This monitoring and adaptive management plan provides guidance for implementing effectiveness monitoring and adaptive management for the Port Susan Bay Preserve Phase II marsh restoration project in Snohomish County, Washington. The monitoring and adaptive management plan includes:
• A brief description of the restoration site and design;
• Monitoring approach which includes project objectives and hypotheses to be evaluated through monitoring;
• Metrics used to test the hypotheses;
• Values or performance criteria for defining success;
• Methods for data collection, analysis, and reporting; and
• Performance criteria and contingency actions to guide adaptive management.
The monitoring approach described is designed to assist with evaluating the effectiveness of the restoration actions relative to the stated objectives of the restoration project. This monitoring plan does not address the compliance elements of monitoring (i.e., was the project constructed as designed or specified in permit conditions). This monitoring plan incorporated recommendations from standard references for restoration monitoring in Pacific Northwest tidally influenced systems,
The adaptive management component of the plan is designed to address the inherent uncertainty in ecological restoration projects and seeks to minimize this uncertainty by learning about the system as restoration is implemented. The basic process for adaptive management followed here includes five components:
1. A conceptual model of existing conditions and ecological processes affecting the restoration site that is used to predict the likely outcomes of individual restoration actions;
2. Clear statement of the goals and objectives for the restoration project;
3. Development of performance targets or criteria for evaluating outcomes relative to the objectives;
4. Monitoring the effects of the restoration actions relative to performance criteria; and
5. Adjusting restoration actions as needed—if performance criteria are not met, develop contingency plans or measures (decision framework) for adapting designs or implementing new actions.
