Recently, the importance of quantifying the success of stream/river restoration projects has become a priority in restoration. The absence of ecological monitoring of stream restoration has been made very evident, resulting in the questioning of the viability of restoration activities that have taken place, the ecological approaches used and of restoration as a field of study as a whole. Priority has been set towards illustrating what a successfully restored stream should consist of with development of conceptual frameworks. My study builds upon that concept, by drawing a methodological framework that illustrates how successful stream restoration projects should be quantified using a stream restoration monitoring protocol; asking the question whether a stream restoration monitoring protocol can be created and whether it can appropriately quantify the success of restored stream reaches; further, what assessment technique(s) are best suited for monitoring; ecological, geomorphic or a hybrid approach. In Waterloo, Ontario 29 restored test stream reaches were assessed using benthic macroinvertebrates. Benthos community composition was described using Family Richness, Simpson’s Diversity, % EPT, and % Chironomidae. The same reaches were also assessed using a geomorphic assessment technique I designed for this study, which focused on channel stability measures and substrate type as habitat. The methodology was then used to develop information on disturbed (n=7) and natural (n=5) reference reaches in Waterloo. The reference condition approach was used to quantify the relative placement of the restored test streams to reference condition. The ecological assessment technique was best able to quantify the success of a restored reach, by showing linear relationships between benthic metrics in a PCA analysis (0.657). The geomorphic approach, as analyzed by a Non-metric multidimensional scaling test did not consistently evaluate or significantly distinguish between restored reaches and reference conditions, shown by a stress of 25.31. However, a canonical correspondence analysis showed that there are some relationships, although weak, between the ecological approach and geomorphic approach (0.696; p=0.03). This study showed that it is possible to quantify the success or lack of success of restored stream reaches and it is recommended that a hybrid approach be used when monitoring for stream restoration success.

Recently, the importance of quantifying the success of stream/river restoration projects has become a priority in restoration. The absence of ecological monitoring of stream restoration has been made very evident, resulting in the questioning of the viability of restoration activities that have taken place, the ecological approaches used and of restoration as a field of study as a whole. Priority has been set towards illustrating what a successfully restored stream should consist of with development of conceptual frameworks. My study builds upon that concept, by drawing a methodological framework that illustrates how successful stream restoration projects should be quantified using a stream restoration monitoring protocol; asking the question whether a stream restoration monitoring protocol can be created and whether it can appropriately quantify the success of restored stream reaches; further, what assessment technique(s) are best suited for monitoring; ecological, geomorphic or a hybrid approach. In Waterloo, Ontario 29 restored test stream reaches were assessed using benthic macroinvertebrates. Benthos community composition was described using Family Richness, Simpson’s Diversity, % EPT, and % Chironomidae. The same reaches were also assessed using a geomorphic assessment technique I designed for this study, which focused on channel stability measures and substrate type as habitat. The methodology was then used to develop information on disturbed (n=7) and natural (n=5) reference reaches in Waterloo. The reference condition approach was used to quantify the relative placement of the restored test streams to reference condition. The ecological assessment technique was best able to quantify the success of a restored reach, by showing linear relationships between benthic metrics in a PCA analysis (0.657). The geomorphic approach, as analyzed by a Non-metric multidimensional scaling test did not consistently evaluate or significantly distinguish between restored reaches and reference conditions, shown by a stress of 25.31. However, a canonical correspondence analysis showed that there are some relationships, although weak, between the ecological approach and geomorphic approach (0.696; p=0.03). This study showed that it is possible to quantify the success or lack of success of restored stream reaches and it is recommended that a hybrid approach be used when monitoring for stream restoration success.

Since 2011, Structure-from-Motion Multi-View Stereo Photogrammetry (SfM or SfM-MVS) has gone from an overlooked computer vision technique to an emerging methodology for collecting low-cost, high spatial resolution three-dimensional data for topographic or surface modeling in many academic fields. This dissertation examines the applications of SfM to the field of fluvial geomorphology. My research objectives for this dissertation were to determine the error and uncertainty that are inherent in SfM datasets, the use of SfM to map and monitor geomorphic change in a small river restoration project, and the use of SfM to map and extract data to examine multi-scale geomorphic patterns for 32 kilometers of the Middle Fork John Day River. SfM provides extremely consistent results, although there are systematic errors that result from certain survey patterns that need to be accounted for in future applications. Monitoring change on small restoration stream channels with SfM gave a more complete spatial perspective than traditional cross sections on small-scale geomorphic change. Helicopter-based SfM was an excellent platform for low-cost, large scale fluvial remote sensing, and the data extracted from the imagery provided multi-scalar perspectives of downstream patterns of channel morphology. This dissertation makes many recommendations for better and more efficient SfM surveys at all of the spatial scales surveyed. By implementing the improvements laid out here and by other authors, SfM will be a powerful tool that will make 3D data collection more accessible to the wider geomorphic community.

