This presentation is part of the Landscape Conservation Planning and Prioritization Organized Session.
To address concerns over the conversion and degradation of Great Lakes coastal ecosystems, researchers and conservation professionals have developed maps, data and tools to guide protection, restoration and policy decisions. Early basin-wide prioritizations include the Great Lakes Ecoregional Plan, Biodiversity Investment Areas, and the Great Lakes Biodiversity Conservation Strategies, which varied in scope with respect to conservation targets or features and the breadth of strategies intended to be informed. Some prioritizations focused on smaller areas within the Great Lakes – such as the Green Bay Landscape Conservation Design and the Western Lake Erie Coastal Conservation Vision – to address urgent or severe threats particular to those areas. Over time, prioritizations have evolved to incorporate climate change, address ecosystem services and benefits to people. Additional prioritization efforts are underway or being planned and will continue this growth to incorporate ecological process and ecosystem functions. To provide context and potentially inform current and future prioritization initiatives, we will present a synopsis of past and ongoing initiatives, comparing them with respect to their geographic and strategic scope, breadth of consideration of biodiversity, human well-being, and other parameters, and the extent to which they integrate terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. We will also introduce a prioritization effort by The Nature Conservancy, intended to increase cross-boundary collaboration and impact of TNC’s nascent Great Lakes Coastal Resilience team, focused on the US coastal and nearshore areas.
This presentation is part of the Landscape Conservation Planning and Prioritization Organized Session.
NYSDEC's Great Lakes Program is leading a pilot effort to develop ecosystem-based management (EBM) plans for two watersheds of regional interest, Cattaraugus Creek and Sterling-Wolcott Creek watersheds. These watersheds were identified as regional priorities for EBM by GLAA sub basin work groups, and will be proving grounds for demonstrating a collaborative, EBM approach at the watershed scale. The Integrated Watershed Action Plans (IWAPs) are based on NOAA's Integrated Ecosystem Assessment framework for applying EBM and actions identified will directly support NY's Great Lakes Action Agenda. This framework includes identifying watershed goals, identifying and evaluating indicators of ecosystem conditions, identifying and characterizing ecosystem risks, as well as working with stakeholders to identify management strategies and projects that align with the needs of the watershed and overarching framework of the GLAA. Over 100 different existing data sets were compiled to evaluate the current status of ecosystem services as well as direct and indirect drivers of change. Across the two IWAPs, several dozen actions of watershed-scale impact were identified.
The Sterling-Wolcott watershed is centrally located on the southern shoreline of Lake Ontario and is exemplary of many ecological services and management issues encountered on Great Lakes shorelines. While this IWAP explores ecological processes and management risks along the shoreline, it also considers key linkages between the coast and interior portions of the watershed. For example, significant coastal fish and wildlife habitats are protected by coastal barrier systems however these systems require additional study as several have been breeched during 2017 and 2019 flood events and important sediment sources are being lost. Overall, wetlands comprise approximately 14% of the Sterling-Wolcott watershed, however, hydric soils cover approximately 43% of the watershed area, which suggests that there is a significant opportunity for wetland restoration and improved habitat connectivity between inland and coastal systems. Forests comprise 41% of the Sterling-Wolcott watershed and play a key role in regulating water quality and quantity flowing to the coastal systems, however forest regeneration in the watershed is poor which is concerning for long term forest resilience. Conservation planning and implementation through New York’s Agricultural Environmental Management program (Tiers 3A, 3B, 3C and 5B) tends to be below 10% on agricultural lands comprising the Sterling-Wolcott watershed, which means that there is a significant opportunity for expanded actions to protect the quality of water flowing to the coastal system. Historical agricultural expansion has been a key part of the cumulative factors (including development and lake level regulation) that have led to the expansion of invasive cattail within the coastal wetlands, which further underscores the important linkages between interior and coastal watershed processes. This presentation will explore the process of developing the Sterling-Wolcott IWAP, the ecosystem indicator and risk analyses, as well as recommended projects emerging from this effort.
This presentation is part of the Landscape Conservation Planning and Prioritization Organized Session.
The Obtawaing Biosphere Region is a UNESCO recognized geographic area of globally significant ecological and cultural landscapes. Centrally located in Northern Michigan within the North American Laurentian Great Lakes Basin, it lies at the convergence of two peninsulas and three Great Lakes highlighting the importance of water-land environmental interfaces. The OBR is a non-regulatory, non-governmental consortium of organizations that provides a forum for collaboration and service to people and communities in our region. A current focus of our network is focused on the 1,700 miles of shoreline included in the region. Partners are developing tools and planning resources in order to apply best practices and local knowledge through a bioregional approach.
This presentation is part of the Landscape Conservation Planning and Prioritization Organized Session.
