Facilitating Adaptive Management in California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

Wiens, John A.; Zedler, Joy B.; Resh, Vincent H.; Collier, Tracy K.; Brandt, Stephen B.; Norgaard, Richard B.

doi:10.15447/sfews.2017v15iss2art3

Cited by 11 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 31 publications

(44 reference statements)

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“…Attendees emerged with suggestions for formalizing a new specialization called “translational ecology”—arguing that “applied ecology” is distinctly different (Wall et al ). The resulting papers (Table ) offer definitions that also describe “adaptive management”—a term with precedence and a much larger literature (Walters & Hilborn ; see reviews of Wiens et al , Zedler , and Leaflet 40 ). One paper acknowledged overlap between TE and AM (Hallett et al ).…”

Section: So What Is My Concern?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Communicating useful results from restoration ecology research

Zedler

2018

Restoration Ecology

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Interactions between restoration ecologists and stakeholders (policy makers and decision makers, volunteers, public supporters) benefit from clear communication of research findings. Given that adaptive management (e.g. learning while restoring) already stresses frequent and effective discourse among researchers and stakeholders, it seems that a new specialty under a new term, “translational ecology,” adds more confusion than clarity. Communicating technical information to nontechnical audiences benefits from simple rules—be clear and concise, retain familiar terms that serve well, and use fewer words.

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Section: So What Is My Concern?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Communicating useful results from restoration ecology research

Zedler

2018

Restoration Ecology

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“…Despite the climate-sensitivity of AM projects, AM practitioners have historically tended to largely ignore climate change in the design of efforts to restore ecosystems and recover species. For example, historical plans for ecosystem restoration and species recovery generally use past data (e.g., on flows, precipitation, temperatures, salmon returns) to assess the likely range of system variability rather than JAWRA JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION fully exploring the impacts of past and future variability in climate (see reviews by Roni et al 2002;Marmorek et al 2004;NRC 2009;Wiens et al 2017;Fluix a-Sanmart ın et al 2018). The future, under climate change, may display considerable shifts in the form and magnitude of system variability (Beechie et al 2008;Bisson et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptive Management and Climate Change Adaptation: Two Mutually Beneficial Areas of Practice

Marmorek

Nelitz

Eyzaguirre

et al. 2019

J American Water Resour Assoc

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Adaptive management (AM) is a rigorous approach to implementing, monitoring, and evaluating actions, so as to learn and adjust those actions. Existing AM projects are at risk from climate change, and current AM guidance does not provide adequate methods to deal with this risk. Climate change adaptation (CCA) is an approach to plan and implement actions to reduce risks from climate variability and climate change, and to exploit beneficial opportunities. AM projects could be made more resilient to extreme climate events by applying the principles and procedures of CCA. To test this idea, we analyze the effects of extreme climatic events on five existing AM projects focused on ecosystem restoration and species recovery, in the Russian, Trinity, Okanagan, Platte, and Missouri River Basins. We examine these five case studies together to generate insights on how integrating CCA principles and practices into their design and implementation could improve their sustainability, despite significant technical and institutional challenges, particularly at larger scales. Although climate change brings substantial risks to AM projects, it may also provide opportunities, including creating new habitats, increasing the ability to quickly test flow‐habitat hypotheses, stimulating improvements in watershed management and water conservation, expanding the use of real‐time tools for flow management, and catalyzing creative application of CCA principles and procedures.

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“…Given the dire state of Delta Smelt, fisheries researchers and other stake-holders have demanded urgent action from fisheries agencies. As such, there is increasing interest in the implementation of management actions to reduce the risk of species extinction, including the possibility of using cultured fish to bolster the wild Delta Smelt population (Hobbs et al 2017). Specifically, Hobbs et al (2017) suggested that the species may have declined to the point where recovery might depend, at least in part, on the use of cultured fish.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As such, there is increasing interest in the implementation of management actions to reduce the risk of species extinction, including the possibility of using cultured fish to bolster the wild Delta Smelt population (Hobbs et al 2017). Specifically, Hobbs et al (2017) suggested that the species may have declined to the point where recovery might depend, at least in part, on the use of cultured fish. As will be discussed below, Delta Smelt have been cultured since the mid-1990s (Lindberg et al 2013), and are now held in a refuge population at the University of California at Davis Fish Culture and Conservation Laboratory (FCCL), with a portion of these fish also held at the Livingston Stone National Fish Hatchery.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While cultured fish have been valuable for researching the basic life history and biology of Delta Smelt (e.g., Hasenbein et al 2016;Komoroske et al 2014), to date, these fish have not been released into the wild or used for in situ experiments in the Delta. As a result of the recent extreme declines, Hobbs et al (2017) recommended the development of a management plan for artificial propagation of Delta Smelt, and implementation of carefully planned field experiments using cultured Delta Smelt. Toward that goal, the USFWS is considering the construction of a regional Fish Technology Center (in collaboration https://doi.org/10.15447/sfews.2018v16iss3art3…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Considerations for the Use of Captive-Reared Delta Smelt for Species Recovery and Research

Lessard¹,

Cavallo²,

Anders³

et al. 2018

SFEWS

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An extreme decline in Delta Smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus) abundance has led to a number of management actions to support this endangered species, including the development and refinement of culture techniques and the creation of a refuge population. The wild Delta Smelt population has diminished to the point that many in the scientific community believe population supplementation using cultured fish needs to be experimentally evaluated as a possible management tool. Concerns about supplementation include the effectiveness of this action, and its potential to divert attention and funding from other needed management actions such as habitat restoration. Here, we describe the outcomes of a 2-day workshop that described the current refuge population, and identified key issues for potential future use of cultured Delta Smelt for research and management. Expanded use of cultured Delta Smelt is controversial and requires consideration for complexities that include legal constraints and permitting requirements. Developing policies that allow for in situ experiments using cultured Delta Smelt appears to be a precursor for advancing policies that might allow supplementation actions. Releases of cultured fish, either experimentally or as a management action, clearly need to be conducted within an adaptive management program that is integrated with other strategies, including habitat restoration. We describe a general framework for evaluating the potential risks of supplementation and include suggestions for how to reduce risks and uncertainty. Overall, we conclude there is sufficient baseline information about Delta Smelt and the existing culture program to proceed with targeted field research that utilizes cultured fish. Finally, given the dire status of this species, we conclude that rapid progress toward the development of a viable and RESEARCH

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Facilitating Adaptive Management in California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

Cited by 11 publications

References 31 publications

Communicating useful results from restoration ecology research

Communicating useful results from restoration ecology research

Adaptive Management and Climate Change Adaptation: Two Mutually Beneficial Areas of Practice

Considerations for the Use of Captive-Reared Delta Smelt for Species Recovery and Research

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