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At least 433 records · Page 24Linked to original sources
USGS2025

Reviews and syntheses: Variable inundation across Earth's terrestrial ecosystems

The structure, function, and dynamics of Earth's terrestrial ecosystems are profoundly influenced by how often (frequency) and how long (duration) they are inundated with water. A diverse array of natural and human-engineered systems experience temporally variable inundation whereby they fluctuate between inundated and non-inundated states. Variable inundation spans extreme events to predictable sub-daily cycles. Variably inundated ecosystems (VIEs) include hillslopes, non-perennial streams, wetlands, floodplains, temporary ponds, tidal systems, storm-impacted coastal zones, and human-engineered systems. VIEs are diverse in terms of inundation regimes, water chemistry and flow velocity, soil and sediment properties, vegetation, and many other properties. The spatial and temporal scales of variable inundation are vast, ranging from sub-meter to whole landscapes and from sub-hourly to multi-decadal. The broad range of system types and scales makes it challenging to predict the hydrology, biogeochemistry, ecology, and physical evolution of VIEs. Despite all experiencing the loss and gain of an overlying water column, VIEs are rarely considered together in conceptual, theoretical, modeling, or measurement frameworks and approaches. Studying VIEs together has the potential to generate mechanistic understanding that is transferable across a much broader range of environmental conditions, relative to knowledge generated by studying any one VIE type. We postulate that enhanced transferability will be important for predicting changes in VIE function in response to global change. Here we aim to catalyze cross-VIE science that studies drivers and impacts of variable inundation across Earth's VIEs. To this end, we complement expert mini-reviews of eight major VIE systems with overviews of VIE-relevant methods and challenges associated with scale. We conclude with perspectives on how cross-VIE science can derive transferable understanding via unifying conceptual models in which the impacts of variable inundation are studied across multi-dimensional environmental space.

Biogeosciences↗
USGS2023

Techniques for restoring damaged Mojave and western Sonoran ecosystems, including those for threatened desert tortoises and Joshua trees

Ecological restoration has potential for contributing to conservation activities for threatened Mojave desert tortoises ( Gopherus agassizii ) and Joshua trees ( Yucca brevifolia , Y. jaegeriana ) and their broader ecosystems in the Mojave and western Sonoran deserts. To be effective, restoration actions deployed strategically need to halt and reverse habitat degradation, replenish or enhance resources used by both species (e.g., large shrubs for protection of tortoises and nurse plants facilitating recruitment of Joshua tree seedlings), and ideally foster resilience during likely future environmental changes. We synthesized restoration techniques and their effectiveness in the Mojave and western Sonoran deserts, provide estimated costs of candidate techniques, and anticipate future research needs for effective restoration in changing climates and environments. Over 50 published studies in the Mojave and western Sonoran deserts demonstrate that restoration can improve soil features (e.g., biocrusts), increase cover of native perennial and annual plants, enhance native seed retention and seed banks, and reduce risk of fires to conserve mature shrubland habitat. We placed restoration techniques into three categories: restoration of site environments, revegetation, and management actions to limit further disturbance and encourage recovery. Within these categories, 11 major restoration techniques (and their variations) were evaluated by at least one published study and range from geomorphic (e.g., reestablishing natural topographic patterns) and abiotic structural treatments (e.g., vertical mulching) to active revegetation (e.g., outplanting, seeding). For example, 16 outplanting studies assessed performance of 46 species to begin identifying top-performing species, associated treatments (e.g., protection from herbivory) required to aid outplant survival, and potential for outplants to trigger formation of self-sustaining populations. Creosote bush (Larrea tridentata), a shrub that tortoises use for cover and that serves as a nurse plant for Joshua tree recruitment, achieved at least 50% survival in five of eight studies. Estimated costs for restoring desert habitats varied primarily with the severity of the disturbance, site factors including the diversity of vegetation that was lost, logistical factors such as accessibility of sites (influencing transportation costs), and the cost-effectiveness of the restoration techniques chosen. The review highlights six major research and adaptive management needs for advancing desert habitat restoration. These needs include: 1) continued development of innovative techniques and bet-hedging approaches to provide managers with “tool boxes” of candidate treatments to deploy in dynamic environmental and management conditions, 2) identifying how to optimize spatial deployment of limited restoration resources, 3) developing practical techniques for reducing non-native annual grasses across spatial scales, 4) improving linkages between habitat enhancements and short- and long-term indicators of tortoise usage and responses and Joshua tree population sustainability, 5) mitigating multiple, interacting stressors with cumulative impacts, and 6) integrating biotic (e.g., seeding) and abiotic (e.g., fencing, shade structures) treatments to complement each other at site and landscape scales in dynamic climates and environments. It is possible that bet-hedging approaches employing multiple treatment types (or phased treatments across years) and greater incorporation of abiotic treatments, which are less sensitive to timing of precipitation compared with biotic treatments, will become increasingly important under future climates projected to be drier and more variable. Existing research suggests that restoration can be deployed effectively even under adverse climatic conditions, but success requires identifying suitable techniques tailored to dynamic environments.

