7636 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

OVERVIEW 1 and terrestrial ecology, water chemistry, environmental engineering, environmental law and policy, wetlands science; agricultural economics, and land use planning. During the study the committee visited several restoration sites to determine firsthand how restoration efforts are accomplished. Ina 2- year period, various committee members visited the Des Plaines River Wetlands Demonstration Project in Illinois; the Blanco River restora- tion in Pagosa Springs, Colorado; the Hackensack Meadowlands in New Jersey; prairie pothole wetlands in Minnesota; bottomland and hardwood forests in Louisiana; and the Kissimmee River restoration project in Florida. Writing assignments were made to several sub- committees concentrating on restoration of rivers, lakes, wetlands, and large integrated systems. Another subgroup concentrated on the development of a national aquatic ecosystem restoration strategy and the changes in policy and institutions necessary to begin this process. Brief case studies were prepared by the committee, NRC staff, and an NRC consultant. This report is intended for a broad audience, including: • scientists and engineers restoring aquatic ecosystems; • legislators and regulators concerned with bringing the nation's aquatic ecosystems back to ecological health; • state departments of environmental protection; • industrial environmental protection departments; • public interest and other citizen groups interested in restoring lakes, rivers, and wetlands; and • teachers and students in the natural and environmental sciences. WHAT IS RESTORATION? As used in this report, the term restoration (see Box 1.1) means the reestablishment of predisturbance aquatic functions and related physical, chemical, and biological characteristics (Cairns, 1988; Magnuson et al., 1980; Lewis, 1989). Restoration is different from habitat creation, reclamation, and rehabilitation-it is a holistic process not achieved through the isolated manipulation of individual elements. The holis- tic nature of restoration, including the reintroduction of animals, needs to be emphasized. The installation of a few grasses and forbs does not constitute restoration. The long-term maintenance of biodiversity depends on the survival of appropriate plant assemblages, which may require, for example, grazing by muskrat and beaver. Without criti- cal faunal elements, an ecosystem may not survive long. Merely recreating a form without the functions, or the functions in