon, which has more than
50,000 members in California and an affiliated 48 local chapters
dedicated to protecting birds, wildlife and the habitats that
support them. Visit Audubon California on the web at
www.ca.audubon.org.
Over the last 11 years, River Partners has
restored more than 6,000 acres of river banks and floodplains,
providing critical habitat for wildlife and sustainable
solutions for California's rivers. Its habitat restoration work
supports efforts to sequester greenhouse gases, improve water
and air quality, recover endangered species, improve public
safety, and protect open space. A nonprofit organization, River
Partners' mission is to create wildlife habitat for the benefit
of people and the environment.
The Nature Conservancy is a leading
conservation organization working around the world to protect
ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people.
To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members
have been responsible for the protection of more than 18 million
acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than
117 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the
Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at
www.nature.org.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages
more land - 256 million acres - than any other Federal agency.
About 15 million acres are in California and comprise some of
the most biologically diverse areas in the State. These public
lands, officially known as the National System of Public Lands,
stretch from the Sierra to the Pacific and from northern ancient
forests to southern desert expanses. BLM's multiple-use mission
is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands
for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.
This work was funded in part by the CALFED Science Fellows
Program. Beginning with the class of 2003, the CALFED Science
Fellows Program has paired graduate students and postdoctoral
researchers with CALFED Program agency scientists and senior
research mentors. Fellows work on collaborative data analysis
and research projects applicable to the California Bay-Delta
system.
Citation
Seavy, N. E., T. Gardali, G. H. Golet, F. T. Griggs, C. A.
Howell, R. Kelsey, S. Small, J. H. Viers, J. F. Weigand. 2009.
Why climate change makes riparian restoration more important
than ever: Recommendations for Practice and Research. Ecological
Restoration 27:330-338. (open access available at:
http://er.uwpress.org/cgi/reprint/27/3/330)
Contact:
Stacy Small, PhD, Conservation Scientist, Center for
Conservation Incentives, Environmental Defense Fund, (202)
572-3263, ssmall@edf.org
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