The Lake Superior Headwaters Sustainability Partnership (Partnership) is a collaborative of over 30 bi-state and tribal partners working together on landscape level conservation. The Partnership is centered around the St. Louis River estuary, the largest freshwater estuary in North America and tributary to Lake Superior, the most pristine of the Great Lakes. The planning region is 1,081 square miles in area, spanning the Minnesota and Wisconsin state lines and including a portion of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Reservation. Situated between the urban areas of Duluth, MN, and Superior, WI the estuary itself is home to the country’s busiest and largest bulk inland port. Boasting unique wetland and wildlife habitats, the setting is often described as a wilderness in the heart of an urban area.
The principles of sustainability, climate resiliency, and equity guide the Partnership’s approach to managing natural resources by including economic development and community health and well-being considerations. Since a large portion of the Partnership region is urbanized, considering natural resources conservation within the context of community health and economic development is imperative.
A diverse group of partners in the region have established goals and objectives for 12 Priority Concerns for the region identified through a thorough stakeholder engagement process. These landscape level goals and objectives will guide prioritization of projects undertaken by partners such that landscape scale sustainability, climate resiliency, and equity are advanced. The Partnership is currently working to develop detailed, actionable landscape stewardship visions for large planning areas to guide conservation efforts in the Partnership region. Benefits of this process include: furthering landscape level conservation priorities established by the bi-state and Tribal Nations planning framework of the Partnership; supporting coastal climate resilience and sustainability for local communities with an intentional, inclusive approach; and broadening participation by underserved communities in the region through implementation of environmental justice principles and values and sustained meaningful community engagement. Over time, this approach will result in implementation of community-supported habitat conservation and restoration projects that are climate resilient and aligned with a broadly accepted regional vision. Further, the approach aims to deepen and diversify involvement of communities benefiting from the work.
This presentation is part of the Landscape Conservation Planning and Prioritization Organized Session.
The Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Restoration Assessment (https://glcwra.wim.usgs.gov/) is an online geospatial decision support system designed to identify, assess, and prioritize areas along the U.S. coast of the Great Lakes that have the greatest potential for coastal wetland habitat restoration. In 2012, a collaborative group from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), University of Michigan, Nature Conservancy, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, and other agencies initiated a geospatial analysis of western Lake Erie that characterized the restorability of the coastal area from the Detroit River (Michigan) to the Black River (Ohio). Funding from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Landscape Conservation Cooperative, and USGS supported expansion of the analysis to cover five other wetland-rich sections of the U.S. Great Lakes coasts: the Connecting River System around Lake St. Clair, Saginaw Bay (Lake Huron), Upper Lake Michigan, Green Bay (Lake Michigan), and Lake Ontario. Data from individual restoration assessments completed for each geography are available through a geonarrative and linked mappers. This analysis revealed extensive areas of potentially restorable coastal wetlands in western Lake Erie, Green Bay, and Saginaw Bay, with pockets of potentially restorable areas in the other geographies. Although a comparable analysis for the Canadian coastal area is not available yet, these products can be used in conjunction with the Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Decision Support Tool to support landscape-scale coastal wetland restoration.
This presentation is part of the Landscape Conservation Planning and Prioritization Organized Session.
The Canadian portion of the Great Lakes coastal ecosystem, spanning over 8,500 km and encompassing more than 1 million hectares, has experienced significant habitat loss since European settlement. Over 70 percent of wetlands, 80 percent of forests, and 98 percent of grasslands have been lost across the region. Conserving, protecting, and restoring the remaining habitat is important to the health of the Great Lakes, and to the people, communities, and economies that depend on them. To better understand the current extent, diversity, and condition of coastal habitats, Environment and Climate Change Canada completed a first ever Canadian Great Lakes Baseline Coastal Habitat Survey. The Survey leveraged a newly developed Great Lakes Shoreline Ecosystem classification and inventory to establish a benchmark of existing habitat and to measure and report on habitat changes over time. The survey results were then used to characterize and rank coastal ecological significance and coastal pressure, and to identify conservation needs and opportunities. This information helps resource management agencies and conservation practitioners determine where to strategically focus their efforts and resources to maintain and enhance the resilience of native species, natural systems, and processes.
This presentation is part of the Landscape Conservation Planning and Prioritization Organized Session.
A landscape conservation design (LCD) is a partner-driven approach to achieve a sustainable, resilient landscape that meets the ecological and social needs of current and future generations (lccnetwork.org). In 2023, the USFWS began drafting an LCD for the Wisconsin Lake Superior basin to be more strategic and inclusive in their conservation delivery. This would become the Headwaters to Coast Initiative, a blueprint for continued collaborative conservation. This initiative was later adopted by the Wisconsin Lake Superior Collaborative, a long-standing partnership group in the region, who are now helping to lead the effort and ensure that all partners, including the local community, and engaged. The initiative was kicked-off by gathering partners from all local organizations, governments, and agencies to discuss and develop six shared conservation priorities that serve as the foundation for the blueprint.
