Climate Change Makes River Restoration More Important than Ever, Paper Concludes

 

(Washington, DC – September 1, 2009) Restoring river ecosystems and riparian corridors can play an important role in combating climate change impacts to ecosystems by connecting one area to another, enabling plants and animals to move as the climate shifts. It also will create places that shelter fish and wildlife from hotter temperatures, which ecologists call "thermal refugia."
Those are among the conclusions of a new peer-reviewed paper by seven organizations that evaluated how protecting and restoring river ecosystems and riparian areas can enhance the ability of these ecosystems to cope with climate change. This work appears in the September issue of Ecological Restoration (http://er.uwpress.org/cgi/reprint/27/3/330) with a collection of articles dedicated to the theme of restoration and climate change. In the paper, the scientists discuss the importance of replanting riparian vegetation and ensuring that rivers have sufficient water to maintain flows that benefit birds, fish and other wildlife, and human communities. Based on these and other benefits of riparian restoration, the authors recommend that river restoration activities continue and expand as the climate changes.
"I often hear people ask: 'if climate change is going to disrupt natural systems, why should we bother to restore them?'" explains Nat Seavy, terrestrial research director at PRBO Conservation Science. "Restoration, especially of riparian areas, is a critical step toward protecting the integrity of ecosystems and the benefits they provide – including clean water, pollination, and flood protection – to wildlife and humans in a time of rapid climate change."
The authors also discuss the need to modify restoration strategies to prepare for the uncertain conditions predicted to accompany climate change, and for ongoing research and monitoring to evaluate and improve restoration practices. Recommendations include planting a mix of riparian plants that are both drought and flood tolerant, ensuring that rivers have sufficient water to provide for periodic flooding of natural areas, and increasing habitat restoration on private lands.
"Protecting genetic diversity and native biodiversity with restoration projects will boost the resilience of society and nature to potentially catastrophic climate change impacts," says paper co-author Stacy Small, conservation scientist with Environmental Defense Fund's Center for Conservation Incentives. "Working with landowners to restore private lands will also enhance restoration efforts on adjacent public lands."

For decades, conservationists have been aware that increasing human populations, development, and changing land use threaten biodiversity and ecosystem services. Ecological restoration was originally developed to help speed the recovery of landscapes disrupted by human activities. Today, there is a growing awareness that ecological restoration also must look ahead to consider the potential consequences of a changing climate.

Environmental Defense Fund: http://www.edf.org

River Partners: http://www.riverpartners.org