Arizona, California, Nevada, Sonora↗
USGS2004

Ecoregions and ecoregionalization: geographical and ecological perspectives

Ecoregions, i.e., areas exhibiting relative homogeneity of ecosystems, are units of analysis that are increasingly important in environmental assessment and management. Ecoregions provide a holistic framework for flexible, comparative analysis of complex environmental problems. Ecoregions mapping has intellectual foundations in both geography and ecology. However, a hallmark of ecoregions mapping is that it is a truly interdisciplinary endeavor that demands the integration of knowledge from a multitude of sciences. Geographers emphasize the role of place, scale, and both natural and social elements when delineating and characterizing regions. Ecologists tend to focus on environmental processes with special attention given to energy flows and nutrient cycling. Integration of disparate knowledge from the many key sciences has been one of the great challenges of ecoregions mapping, and may lie at the heart of the lack of consensus on the “optimal” approach and methods to use in such work. Through a review of the principal existing US ecoregion maps, issues that should be addressed in order to advance the state of the art are identified. Research related to needs, methods, data sources, data delivery, and validation is needed. It is also important that the academic system foster education so that there is an infusion of new expertise in ecoregion mapping and use.

Environmental Management↗
USGS2022

Achievements and prospects of global broadband seismographic networks after 30 years of continuous geophysical observations

Global seismographic networks (GSNs) emerged during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, facilitated by seminal international developments in theory, technology, instrumentation, and data exchange. The mid- to late-twentieth century saw the creation of the World-Wide Standardized Seismographic Network (1961) and International Deployment of Accelerometers (1976), which advanced global geographic coverage as seismometer bandwidth increased greatly allowing for the recording of the Earth's principal seismic spectrum. The modern era of global observations and rapid data access began during the 1980s, and notably included the inception of the GEOSCOPE initiative (1982) and GSN (1988). Through continual improvements, GEOSCOPE and the GSN have realized near-real time recording of ground motion with state-of-art data quality, dynamic range, and timing precision to encompass 180 seismic stations, many in very remote locations. Data from GSNs are increasingly integrated with other geophysical data (e.g., space geodesy, infrasound and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar). Globally distributed seismic data are critical to resolving crust, mantle, and core structure; illuminating features of the plate tectonic and mantle convection system; rapid characterization of earthquakes; identification of potential tsunamis; global nuclear test verification; and provide sensitive proxies for environmental changes. As the global geosciences community continues to advance our understanding of Earth structure and processes controlling elastic wave propagation, GSN infrastructure offers a springboard to realize increasingly multi-instrument geophysical observatories. Here, we review the historical, scientific, and monitoring heritage of GSNs, summarize key discoveries, and discuss future associated opportunities for Earth Science.

Reviews of Geophysics↗
USGS2011

Avian communities in tidal salt marshes of San Francisco Bay: A review of functional groups by foraging guild and habitat association

