South Prairie Creek: Riparian restoration and Water quality
Teacher Guide: “Why Climate Change Make Riparian Restoration More Important than Ever:
Recommendations for Practice and Research”
1. How does Seavy, et. al. define the terms “mitigation” and “adaptation?” Why do you
think these are considered important terms with regard to “re-evaluating our work in
the science and practice of riparian restoration” in a rising global climate?
Mitigation: “actions designed to reduce the severity of something, e.g.
greenhouse gas concentrations threatening to raise global temperatures” (330)
Adaptation: “actions designed to reduce the vulnerability of natural and societal
systems to the effects of climate change” (330)
Ideas like “mitigation” and “adaptation” are important because they prompt an
awareness of the larger environmental shifts resulting from climate change. If
future restoration is to be successful, humans must not only be able to “reduce
their vulnerability” by adapting to environmental changes, but also anticipate
the largest threats and attempt to alleviate them as much as possible. In a sense,
“mitigating” an effect of climate change is a form of adaptation, since you are
trying to decrease the severity of something in order to survive.
The same is important for riparian areas, and, as the article later shows, these
areas themselves can hold the key to making larger ecosystems more adaptable
to environmental changes.
2. Early on in the paper, Seavy, et. al. discusses the affects climate change will have on
previous restoration efforts. What goals of riparian restoration may no longer apply
once temperatures rise?
Returning to “historical reference conditions,” usually the end-goal of restoring
an ecosystem, may no longer be applicable as the changing climate makes these
conditions either 1) impossible to reach, or 2) no longer beneficial for the
ecosystem (native species may no longer thrive in raised temperatures, new
species may have moved in, etc.).
3. What is the purpose and justification for this study?
According to Seavy, et. al., “specific recommendations for enhancing ecological
resilience are lacking,” thus prompting the authors’ assessment of how “healthy
riparian ecosystems promote ecological resilience” (331). The purpose of the
paper is to do three things:
1) Address how/why riparian restoration prepares ecosystems for
climate change,
2) Address how riparian restoration can be enhanced to accommodate
climate change, and
3) Address research needed to ensure that riparian restoration is robust
to climate change.
4. Referencing Miller, et. al.’s (2007) forested ecosystem management recommendations
in response to climate change, the authors’ present five main reasons why riparian
restoration can help ecosystems become more ecological resilient to climate change.
Name three out of the five and describe how that particular component achieves this
goal.
The five reasons why riparian restoration can aid in making ecosystems more
resilient to climate change are:
1) Natural resilience of riparian systems
a. Evidence: Riparian plants are more resilient to changes in
hydrology and geomorphic disturbances (making them more
adaptable to increased flooding or drought, both predicted
consequences of climate change).
2) Enhancing connectivity (between habitats)
a. Evidence: Since climate change will affect the distribution
patterns of many species, promoting connectivity between
habitats can help to maintain diversity, even as some species
begin to shift to new environments. Riparian “buffers”
function as “ecological corridors” (332) for many species, and
by restoring these areas, it provides “avenues for species
movement in response to climate change” (332).
3) Promoting linkages between aquatic and terrestrial systems
a. Evidence: The link between aquatic and terrestrial systems
provided by riparian areas promotes “ecologically diverse and
productive” elements in each system: “aquatic nutrients
support vegetation and wildlife communities in upland areas”
(332) and terrestrial vegetation provides shading, protects
water quality through filtering runoff, and “furnishes aquatic
food webs with detritus.” Restoration will “strengthen
linkages” between these systems, making both aquatic and
terrestrial environments more resilient to climate change.
4) Expanding thermal refugia
a. Evidence: High water content of riparian areas can act to
absorb heat and buffer organisms from temperature changes.
During previous climate shifts, riparian areas “served as
refugia” because they contained microclimates, which
protected both organisms and plant diversity. Cooler water
temperatures maintained by shading and the “infusion of cold
groundwater.” Salmon benefit from these “cooler water
pockets” because it offers them a break from high
temperature reaches during migration.
5) Hydrological benefits
a. Evidence: Riparian restoration may reduce the impacts of
“extreme flood events” (333). Restoration acts, such as
removing or pushing back levees to reconnect stream with
original floodplain can reduce flood damage. Riparian areas
can help to “recharge groundwater and reduce flood
damage,” overall increasing resistance to high surface flows as
a result of climate change.
5. What are the authors’ conclusions with regard to future restoration of riparian areas?
Cite specific strategies and at least one challenge confronting restorative responses to
climate change.
Recommended strategies include:
 Coordinated action between stakeholders (governmental
agencies, private landowners, NGOs, etc.)
o Challenge: governmental action is slow, perhaps too slow
to impact ecological adaptation to climate change
 Sharing of information between “restoration practitioners” and
researchers to ensure that most recent findings are considered
and “best management practices are shared among those
monitoring, managing, and restoring riparian ecosystems” (335)
o Challenge: basic challenge confronting “restoration
practitioners,” such as invasive species or human impact.
Also, restoration tactics in the past may no longer work
effectively as a result of climate change

Sort restoration activities based on “urgency, sensitivity, and
capacity of available resources to achieve desired goals” (335)
o Challenge: Due to the fact that many riparian areas, and
environmental areas in general have been highly degraded
by long-standing human impact, in some cases the amount
of time and money required to restore these areas may
not be worth the investment if resources can be put to
better use elsewhere (ability for restoration to positively
impact site should be considered before beginning
restoration)
Overall conclusion of the article: restoring riparian areas, while this restoration
may not seem worth it in the face of a changing climate, pose huge advantages
for strengthening ecosystems’ resiliency to rising global temperatures.