Analyzing influences on salmon at a broad (e.g., landscape) scale will enable scientists to determine which processes are important.

Project Title

Ecosystem recovery planning for listed salmon: assessment approaches to help set recovery goals and identify ecosystem recovery actions

Description

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) provides little guidance concerning the content of recovery plans for individual species. Therefore, NOAA Fisheries provided additional scientific guidance on setting recovery goals for listed salmon (McElhany et al. 2000). The Watershed Program was asked to develop additional technical guidance for identifying and prioritizing ecosystem recovery actions to be included in salmon recovery plans. The SHRP report describes an approach for developing the habitat elements of a recovery plan for salmon listed under the ESA, including analyses to assist in both Phase I and Phase II recovery planning (Phase I identifies the recovery goals and Phase II identifies restoration actions that will be necessary for recovery). The conceptual framework for habitat analyses relies on principles of watershed and ecosystem management. The report then describes analyses that focus on how habitat changes might have affected abundance, productivity, spatial structure and diversity of salmon populations within an Evolutionary Significant Unit (ESU) (Phase I recovery planning). The report also describes causes of habitat change and identifies restoration actions that are necessary to recover riverine ecosystems (Phase II recovery planning), and discusses issues of scale and uncertainty in recovery planning.

Investigators

Tim Beechie, Phil Roni, Ashley Steel, George Pess, Beth Sanderson, Sarah Morley, Aimee Fullerton, Lisa Holsinger, Nathaniel L. Scholz (Environmental Conservation Division), and Paul McElhany (Conservation Biology Division)

Collaborators

Alison Cullen (University of Washington), Cara Campbell (U.S. Geological Survey), and Eric Beamer (Skagit System Cooperative)

Support

NOAA Fisheries

Project Status

Complete (see guidance document below)

Relevant Publications