The San Francisco Bay estuary is highly urbanized, but it supports the largest remaining extent of tidal salt marshes on the west coast of North America as well as a diverse native bird community. San Francisco Bay tidal marshes are occupied by more than 113 bird species that represent 31 families, including five subspecies from three families that we denote as tidal-marsh obligates. To better identify the niche of bird species in tidal marshes, we present a review of functional groups based on foraging guilds and habitat associations. Foraging guilds describe the method by which species obtain food from tidal marshes, while habitat associations describe broad areas within the marsh that have similar environmental conditions. For example, the ubiquitous song sparrows (Alameda Melospiza melodia pusillula , Suisun M. m. maxillaris , and San Pablo M. m. samuelis ) are surface-feeding generalists that consume prey from vegetation and the ground, and they are found across the entire marsh plain into the upland–marsh transition. In contrast, surface-feeding California black rails ( Laterallus jamaicensis coturniculus ) are cryptic, and generally restricted in their distribution to the mid- and high-marsh plain. Although in the same family, the endangered California clapper rail ( Rallus longirostris obsoletus ) has become highly specialized, foraging primarily on benthic fauna within marsh channels when they are exposed at low tide. Shorebirds such as the black-necked stilt ( Himantopus mexicanus ) typically probe in mud flats to consume macroinvertebrate prey, and are generally restricted to foraging on salt pans within the marsh plain, in ponds, or on mud flats during transitional stages of marsh evolution. The abundance and distribution of birds varies widely with changing water depths and vegetation colonization during different stages of restoration. Thus, tidal-marsh birds represent a rich and diverse community in bay marshes, with niches that may be distinguished by the food resources they consume and the habitats that they occupy along the tidal gradient.

California↗
USGS2006

Environmental controls on denitrifying communities and denitrification rates: Insights from molecular methods

The advent of molecular techniques has improved our understanding of the microbial communities responsible for denitrification and is beginning to address their role in controlling denitrification processes. There is a large diversity of bacteria, archaea, and fungi capable of denitrification, and their community composition is structured by long-term environmental drivers. The range of temperature and moisture conditions, substrate availability, competition, and disturbances have long-lasting legacies on denitrifier community structure. These communities may differ in physiology, environmental tolerances to pH and O 2 , growth rate, and enzyme kinetics. Although factors such as O 2 , pH, C availability, and NO 3 − pools affect instantaneous rates, these drivers act through the biotic community. This review summarizes the results of molecular investigations of denitrifier communities in natural environments and provides a framework for developing future research for addressing connections between denitrifier community structure and function.

Ecological Applications↗
USGS2009

Land crabs as key drivers in tropical coastal forest recruitment

Plant populations are regulated by a diverse assortment of abiotic and biotic factors that influence seed dispersal and viability, and seedling establishment and growth at the microsite. Rarely does one animal guild exert as significant an influence on different plant assemblages as land crabs. We review three tropical coastal ecosystems-mangroves, island maritime forests, and mainland coastal terrestrial forests-where land crabs directly influence forest composition by limiting tree establishment and recruitment. Land crabs differentially prey on seeds, propagules and seedlings along nutrient, chemical and physical environmental gradients. In all of these ecosystems, but especially mangroves, abiotic gradients are well studied, strong and influence plant species distributions. However, we suggest that crab predation has primacy over many of these environmental factors by acting as the first limiting factor of tropical tree recruitment to drive the potential structural and compositional organisation of coastal forests. We show that the influence of crabs varies relative to tidal gradient, shoreline distance, canopy position, time, season, tree species and fruiting periodicity. Crabs also facilitate forest growth and development through such activities as excavation of burrows, creation of soil mounds, aeration of soils, removal of leaf litter into burrows and creation of carbon-rich soil microhabitats. For all three systems, land crabs influence the distribution, density and size-class structure of tree populations. Indeed, crabs are among the major drivers of tree recruitment in tropical coastal forest ecosystems, and their conservation should be included in management plans of these forests. ?? 2009 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Biological Reviews↗
USGS2009

Biogeochemical redox processes and their impact on contaminant dynamics

Life and element cycling on Earth is directly related to electron transfer (or redox) reactions. An understanding of biogeochemical redox processes is crucial for predicting and protecting environmental health and can provide new opportunities for engineered remediation strategies. Energy can be released and stored by means of redox reactions via the oxidation of labile organic carbon or inorganic compounds (electron donors) by microorganisms coupled to the reduction of electron acceptors including humic substances, iron-bearing minerals, transition metals, metalloids, and actinides. Environmental redox processes play key roles in the formation and dissolution of mineral phases. Redox cycling of naturally occurring trace elements and their host minerals often controls the release or sequestration of inorganic contaminants. Redox processes control the chemical speciation, bioavailability, toxicity, and mobility of many major and trace elements including Fe, Mn, C, P, N, S, Cr, Cu, Co, As, Sb, Se, Hg, Tc, and U. Redox-active humic substances and mineral surfaces can catalyze the redox transformation and degradation of organic contaminants. In this review article, we highlight recent advances in our understanding of biogeochemical redox processes and their impact on contaminant fate and transport, including future research needs.