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Dissertation (MSc (Botany))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Plant Science / unrestricted

Upland peatlands provide vital ecosystem services, especially carbon storage and biodiversity. However, large areas of peatland are heavily degraded in the UK. When peat becomes exposed the potential for it to actively sequester carbon is greatly reduced and carbon stores are rapidly lost through erosion. Peatland restoration is a tool that addresses the government public service agreement targets for biodiversity, and soil and water protection in uplands. Blanket bogs are a UK Biodiversity Action Plan priority habitat. Many areas fall under designations for sites of protection under the EU habitats directive which is aimed at bringing the areas into ‘favourable condition’.The Moors for the Future Partnership is restoring large areas of badly eroded peat in the Peak District National Park to stabilise the surface and re-establish ecosystem functions. Monitoring is of pivotal importance to judge the success of the restoration work. This project assesses the suitability of high resolution remote sensing as an alternative monitoring tool to traditional field based plot surveys which are both time consuming and expensive. Remote sensing has been seen as a potential tool for mapping and monitoring peatlands, but to date the application of high spatial and spectral resolution remote sensing to monitoring peatland restoration has not been fully investigated. A floristic restoration trajectory has been established using a statistical classification (TWINSPAN) of vegetation cover data combined with expert knowledge of previous restoration, and autecology of the moorland species. Hyperspectral classification techniques were applied, including: Spectral Angle Mapping (SAM); Support Vector Machines (SVM); and maximum likelihood classification using both Minimum Noise Fraction (MNF), and narrow band vegetation indices. A successful classification of the restoration succession has been achieved. A predictive model for vegetation cover of plant functional types has been produced using a Partial Least Squares Regression and applied to the whole restoration site at the landscape-scale. RMSEs of between 10 and 16% indicate that the models can be used as a useful operational tool. A spectral library of key moorland species and their phenological response has been established using field spectroscopy in parallel to the image analysis. This has enabled the suggestion that the species are most separable from one another in July and it is recommended that this is the optimal month for remote sensing monitoring. This has facilitated the development of a set of recommendations for the most appropriate vegetation indices to use throughout the year depending species to be differentiated. High spatial and spectral resolution remote sensing data is needed to successfully characterise the vegetation response to restoration management in the upland peatland environment.

No description available.

Increasing human pressure combined with sea level rise and increased storminess is threatening coastal ecosystems around the world. Among these ecosystems, saltmarshes are particularly endangered due to their position in temperate areas with low wave action where human density is often high (e.g. estuaries). Around the UK, centuries of land reclamation have led to a substantial decrease of the area of saltmarsh. Over the past decades, restoration schemes have been implemented in numerous coastal locations in an attempt to counteract this loss. Such schemes involve allowing sea water to inundate a previously embanked area and letting the vegetation develop naturally, thereby reverting to saltmarsh through natural colonisation. However, surveys of restored areas that have looked at the recovery of plant species diversity or functional characteristics often show that restored saltmarshes do not reach the state of a natural saltmarsh ecosystem. While there is much data at the species level, recovery of plant intra-specific diversity (genetic diversity) has not been assessed in restored saltmarsh although this component of biodiversity is receiving increasing attention for its effect on ecosystem function. This thesis represents the first attempt to (1) characterize the nation-wide genetic structure of two important north-west European saltmarsh plant species, the common saltmarsh grass (Puccinellia maritima) and the sea arrowgrass (Triglochin maritima) and (2) compare levels of genetic diversity and structure between restored and natural ecosystems. Microsatellite molecular markers were developed for both species. Using innovative methods to analyse the genetic data obtained for these two polyploid species, this thesis highlights that genetic diversity at the national scale is organised regionally for both species, although gene-flow is still restricted between populations within the same region. Gene-flow between populations is determined by different processes depending on the species. While coastal processes mainly influence gene dispersal in P. maritima, overland routes of dispersal are involved for T. maritima. These differences are believed to be due to differences in dispersal ecology between the two species. Although gene-flow exists between distant saltmarshes, the genetic analysis of P. maritima and T. maritima colonists arriving on restored sites highlighted their local origin and reaffirmed that it is preferable to restore saltmarsh where a nearby natural saltmarsh can act as a source of colonists. A multiple paired-site comparison identified similar genetic diversity between restored and natural saltmarshes indicating that restoration of local genetic diversity is rapid for both species. A single site comparison at Skinflats in the Forth estuary compared fine-scale spatial genetic structure between the restored and natural saltmarsh. Interestingly, no structure was detected for T. maritima either in restored or natural saltmarsh. In contrast, a strong genetic structure organised along the elevation gradient was observed in the natural saltmarsh for P. maritima but was absent in the restored saltmarsh. The origin of this structure is not clear but could be due to restricted gene-flow between individuals from different elevations due to strong post-zygotic selection, as suggested in previous work. In any case, this lack of structure in the restored saltmarsh indicates that genetic recovery is incomplete in this respect for P. maritima. This thesis introduces the growing field of restoration genetics to saltmarsh ecology and identifies the principal population genetic trends in two of the species dominating the vegetation of north-west European saltmarshes community. The information given here will be useful for restoration practitioners and provides a strong foundation for future work characterizing the importance of genetic diversity for saltmarsh function.

