An ecological decision framework for environmental restoration projects

Abstract Ecosystem restoration projects require planning and monitoring to maximize project success relative to costs, yet many projects completed thus far have been planned on an ad hoc, consensus basis and are virtually ignored after revegetation at the site is complete. We describe a formalized planning process geared specifically to the needs of ecological restoration projects (and ecosystem rehabilitation or management projects; National Research Council, 1992 ). This process emphasizes: 1) the importance of defining objectives related to the appropriate ecosystem structure, function, and spatial scale; 2) the role of ecological models, restoration hypotheses, and key ecological parameters; 3) explicit consideration of uncertainties in site processes and material performance in the restoration design; 4) guidelines for project design and feasibility analysis and the use of experimentation at this stage; and 5) monitoring and adaptive management of restoration projects after implementation of a design. This process was developed to integrate a fundamental understanding of ecological principles into the existing project planning framework used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in their growing role in restoration of aquatic habitats, but it should be applied to terrestrial habitats as well.