Environmental Science & Technology↗
USGS2019

Review of and recommendations for monitoring contaminants and their effects in the San Francisco Bay−Delta

Legacy and current-use contaminants enter into and accumulate throughout the San Francisco Bay−Delta (Bay−Delta), and are present at concentrations with known effects on species important to this diverse watershed. There remains major uncertainty and a lack of focused research able to address and provide understanding of effects across multiple biological scales, despite previous and ongoing emphasis on the need for it. These needs are challenging specifically because of the established regulatory programs that often monitor on a chemical- by-chemical basis, or in which decisions are grounded in lethality-based endpoints. To best address issues of contaminants in the Bay−Delta, monitoring efforts should consider effects of environmentally relevant mixtures and sub- lethal impacts that can affect ecosystem health. These efforts need to consider the complex environment in the Bay−Delta including variable abiotic (e.g., temperature, salinity) and biotic (e.g., pathogens) factors. This calls for controlled and focused research, and the development of a multi-disciplinary contaminant monitoring and assessment program that provides information across biological scales. Information gained in this manner will contribute toward evaluating parameters that could alleviate ecologically detrimental outcomes. This review is a result of a Special Symposium convened at the University of California−Davis (UCD) on January 31, 2017 to address critical information needed on how contaminants affect the Bay−Delta. The UCD Symposium focused on new tools and approaches for assessing multiple stressor effects to freshwater and estuarine systems. Our approach is similar to the recently proposed framework laid out by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) that uses weight of evidence to scale toxicological responses to chemical contaminants in a laboratory, and to guide the conservation of priority species and habitats. As such, we also aimed to recommend multiple endpoints that could be used to promote a multi-disciplinary understanding of contaminant risks in Bay−Delta while supporting management needs.

California↗
USGS2012

The footprint of Alaskan tundra fires during the past half-century: implications for surface properties and radiative forcing

Recent large and frequent fires above the Alaskan arctic circle have forced a reassessment of the ecological and climatological importance of fire in arctic tundra ecosystems. Here we provide a general overview of the occurrence, distribution, and ecological and climate implications of Alaskan tundra fires over the past half-century using spatially explicit climate, fire, vegetation and remote sensing datasets for Alaska. Our analyses highlight the importance of vegetation biomass and environmental conditions in regulating tundra burning, and demonstrate that most tundra ecosystems are susceptible to burn, providing the environmental conditions are right. Over the past two decades, fire perimeters above the arctic circle have increased in size and importance, especially on the North Slope, indicating that future wildfire projections should account for fire regime changes in these regions. Remote sensing data and a literature review of thaw depths indicate that tundra fires have both positive and negative implications for climatic feedbacks including a decadal increase in albedo radiative forcing immediately after a fire, a stimulation of surface greenness and a persistent long-term (>10 year) increase in thaw depth. In order to address the future impact of tundra fires on climate, a better understanding of the control of tundra fire occurrence as well as the long-term impacts on ecosystem carbon cycling will be required.

Alaska↗
USGS2021

Status of the major aquaculture carps of China in the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin

There is concern of economic and environmental damage occuring if any of the four major aquacultured carp species of China, black carp Mylopharyngodon piceus , bighead carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis , silver carp H. molitrix , or grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella , were to establish in the Laurentian Great Lakes. All four are reproducing in the Mississippi River Basin. We review the status of these fishes in relation to the Great Lakes and their proximity to pathways into the Great Lakes, based on captures and collections of eggs and larvae. No black carp have been captured in the Great Lakes Basin. One silver carp and one bighead carp were captured within the Chicago Area Waterway System, on the Great Lakes side of electric barriers designed to keep carp from entering the Great Lakes from the greater Mississippi River Basin. Three bighead carp were captured in Lake Erie, none later than the year 2000. By December 2019, at least 650 grass carps had been captured in the Great Lakes Basin, most in western Lake Erie, but none in Lake Superior. Grass carp reproduction has been documented in the Sandusky and Maumee rivers in Ohio, tributaries of Lake Erie. We also discuss environmental DNA (eDNA) results as an early detection and monitoring tool for bighead and silver carps. Detection of eDNA does not necessarily indicate presence of live fish, but bigheaded carp eDNA has been detected on the Great Lakes side of the barriers and in a small proportion of samples from the western basin of Lake Erie.

