2022 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Virtual Conference
March 13 - 15, 2022
5/26/2021 | 8:30 AM - 10:30 AM | REWILD ME A RIVER: AN ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION-BASED APPROACH TO WATERSHED RESTORATION | Virtual Platform
REWILD ME A RIVER: AN ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION-BASED APPROACH TO WATERSHED RESTORATION
Thoreau once said, “all good things are wild and free”, and indeed, despite their current status in our anthropogenically-dominated era, our rivers, too, deserve to be wild and free. Rewilding, a concept gaining traction in Europe, differs from traditional ecosystem restoration in that it favours a passive approach, focusing on helping humans to “get out of the way”, allowing nature to heal itself. Rewilding is based on ecological principles, yet can be applied without a predefined anthropocentric outcome. We explore the concept of rewilding as a holistic, science-driven approach to river restoration and present a framework to assess the ‘rewilding potential’ of a river, with a focus on ecosystem functions and structures. Because application of restoration tactics at the reach scale rarely affects the broader riverscape, this framework operates at a watershed scale. Alongside this framework, we present results from an ongoing case-study in the Wolastoq | Saint John River watershed in Atlantic Canada, assessing rewilding potential through spatial prioritization of threat mitigation and promotion of restorative ecosystem functions. Our goal is to stimulate new thinking on the restoration of our damaged rivers, promoting regenerative, resilient ecological networks.
- Restoration
- Aquatic–terrestrial biodiversity
- Connectivity
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Presenters/Authors
Natalie Rideout
(), Canadian Rivers Institute, Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada, nrideout@unb.ca;
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Bernhard Wegscheider
(), Canadian Rivers Institute, Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada, bwegsche@unb.ca;
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Matilda Kattilakoski
(), Canadian Rivers Institute, Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada, matilda.kattilakoski@gmail.com;
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Katie McGee
(), Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canada Centre for Inland Waters, ON, Canada & Centre for Biodiversity Genomics and Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, ON, Canada, kmcgee@uoguelph.ca;
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Antóin O'Sullivan
(), Canadian Rivers Institute, Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada, aosulliv@unb.ca;
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Yirigui Yirigui
(), Environment and Climate Change Canada @ Canadian Rivers Institute, Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada, yirigui.88@unb.ca;
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Wendy Monk
(), Environment and Climate Change Canada @ Canadian Rivers Institute, Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada, wmonk@unb.ca;
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Donald Baird
(), Environment and Climate Change Canada @ Canadian Rivers Institute, Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada, djbaird@unb.ca;
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