The Role of Science in Ecosystem Restoration

The initiative to restore the South Florida ecosystem is unprecedented in its scope and complexity, and it will require innovative solutions and long-term commitments. The challenges faced by restoration managers are daunting: to understand the effects of nearly a century of wetland drainage and impoundment for water supply, flood protection, and development, and to acquire and utilize the information needed to restore the health of this unique ecosystem.

The Congress has directed that this complex restoration effort be guided by, and continuously adapted to reflect, the best science available. This will require an open and continuous dialog between scientists and managers. Two recent (2003) reviews of science programs—the Critical Ecosystems Study Initiative, conducted by the National Academy of Science (NAS), and the Science Coordination in South Florida report, conducted by the General Accounting Office (GAO)—identified the improvement of science coordination, the synthesis and integration of research data, and the communication of research findings to managers as high priority tasks for Everglades restoration. This strategy will guide how the Department of the Interior meets these priority tasks and will be the basis for integrating DOI science investment into the larger habitat restoration and management efforts.

The USACE has established a multi-agency Restoration Coordination and Verification Team (RECOVER) to support the implementation of the CERP with scientific and technical information. Science is being integrated into management of CERP components through an iterative process of research, modeling to identify targets and goals, project planning, project implementation, monitoring, assessment, and adaptive management. An ever-increasing body of knowledge and understanding of this complex system is providing new approaches to restore and protect the Everglades. DOI is a partner in developing and maintaining this scientific basis in support of RECOVER and the CERP. The science, which must continue to evolve with the information synthesized into tools that can be used by managers to inform their decisions. In addition, DOI pursues science to support many non-CERP components of ecosystem restoration.

Ongoing Interior Science Efforts

In March 2002 the DOI Office of the Secretary, NPS, FWS, and USGS entered into a memorandum of understanding to coordinate all ongoing and future monitoring, research, planning, and interagency coordination activities supporting South Florida restoration. This coordination will facilitate the leveraging of resources and the development and use of the best available research products and monitoring and assessment tools responsive to the needs of NPS and FWS managers.

ES (CESI) and the USGS Priority Ecosystem Science (PES) program are DOI's primary science programs supporting South Florida management and restoration efforts. The USGS, the principal science arm of DOI, provides physical and biological sciences information, independent of the other bureaus. This science facilitates understanding of how the ecosystem functioned in the past, and assists in developing management tools, including landscape-scale models, to evaluate the impacts of proposed actions to restore the Everglades natural system. The purpose of the CESI and PES programs is to provide the scientific information DOI managers need to fulfill their resource management and technical advisory responsibilities and to do a better job of targeting research to meet on-the-ground management needs. These programs have already provided a rich database of information about how the ecosystem functions and how the natural system has been altered. Information from the modeling, planning, and monitoring programs helps DOI managers understand the complex ecological and hydrologic linkages that affect DOI lands and other managed resources, set management priorities, and effectively participate in restoration decision processes.

More specifically, the scientific work accomplished over the past decades through CESI, PES, and other DOI efforts has

contributed to the development of the Natural System Model, which simulates the predrainage hydrology of the Everglades

clarified linkages between hydrologic conditions and ecosystem attributes

produced tools to predict how the current system might respond to restoration of historic hydrologic conditions

determined the background levels of nutrients needed to keep Everglades vegetation from converting to species tolerant of higher nutrient doses, such as cattail

contributed to the understanding of the interactions of the Everglades surficial aquifer system and the canals, and of problems of seepage and seawater intrusion

DOI managers have focused early science efforts on restoration projects such as the Everglades Construction Project, the Modified Water Deliveries to Everglades National Park Project, and the C-111 Project, which directly impact DOI lands and are scheduled for completion within the next five years. Information derived from these early projects will inform larger scale restoration decisions and improve the design of future CERP projects.

Purposes of the Department of the Interior Science Plan

To support ongoing restoration efforts, DOI and its bureaus developed this science plan to identify the science needed to support DOI managers in fulfilling their stewardship responsibilities and to support DOI's efforts as a partner in implementing the CERP.

DOI science will assist in the intergovernmental effort to answer three overarching restoration questions:

What actions will improve the quantity, timing, and distribution of clean fresh water needed to restore the South Florida ecosystem?

What actions will restore, protect, and manage natural resources on DOI lands in South Florida?

What actions will recover South Florida's threatened and endangered species?

Success in addressing these three overarching questions at ecological scales ranging from individual species and communities, to individual parks and refuges, to the Greater Everglades requires a well-coordinated, collaborative, and integrated effort among all participating agencies. None of these questions can be answered independently. Furthermore, each of these questions raises more specific questions about all the interrelated variables affecting the condition of the ecosystem, including hydropatterns (the quantity, timing, and distribution of water), water quality, ecological responses of biological communities and species to changes in water quantity and quality, the role of fire, the effects of invasive exotic species, the effects of adjacent land uses on natural areas, and the effects of public use of parks and refuges.

It is critical that science-based input synthesizing research, modeling, monitoring, and analysis be both timely and relevant to DOI managers' decision-making information needs. This DOI science plan identifies the key projects and information needs of DOI managers as they fulfill their roles as stewards and partners in South Florida. It describes what is known for each project and what science is needed to help ensure that the project results in intended consequences within the ecosystem. Finally, it identifies a strategy for coordinating and prioritizing DOI research or activities based on managers' needs for information to support decision making. By identifying the specific science needed by managers to make adequately informed and timely decisions, and by including the methods and tools needed to make this scientific information readily available to managers, this science plan provides the basis for ensuring that DOI investment in science is effectively integrated into the effort to restore the South Florida ecosystem.

The timetable for the CERP and other restoration projects is an important framework for ecosystem research. However, it will not be possible to resolve all scientific uncertainties before restoration projects are implemented. Managers will rely on an adaptive management approach to ensure that desired results are achieved through a process of monitoring, assessment, and refinement. This will require continuous collection of field data and scientific research to clarify an expanding understanding of the Greater Everglades ecosystem. The external reviews of South Florida ecosystem science coordination conducted by GAO and NAS identify needs for monitoring progress, additional research on ecological processes, model refinement, and improved tools for implementing adaptive management, including mathematical models. This science plan responds to those key findings of the GAO and NAS reviews.