Illinois, Indiana↗
USGS2024

Environmental and societal consequences of winter ice loss from lakes

More than half a billion people live near lakes that freeze over in the winter. However, lakes are rapidly losing winter ice cover in response to warming, and the rate of loss has accelerated over the past 25 years. Hampton et al . reviewed the state of seasonal ice cover on lakes and discuss some of the consequences of its disappearance. Ice loss will affect culture, economy, water quality, fisheries, and biodiversity, as well as weather and climate. —Jesse Smith

Science↗
USGS1999

Assessing biological effects from highway-runoff constituents

Increased emphasis on evaluation of nonpoint-source pollution has intensified the need for techniques that can be used to discern the toxicological effects of complex chemical mixtures. In response, the use of biological assessment techniques is receiving increased regulatory emphasis. When applied with documented habitat assessment and chemical analysis, these techniques can increase our understanding of the influence of environmental contaminants on the biological integrity and ecological function of aquatic communities. The contaminants of greatest potential concern in highway runoff are those that arise from highway construction, maintenance, and use. The major contaminants of interest are deicers; nutrients; metals; petroleum-related organic compounds, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX), and methyl tert -butyl ether (MTBE); sediment washed off the road surface; and agricultural chemicals used in highway maintenance. Hundreds, if not thousands, of biological endpoints (measurable responses of living organisms) may be either directly or associatively affected by contaminant exposure. Measurable effects can occur throughout ecosystem processes across the wide range of biological complexity, ranging from responses at the biochemical level to the community level. The challenge to the environmental scientist is to develop an understanding of the relationship of effects at various levels of biological organization in order to determine whether a causal relationship exists between chemical exposure and substantial ecological impairment. This report provides a brief history of the evolution of biological assessment techniques, a description of the major classes of contaminants that are of particular interest in highway runoff, an overview of representative biological assessment techniques, and a discussion of data-quality considerations. Published reports with a focus on the effects of highway runoff on the local ecosystem were reviewed to provide information on (1) the suitability of the existing data for a quantitative national synthesis, (2) the methods available to study the effects of highway runoff on local ecosystems, and (3) the potential for adverse effects on the roadside environment and receiving waters. Although many biological studies have been done, the use of different methods and a general lack of sufficient documentation precludes a quantitative national synthesis on the basis of the existing data. The Federal Highway Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Intergovernmental Task Force on Monitoring Water Quality, and the National Resources Conservation Service all have developed and documented methods for assessing the effects of contaminants on ecosystems in receiving waters. These published methods can be used to formulate a set of protocols to provide consistent information from highway-runoff studies. Review of the literature indicates (qualitatively) that highway runoff (even from highways with high traffic volume) may not usually be acutely toxic. Tissue analysis and community assessments, however, indicate effects from highway- runoff sediments near discharge points (even from sites near highways with relatively low traffic volumes). At many sites, elevated concentrations of highway-runoff constituents were measured in tissues of species associated with aquatic sediments. Community assessments also indicate decreases in the diversity and productivity of aquatic ecosystems at some sites receiving highway runoff. These results are not definitive, however, and depend on many site-specific criteria that were not sufficiently documented in most of the studies reviewed.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2020

Global challenges for nitrogen science-policy interactions: Towards the International Nitrogen Management System (INMS) and improved coordination between multi-lateral environmental agreements

Human interference with the nitrogen cycle has doubled reactive nitrogen inputs to the global biosphere over the past century, leading to changes across multiple environmental issues that require urgent action. Nitrogen fertilizers and biological nitrogen fixation have allowed benefits of increased crop harvest and livestock production, while in some areas there is insufficient nitrogen to fertilize crops. Whether in excess or deficit, nitrogen losses from its inefficient use are causing a combination of freshwater and marine pollution, air pollution, alteration of climate balance, stratospheric ozone loss, biodiversity loss and reduction of soil quality. The resulting nitrogen pollution affects human health, well-being and livelihoods. Scientific efforts have begun to bring these issues together. However, there is still a high degree of fragmentation between research on the different benefits and threats of reactive nitrogen and between the respective policy frameworks, especially at the global scale. We argue that a more joined-up approach to managing the global nitrogen cycle is needed to develop the ‘gravity of common cause’ between nitrogen issues and to avoid policy trade-offs. We describe how a coherent system for science evidence provision is being developed to support policy development through the ‘International Nitrogen Management System’ (INMS). There is now a matching challenge to bring together the multiple policy agreements relevant for nitrogen as a foundation to address synergies/trade-offs and to set priorities. Based on review of existing frameworks, we outline the concept for an Interconvention nitrogen coordination mechanism. This could make a major contribution to multiple Sustainable Development Goals by stimulating the next generation of international nitrogen strategies: maximizing the benefits of efficient nitrogen use, while minimizing its many environmental threats.

