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Leveraging a Landscape-Level Monitoring and Assessment Program for Developing Resilient Shorelines throughout the Laurentian Great Lakes
Journal Title
Wetlands v. 39
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2019
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Abstract
Traditionally, ecosystem monitoring, conservation, and restoration have been conducted in a piecemeal manner at the local scale
without regional landscape context. However, scientifically driven conservation and restoration decisions benefit greatly when
they are based on regionally determined benchmarks and goals. Unfortunately, required data sets rarely exist for regionally
important ecosystems. Because of early recognition of the extreme ecological importance of Laurentian Great Lakes coastal
wetlands, and the extensive degradation that had already occurred, significant investments in coastal wetland research, protection,
and restoration have been made in recent decades and continue today. Continued and refined assessment of wetland condition and
trends, and the evaluation of restoration practices are all essential to ensuring the success of these investments. To provide
wetland managers and decision makers throughout the Laurentian Great Lakes basin with the optimal tools and data needed
to make scientifically-based decisions, our regional team of Great Lakes wetland scientists developed standardized methods and
indicators used for assessing wetland condition. Froma landscape perspective, at the LaurentianGreat Lakes ecosystemscale, we
established a stratified random-site-selection process to monitor birds, anurans, fish, macroinvertebrates, vegetation, and physicochemical
conditions of coastal wetlands in the US and Canada. Monitoring of approximately 200 wetlands per year began in
2011 as the Great Lakes CoastalWetlandMonitoring Program. In this paper, we describe the development, delivery, and expected
results of this ongoing international, multi-disciplinary, multi-stakeholder, landscape-scale monitoring programas a case example
of successful application of landscape conservation design.
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Full list of authors:
Donald G. Uzarski1 & Douglas A. Wilcox2 & Valerie J. Brady3 & Matthew J. Cooper1,4 & Dennis A. Albert5 &
Jan J. H. Ciborowski6 & Nicholas P. Danz7 & Anne Garwood8 & Joseph P. Gathman9 & Thomas M. Gehring1 &
Greg P. Grabas10 & Robert W. Howe11 & Lucinda B. Johnson3 & Gary A. Lamberti12 & Ashley H. Moerke13 &
Gerald J. Niemi3 & Todd Redder14 & Carl R. Ruetz III15 & Alan D. Steinman15 & Douglas C. Tozer16 & T. Kevin O’Donnell17