Impacts on ecosystems, corrective restoration practices, and prospects for recovery: nine case studies in the continental United States

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 431 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. A. Jones
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Chesapeake Bay ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Great Basin ◽  
Mojave Desert ◽  
Flood Control ◽  
Colorado River ◽  
Longleaf Pine ◽  
Elwha River

Ecological restoration in the United States is growing in terms of the number, size, and diversity of projects. Such efforts are intended to ameliorate past environmental damage and to restore functioning ecosystems that deliver desired levels of ecosystem services. In nine current restoration case studies from across the continental United States, this paper details (1) the impacts of the original disturbance and compounding secondary issues that compel restoration, (2) the corrective practices applied to advance restoration goals, and (3) the prospects for recovery of ecosystem services, including those involving associated animal populations. Ecosystem-altering impacts include flood control (Kissimmee River), flood control and navigation (Atchafalaya Basin), damming for irrigation-water storage (Colorado River) and hydroelectric power (Elwha River), logging and fire suppression (longleaf pine forest), plant invasions that decrease fire-return intervals (Great Basin shrublands, Mojave Desert), nutrient and sediment loading of watersheds (Chesapeake Bay, Mississippi River delta), and conversion of natural lands to agriculture (tallgrass prairie). Animal species targeted for recovery include the greater sage-grouse (Great Basin shrublands), the red-cockaded woodpecker (longleaf pine forest), the south-western willow flycatcher (Colorado River and its tributaries), the desert tortoise (Mojave Desert), eight salmonid fish (Elwha River), and the blue crab and eastern oyster (Chesapeake Bay).

Reconciling Environmental and Flood Control Goals on an Arid-Zone River: Case Study of the Limitrophe Region of the Lower Colorado River in the United States and Mexico

2008 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 322-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward P. Glenn ◽  
Kate Hucklebridge ◽  
Osvel Hinojosa-Huerta ◽  
Pamela L. Nagler ◽  
Jennifer Pitt
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Flood Control ◽  
Colorado River ◽  
Arid Zone ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lower Colorado River

Public Preferences for Longleaf Pine Restoration Programs in the Southeastern United States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sydney Oluoch ◽  
Pankaj Lal ◽  
Bernabas Wolde ◽  
Andres Susaeta ◽  
Josè R Soto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Longleaf Pine ◽  
Pinus Palustris ◽  
Water Yield ◽  
Public Preferences ◽  
The Public ◽  
Forest Ecosystem Services ◽  
Red Cockaded Woodpecker

Abstract Longleaf pine (LLP) (Pinus palustris Mill.) is well known for its role in supporting healthy ecosystems in the southeastern (SE) United States (US). The decline of LLP forest ecosystems has led to a consensus among stakeholders that restoration efforts are needed. However, there is still a lack of robust understanding of the utilization of nonmarket ecosystem services of LLP forests. These challenges have presented major barriers to landowner acceptance of subsidized LLP restoration programs. Understanding the tradeoffs between forest ecosystem services is critical to restoring LLP in the SE US. This study employs the best-worst choice (BWC) method to assess public preferences toward hypothetical LLP restoration programs that consider ecosystem services such as recreation, timber production, carbon sequestration, water yield, and wildlife diversity. We surveyed a representative sample of n = 953 respondents from Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida, and results showed that residents in all four states are willing to pay for LLP restoration, with the highest average willingness to pay (WTP) for forest recreation ($20.39), followed by red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW) conservation ($13.37) and carbon sequestration ($13.32). This research provides important public preference information on ecosystem services that is critical in forming sustainable LLP restoration programs. Study Implications This study is useful from a policy assessment perspective for evaluating benefits and costs of LLP restoration programs in the SE US, for informing program design, and understanding tradeoffs between LLP ecosystem services. The public plays an important role in influencing environmental policy choices, including LLP restoration programs.

scholarly journals Advantages of the Open Levee (Kasumi-Tei), a Traditional Japanese River Technology on the Matsuura River, from an Ecosystem-Based Disaster Risk Reduction Perspective

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 480
Author(s):  
Jun Teramura ◽  
Yukihiro Shimatani
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Flood Control ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Flood Plain ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Substantial Cost

Large-scale disasters, such as hurricanes, cyclones, tsunamis, and forest fires, have caused considerable damage in recent years. This study investigated two case studies of discontinuous open levees (kasumi-tei), which are a traditional Japanese river technology, on the Matsuura River at the sites of Okawano and Azame-no-se, and evaluated the advantages of these levees from the perspective of ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction (Eco-DRR). These case studies were conducted through literature surveys, flood observations, and oral interviews. The systems in both the cases were flood control systems utilizing ecosystem services. The traditional river technology (the flood plain open levee) served as an effective Eco-DRR in both cases. Additionally, the flood plain levee technology enhanced the ecosystem services at both sites, including not only flood control capabilities, but also other ecosystem services. Furthermore, the open levees offered substantial cost advantages over their alternatives. These results suggest that other traditional Japanese river technologies may also be effective in strengthening Eco-DRR.

When Temporal Orbits Collide: Embodied Trans Temporalities in U.S. Prisons

Somatechnics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rae Rosenberg
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Industrial Complex ◽  
Prison Industrial Complex ◽  
Trans Women ◽  
And Control

This paper explores trans temporalities through the experiences of incarcerated trans feminine persons in the United States. The Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) has received increased attention for its disproportionate containment of trans feminine persons, notably trans women of colour. As a system of domination and control, the PIC uses disciplinary and heteronormative time to dominate the bodies and identities of transgender prisoners by limiting the ways in which they can express and experience their identified and embodied genders. By analyzing three case studies from my research with incarcerated trans feminine persons, this paper illustrates how temporality is complexly woven through trans feminine prisoners' experiences of transitioning in the PIC. For incarcerated trans feminine persons, the interruption, refusal, or permission of transitioning in the PIC invites several gendered pasts into a body's present and places these temporalities in conversation with varying futures as the body's potential. Analyzing trans temporalities reveals time as layered through gender, inviting multiple pasts and futures to circulate around and through the body's present in ways that can be both harmful to, and necessary for, the assertion and survival of trans feminine identities in the PIC.

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