Modelling Ecosystem Services Trade-offs with Community Values to Inform Decision Making for Coastal and Estuarine Restoration

Abstract

Remediation to Restoration to Revitalization (R2R2R) is a framework to identify social and ecological relationships between coastal and estuarine revitalization and aquatic sediment remediation or habitat restoration projects. Undertaking ecological restoration projects along coasts and estuaries provides an opportunity to support and enhance human communities' well-being by improving and protecting aquatic and riparian habitat and reconnecting communities with the water. To consider both human and biophysical dimensions simultaneously, a community-based decision support process that considers community values with potential ecological outcomes is required. We employed the R2R2R framework to relate ecological restoration to ecosystem services (ES) and associated human benefits such as safe fishing, boating, swimming opportunities, and subsistence food gathering. This case study involved a comparative analysis of contamination remediation and habitat restoration design alternatives for Mud Lake, an embayment of the St. Louis River near Duluth, Minnesota. We also conducted a community values analysis to compare the potential community wellbeing impacts resulting from changes in ecosystem services associated with restoration alternatives. We found the mix of ES provided at Mud Lake varied among decision alternatives, resulting in trade-offs among alternatives and likely differences in well-being outcomes. Our study shows that when there are multiple ecological and social tradeoffs associated with a restoration project, considering ES with community values contributes to more equitable decision-making and can mitigate negative impacts to well-being. We argue the R2R2R framework is useful for establishing a community of practice for integrating ES and community values into decision-support for remediating coasts and estuaries along the Great Lakes.

Keywords: Community values; Ecosystem services; Restoration; Social ecological systems; Tradeoffs; Translational ecology.