Improving ecosystem health in highly altered river basins: a generalized framework and its application to the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin.

ABSTRACT: Continued large-scale public investment in declining ecosystems depends on demonstrations of "success". While the public conception of "success" often focuses on restoration to a pre-disturbance condition, the scientific community is more likely to measure success in terms of improved ecosystem health. Using a combination of literature review, workshops and expert solicitation we propose a generalized framework to improve ecosystem health in highly altered river basins by reducing ecosystem stressors, enhancing ecosystem processes and increasing ecosystem resilience. We illustrate the use of this framework in the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin (MARB) of the central United States (U.S.), by (i) identifying key stressors related to human activities, and (ii) creating a conceptual ecosys

SUBMITTER: McLellan EL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10953731 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature