Aging infrastructure creates opportunities for cost-efficient restoration of aquatic ecosystem connectivity

A hallmark of industrialization is the construction of dams for water management and roads for transportation, leading to fragmentation of aquatic ecosystems. Many nations are striving to address both maintenance backlogs and mitigation of environmental impacts as their infrastructure ages. Here, we...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecological applications 2018-09, Vol.28 (6), p.1494-1502
Main Authors: Neeson, Thomas M., Moody, Allison T., O’Hanley, Jesse R., Diebel, Matthew, Doran, Patrick J., Ferris, Michael C., Colling, Timothy, McIntyre, Peter B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal models
Animals
Aquatic ecosystems
Built Environment - economics
Built Environment - statistics & numerical data
collaboration
Communication
connectivity
Conservation
Construction industry
coordination
Cost effectiveness
Dam construction
Ecosystem
Ecosystem restoration
Environmental impact
Environmental Restoration and Remediation - economics
Fish ladders
Fisheries
Fishes
Fishways
fragmentation
freshwater
Infrastructure
Maintenance
Michigan
Priorities
prioritization
restoration
Rivers
Road repairing
Roads
Strategic management
Water management
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Summary:A hallmark of industrialization is the construction of dams for water management and roads for transportation, leading to fragmentation of aquatic ecosystems. Many nations are striving to address both maintenance backlogs and mitigation of environmental impacts as their infrastructure ages. Here, we test whether accounting for road repair needs could offer opportunities to boost conservation efficiency by piggybacking connectivity restoration projects on infrastructure maintenance. Using optimization models to align fish passage restoration sites with likely road repair priorities, we find potential increases in conservation return-on-investment ranging from 17% to 25%. Importantly, these gains occur without compromising infrastructure or conservation priorities; simply communicating openly about objectives and candidate sites enables greater accomplishment at current funding levels. society embraces both reliable roads an d thriving fisheries, so overcoming this coordination challenge should be feasible. Given deferred maintenance crises for many types of infrastructure, there could be widespread opportunities to enhance the cost effectiveness of conservation investments by coordinating with infrastructure renewal efforts.
ISSN:1051-0761
1939-5582
DOI:10.1002/eap.1750