Journal article

Urban stream renovation: Incorporating societal objectives to achieve ecological improvements

RF Smith, RJ Hawley, MW Neale, GJ Vietz, E Diaz-Pascacio, J Herrmann, AC Lovell, C Prescott, B Rios-Touma, B Smith, RM Utz

Freshwater Science | UNIV CHICAGO PRESS | Published : 2016

Abstract

Pervasive human impacts on urban streams make restoration to predisturbance conditions unlikely. The effectiveness of ecologically focused restoration approaches typically is limited in urban settings because of the use of a reference-condition approach, mismatches between the temporal and spatial scales of impacts and restoration activities, and lack of an integrative approach that incorporates ecological and societal objectives. Developers of new frameworks are recognizing the opportunities for and benefits from incorporating societal outcomes into urban stream restoration projects. Social, economic, cultural, or other benefits to local communities are often opportunistic or arise indirect..

View full abstract

University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Awarded by National Science Foundation


Funding Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the organizers of SUSE3 for incorporating working groups into the program, which is where discussions about this manuscript began. We also acknowledge those who attended SUSE3 and commented on the ideas that were the foundation of this manuscript. We thank 2 anonymous referees and Associate Editor Alonso Ramirez whose comments greatly improved this manuscript. We thank Jennifer St John, Craig Carson, and Donald Dorsey of the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection, Maryland, for providing us the information on the Donnybrook Tributary and Hollywood Branch case study. We thank Anita Milman for providing guidance on the manuscript's approach and Alyssa Black, Gillian Gunderson, and Evan Farrarone for assisting with manuscript editing. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability (SEES) Fellowship Grant GEO-1215896, and SUSE3 was supported by the National Science Foundation grant DEB-1427007.