A direct consequence of disorganized human population growth and the indiscriminate use of natural resources are the reduction of area and the fragmentation of native ecosystems, as they transform into agricultural areas. In this scenario, agroforestry systems (AFS) may be an alternative to reconcile restoration, conservation and local agricultural production. However, there is a diversity of AFS, and its use as a forest restoration strategy is still uncertain, mainly because we lack evaluations based on ecological indicators from those systems. Thus, we compared ecological indicators measured in a coffee agroforestry system in the Pontal do Paranapanema with those inform conventional restoration plantings of the same age and with regional reference ecosystems. We measured natural regeneration density and richness; canopy cover by native species and aboveground biomass and compared among sites using an ANOVA, followed by Tukey\'s test for mean comparison. Aiming to understand the factors influencing the ecological indicators of forest restoration in coffee AFS, we performed generalized linear models (GLM) using density of coffee and native trees, biomass, percentage of animal-dispersed trees, distance to the nearest forest remnant and richness of tree species as predictor variables and percentage of canopy cover and density and richness of natural regeneration as response variables. The reference forests had the highest values for forest structure indicators, followed by AFS and finally by the conventional restoration plantings. However, we found a greater diversity of tree species planted in the AFS and a natural regeneration similar to that found in the reference ecosystems. Despite coffee density in the AFS negatively influencing natural regeneration, the coffee AFS had greater ecological performance than the conventional restoration, being a viable alternative for forest restoration. We conclude that AFS with coffee and native tree species play an important ecological role in the FLR in Pontal do Paranapanema, reconciling productivity with forest restoration. / Um reflexo direto do crescimento desordenado da população humana e das atividades antrópicas é a diminuição e a fragmentação da área ocupada por ecossistemas nativos e sua substituição por áreas agrícolas. Neste cenário, os sistemas agroflorestais (SAF) podem ser uma alternativa para conciliar restauração, conservação e produção agrícola local. No entanto, tendo em vista a diversidade de SAFs, sua adoção como estratégia de restauração florestal ainda carece de estudos que avaliem os níveis de indicadores ecológicos de cada sistema. Neste sentido, comparamos os indicadores ecológicos de sistemas agroflorestais com café e espécies arbóreas nativas no Pontal do Paranapanema, com os de plantios convencionais de restauração florestal de mesma idade (12-15 anos) e ecossistemas de referência regionais. Medimos a densidade e a riqueza da regeneração natural, a cobertura do solo por espécies nativas e a biomassa acima do solo e as comparamos entre as áreas pela análise de variância ANOVA seguida da comparação de médias pelo teste de Tukey. Buscando compreender os fatores que influenciam os indicadores ecológicos da restauração florestal no SAF, analisamos modelos lineares generalizados, tendo biomassa, porcentagem de árvores zoocóricas, distância do remanescente florestal mais próximo, densidades de café, riqueza e densidade de árvores nativas como variáveis preditoras, e porcentagem de cobertura do dossel, densidade e riqueza da regeneração natural como variáveis respostas. As florestas de referência tiveram os maiores valores para indicadores de estrutura florestal, seguidas pelos SAFs e pelos plantios convencionais de restauração florestal. Entretanto, encontramos elevada diversidade de espécies arbóreas nos SAFs e valores próximos aos das florestas de referência para a diversidade da regeneração natural. Embora a densidade de plantas de café influencie negativamente a regeneração natural, os SAFs apresentaram um melhor desempenho ecológico que as áreas de restauração convencional, correspondendo à uma alternativa viável para restauração florestal. Desta forma, concluímos que os sistemas agroflorestais estudados desempenham um papel ecológico importante na restauração da paisagem florestal no Pontal do Paranapanema, conciliando produção com restauração florestal.

Habitat restoration has socio-economic as well as biophysical impacts. In Grant County, Oregon a recent influx of funding and technical resources for habitat restoration has led to focused monitoring efforts there to better understand the impacts. This study explores how local land use and land management practices are changing in Grant County as a result of restoration and other drivers. In-depth interviews were conducted with 17 landowners, land managers, and long time residents to document the change they have observed and identify how they are adapting. The results suggest that many interconnected social, economic, and ecological changes have taken place in Grant County in the recent past, of which the increased focus on restoration and conservation is just one. Other significant changes include the decline of the timber industry, shifting land ownership patterns, intensified regulation of natural resources, and increased environmental awareness. Ways that the community is adapting and additional ways in which they might more successfully adapt to these changes were identified. Recommendations for how to contribute to a more resilient Grant County are presented for the regulatory, academic, and scientific communities.