ADAPTIVE MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT FOR THE COMPREHENSIVE EVERGLADES RESTORATION PLAN
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
Supported by the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force, U.S. Department of the Interior, under assistance of Cooperative Agreement No. 5280-9-9029 and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the U. S. Government.
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Cover: Great White Heron in Everglades National Park. Photograph by Patricia Jones Kershaw. Used with permission.
Copyright 2003 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
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The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. Wm. A. Wulf are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council
COMMITTEE ON RESTORATION OF THE GREATER EVERGLADES ECOSYSTEM (CROGEE)1
JEAN M. BAHR, Chair,
University of Wisconsin, Madison
SCOTT W. NIXON, Vice-Chair,
University of Rhode Island, Narragansett
JOHN S. ADAMS2,
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
BARBARA L. BEDFORD,
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
LINDA K. BLUM3,
University of Virginia, Charlottesville
PATRICK L. BREZONIK,
University of Minnesota, St. Paul
FRANK W. DAVIS3,
University of California, Santa Barbara
WILLIAM L. GRAF,
University of South Carolina, Columbia
WAYNE C. HUBER,
Oregon State University, Corvallis
STEPHEN R. HUMPHREY,
University of Florida, Gainesville
DANIEL P. LOUCKS3,
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
KENNETH W. POTTER,
University of Wisconsin, Madison
KENNETH H. RECKHOW,
Duke University
LARRY ROBINSON3,
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Tallahassee
REBECCA R. SHARITZ2,
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Aiken, South Carolina, and University of Georgia, Athens
HENRY J. VAUX, JR.
University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Oakland
JOHN VECCHIOLI,
U.S. Geological Survey (ret.), Odessa, Florida
JEFFREY R. WALTERS3,
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg
NRC Staff
STEPHEN D. PARKER, Director,
Water Science and Technology Board
DAVID J. POLICANSKY3, Associate Director,
Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology
WILLIAM S. LOGAN, Senior Staff Officer,
Water Science and Technology Board
PATRICIA JONES KERSHAW, Staff Associate,
Water Science and Technology Board
ANITA HALL, Senior Project Assistant,
Water Science and Technology Board
1 |
The activities of the Committee on Restoration of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem (CROGEE) are overseen and supported by the NRC’s Water Science and Technology Board (lead) and Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology (see Appendix B). |
2 |
Member of the committee through December 31, 2002. |
3 |
A subgroup consisting of CROGEE members Linda Blum (subgroup chair), Frank Davis, Pete Loucks, Larry Robinson, and Jeffrey Walters, with support from NRC senior staff officer David Policansky, took the lead in drafting this report. |
Preface
This report is a product of the Committee on Restoration of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem (CROGEE), which provides consensus advice to the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force (“Task Force”). The Task Force was established in 1993 and was codified in the 1996 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA); its responsibilities include the development of a comprehensive plan for restoring, preserving and protecting the south Florida ecosystem, and the coordination of related research. The CROGEE works under the auspices of the Water Science and Technology Board and the Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology of the National Research Council.
The CROGEE’s mandate includes providing the Task Force with scientific overview and technical assessment of the restoration activities and plans, while also providing focused advice on technical topics of importance to the restoration efforts. One such topic is the methods by which ecological performance measures and system level conditions are identified for the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) Monitoring and Assessment Plan (MAP) and the way that these measures and conditions will be used to assess the restoration process.
To obtain a better understanding of the process for selecting the CERP MAP performance measures, the CROGEE held a one-day “Adaptive Assessment and Monitoring” workshop on November 28, 2001 in Ft. Myers, Florida (see Appendix A for agenda and list of participants). The CROGEE used the March 29, 2001 Monitoring and Assessment Plan developed by the Adaptive Assessment Team (AAT) of the Restoration Coordination and Verification (RECOVER) team as a basis for the workshop. A panel of experts on the plan was assembled to answer questions from the committee. The topics addressed at the workshop included proposed ecological performance measures, measurement of stressors and impact on restoration goals, performance measure prioritization strategies, design of the monitoring program, relationship between construction projects and monitoring, impact of ecological response on construction projects, use of monitoring information to alter management, and reality of applying adaptive assessment. Subsequent to the workshop, the CROGEE deliberated the issues on numerous occasions. I thank the CROGEE members for their work on this report, especially a subgroup led by Linda Blum and including Frank Davis, Pete Loucks, Larry Robinson, and Jeff Walters. With assistance from NRC staff officers David Policansky, William Logan, and Stephen Parker, they took the lead in drafting the report.
The CROGEE is grateful for the assistance of many individuals during the data collection phase of this report. These include Laura Brandt (USFWS),1 Co-chair Adaptive Assessment Team; Col. Terrence “Rock” Salt, Executive Director of the Task Force; members of the Program Management Committee and the many scientists at the workshop who freely shared their insights.
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.
We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Peter Frederick, University of Florida
John Hobbie, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole
Michael Newman, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Gordon Orians, University of Washington (Emeritus)
Nancy Rabalais, Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium
Steven Sanderson, Wildlife Conservation Society
Daniel Simberloff, University of Tennessee
Carol Wicks, University of Missouri-Columbia
Joy Zedler, University of Wisconsin
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Dr. John Pastor, University of Minnesota. Appointed by the National Research Council, Dr. Pastor was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
Jean M. Bahr, Chair
Committee on Restoration of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem