Society for Ecological Restoration - Northwest Chapter Conference

Presented by Chip McConnaha, Northwest Power Planning Council

See web version of PowerPoint presentation

Abstract
Urban ecology stresses the close coupling of human and natural processes and calls for a high degree of multi-disciplinary work involving natural, physical and social scientists. In Portland, Oregon Ecosystem Diagnosis and Treatment (EDT) is being used develop an analytical framework to encourage this collaboration and to support environmental planning. The project focuses on a conceptual and analytical process that integrates ecological principles with the social and economic constraints of the urban aquatic environment as a way to plan and manage urban habitats.

This framework should provide the basis for adaptively managing the urban environment to deal with scientific uncertainties and an ever-changing urban landscape. It should provide a mechanism for describing the city of Portland’s environmental values and integrating these with ecological knowledge to develop a recovery and management plan. It will complement an overall planning framework presently being adapted by the City. This will be an interdisciplinary process that will bring geological, hydrological and biological knowledge together with social and cultural processes related to the City’s environmental vision and social constraints. EDT is an expert system that integrates a detailed description of the aquatic habitat with the expected biological performance of target species such as steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) or cutthroat trout (O. clarki). These species are important indicators of native habitat qualities and are the focus of ongoing recovery efforts in regard to the federal Endangered Species Act.

We will develop EDT as an aid to urban planning. The model has proven effective in environmental planning in largely natural habitats. EDT will create a working hypothesis of the Portland aquatic ecosystem as a basis for the City’s planning and for actions to address the needs of the federal Endangered Species and Clean Water acts. The hypothesis will structure discussion and comparison of alternative ways of achieving the City’s environmental goals within the physical and biological constraints imposed by existing and future human activities. Subsequently, it will help the City adaptively manage its natural environment by indicating monitoring and research needs and by forming a repository for future knowledge.

The project should have general application beyond the needs of Portland, Oregon. If an ecological framework can be developed for the Portland environment it should be transportable to other urban environments as well.

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