Book chapter↗
USGS1993

Wetland modeling and information needs at Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge

The marshes in and around Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge (the Refuge) are extremely dynamic; expanding and contracting in size both seasonally, due to runoff and subsequent evapotranspiration, and over longer periods, due to climatic variation. The dynamic nature of these marshes results in a diversity of wetland habitats, which support a variety of migratory birds. To maintain this wetland diversity and control the loss of migratory bird habitat in the Lahontan Valley, the Refuge was established and currently manages a complex of marsh units. However, changes in the hydrology, and changes that will occur as a result of the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone and Truckee-Carson-Pyramid Lake Water Rights Settlement Act (Public Law 101-618, 104 Stat. 3389), greatly affect the Refuge's wetland management capability. In light of these changes, and the legal requirements associated with environmental impact assessments, the Refuge convened a workshop to discuss several aspects of wetland management in the Lahontan Valley. The workshop, described in this report, had three primary objectives: 1. discuss the types and relative proportions of primary wetland habitats that should be provided as described in the settlement act; 2. discuss wetland management models that might be developed to help manage these marshes under hydrologic regimes likely in the future; and 3. discuss future information and monitoring needs, including proposals for valley-wide biodiversity surveys, which would be helpful when considering withdrawn Bureau of Reclamation (BR) lands for possible incorporation into the Refuge. Several presentations at the beginning of the workshop provided a common basis for discussing these objectives. Refuge staff provided background on the history and past management. The Nature Conservatory discussed their role in the settlement act, proposals for valley-wide biodiversity surveys, and results of a literature review for Stillwater Marsh and the Lahontan Valley (Nachlinger 1993). Kay Fowler provided an historical context of changes in vegetation and waterbird use of the marshes based on her ethnography of the local Paiute Indians (Fowler 1993). Finally, Bob Elston discussed a model that predicts archaeological sites based on environmental variables (Raven and Elston 1989). The workshop was organized by staff from the Refuge and facilitated by the authors of this report. Participants included Ron Anglin, Bill Henry, Anne Janik, Cliff Creger, Fred Paveglio, and Mary Jo Elpers of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (the Service); Jeff Baumgartner, Jan Nachlinger, Hope Humphries, and Graham Chisholm of The Nature Conservancy; David Yardas of the Environmental Defense Fund; David Robertson of Robertson Software, Inc.; Norm Saake, Terry Retterer, and Larry Neel of the Nevada Department of Wildlife; Lew Oring and Kay Fowler of the University of Nevada; and Robert Elston of Intermountain Research.

Report↗
USGS2022

Perspectives on challenges and opportunities at the restoration-policy interface in the U.S.A.

As we advance into the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, understanding the relationship between science, management, and policy is increasingly important given the paucity of research evaluating the ability of existing policy to address contemporary environmental challenges. Despite their inherent interdependence, restoration ecology as a scientific discipline, ecological restoration as a practice, and the policies driving restoration efforts do not always represent a unified force. Accenting the policies and practices within the United States, we present our perspective on challenges associated with this disunion, including those linked to social dimensions of restoration and limitations associated with existing policy. We provide a review of existing federal policy in the United States and synthesize suggestions that have emerged in the literature to fortify connections between restoration science and policy. We also describe social challenges to meeting restoration goals, including barriers surrounding power dynamics, trust, and communication, as well as divergent incentives, perspectives, and values. We propose potential solutions that exist in transdisciplinary collaboration and knowledge sharing, and evidence-based, balanced decision-making that equally considers varying perspectives. With the understanding that current conservation practices are not enough to mitigate environmental degradation, we focus on streamlining problem-solving strategies to support restoration and face the widespread ecological issues of today.

Restoration Ecology↗