Science synthesis for management as a way to advance ecosystem restoration: evaluation of restoration scenarios for the Florida Everglades

Restoration of large ecosystems, like the Florida Everglades, is complex because they cover large areas that span many jurisdictional boundaries and encompass a range of stakeholders whose survival and livelihood are intertwined with the ecosystem. The Everglades is well studied, but linking scienti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Restoration ecology 2017-10, Vol.25 (S1), p.S4-S17
Main Authors: Wetzel, Paul R., Davis, Stephen E., van Lent, Thomas, Davis, Steven M., Henriquez, Hiram
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accretion
Aquatic birds
Barriers
Costs
Decision making
Deposition
Dynamics
ecologic benefits
Ecosystem restoration
Ecosystem services
Ecosystems
Environmental restoration
Evaluation
Fish
Hydrology
knowledge exchange
Overland flow
Removal
Restoration
restoration process
socioecological
Soil
Soil dynamics
Surface water
Synthesis
Water flow
Water storage
Waterfowl
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Summary:Restoration of large ecosystems, like the Florida Everglades, is complex because they cover large areas that span many jurisdictional boundaries and encompass a range of stakeholders whose survival and livelihood are intertwined with the ecosystem. The Everglades is well studied, but linking scientific information to restoration action requires that information be coproduced and carefully communicated to make scientific information credible, relevant, and accepted by stakeholders. Guided by decision‐maker key questions, the Synthesis of Everglades Restoration and Ecosystem Services (SERES) project used a team of specialists to synthesize scientific information across disciplines and evaluate four restoration scenarios that differed in water storage and removal of barriers to overland flow. Capital and operation costs were calculated for all scenarios and the results were communicated to policymakers and other stakeholders with the help of a graphic artist. Restoration options were evaluated in areas of hydrology, soil accretion, landscape processes, and small fish and wading bird dynamics. All scenarios provided substantial improvements to the biological system compared to the existing conditions. The option that expanded aboveground surface water storage and reduced barriers to water flow by 69% which allowed an estimated 91% of predrainage flows to reach the Gulf provided the best ecologic benefits for the least resources spent. The SERES project provides a practical process for improving knowledge exchange among stakeholders involved in restoring large‐scale ecosystems.
ISSN:1061-2971
1526-100X
DOI:10.1111/rec.12566