For this presentation, we will discuss our process for launching this initiative, the progress the initiative has made, and our plans and milestones.
This presentation is part of the Landscape Conservation Planning and Prioritization Organized Session.
This project focuses on the restoration and conservation of coastal wetlands in the Great Lakes region, specifically spanning from Saginaw Bay, Michigan, to Western Lake Erie, Ohio. The importance of these wetlands lies in their multifaceted ecological functions, such as nutrient capture, carbon sequestration, erosion protection, and support for diverse species. Over time, many wetlands in these areas were drained for urbanization or agricultural purposes, compromising their natural habitat. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has collected extensive data on these wetlands and developed decision support tools for coastal wetland managers. This Conservation Blueprint, initiated in 2016, aimed to identify conservation targets and indicators for these wetlands. Phase I, completed in 2 years, led to the development of coastal wetland indicators to track changes in wetland conditions. In 2022, Phase II was launched, focusing on refining indicators, creating maps & mapping tools, and developing an Implementation Plan. Phase III aims to ensure that the final products align with diverse stakeholder interests, fostering broad investment in shared priorities, and strategic collaboration. The specific goals for Phase III include completing a comprehensive Implementation Plan, developing a web-based platform with final maps and interactive tools, and establishing a strategy for the long-term sustainability of the Blueprint partnership. This final phase seeks to enhance coastal wetland conservation efforts and promote effective, collaborative conservation practices across the Saginaw Bay to Western Lake Erie basin.
This presentation is part of the Landscape Conservation Planning and Prioritization Organized Session.
The H2Ohio Initiative is as a comprehensive, data-driven approach to reduce harmful algal blooms, enhance water quality, and improve water infrastructure in Ohio. H2Ohio functions as an integrated, collaborative water-quality partnership among state agencies, non-profit conservation organizations, the research community, and others. H2Ohio focuses specifically on incentivizing agricultural best management practices, upgrading water infrastructure and, under the auspices of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), restoring and enhancing wetland and related habitat to improve surface water quality. Since 2019, ODNR and their project partners have initiated over 180 grant-funded natural infrastructure projects, partnered on more than 190 private lands wetland and riparian restoration projects, setting in motion approximately 16,500 acres of wetland and associated habitat restoration. The ODNR prioritizes restoring wetland ecosystem function as a relatively low-cost mechanism to reduce surface water nutrient loading and eutrophication over the long term while also generating numerous beneficial add-on effects, such as the creation of habitat for endangered species and providing increased recreational opportunities. The ODNR H2Ohio Program has partnered with the Lake Erie and Aquatic Research Network’s H2Ohio Wetland Monitoring Program to measure the impact of H2Ohio restoration projects on nutrient loading. This monitoring program increasingly enables ODNR, its partners and others to make the better project selection and restoration design choices to optimize water quality benefit.
As the Reserve Manager of Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve, Dr. Janice Kerns oversees an integrated program of research and education that promotes the sustainable use and protection of Great Lakes estuaries, coastal wetlands, and their watersheds. She also act... Read More →
This presentation is part of the Landscape Conservation Planning and Prioritization Organized Session.
Setting a goal to understand nutrient reduction in restored wetlands provides an opportunity to promote inter-institution dialogue around scientific assessment and management realities. The H2Ohio Wetland Monitoring Program mobilizes university researchers across Ohio to investigate the effectiveness of state agency-funded wetland projects. Sustained working relationships with wetland practitioners capture relevant metrics around wetland design and management decisions. The Program’s annual workshop connects >30 academic scientists and technical staff with agency and management partners for a series of structured activities and informal networking. Likewise, researchers exchange knowledge with land managers through a combination of standardized prompts and unstructured field visits, the latter of which catch insights not always detected in written form. Dialogue in each space grounds the Program’s purpose in acquiring actionable data, without sacrificing independent scientific research. The Program maintains workflows for inter-institution communication across the life cycle of a wetland project (i.e., design, construction, present use) and integrates management-related metrics into monitoring design (i.e., sampling locations near water level control structures, avoiding sensitive features upon land manager request). The first two years of the Program offer emergent themes to frame next steps in the broader space of “science-informed management”; considering how to balance expectations of urgently requested information with the scientific reality of monitoring ecological change. Ultimately, investment in wetland practitioner partnerships can strengthen understanding of wetland nutrient services in human-altered landscapes and human-managed ecosystems.
