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Category: Publications: Environmental Laboratory (EL)
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  • Beneficial Use of Dredged Material for Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Habitats: Overcoming Challenges and Seeking New Opportunities

    Purpose: There is a critical need to maintain and create conditions that are conducive for long-term survival of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) habitats, which provide multiple ecosystem services, using dredged material. This technical note (TN) was developed by the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC)–Environmental Laboratory (EL) to address the specific challenges US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) practitioners at the district and division level face that impede the development of beneficial use of dredged material (BUDM) projects to restore, conserve, and expand SAV habitats. Different ways to overcome these challenges and opportunities that should be further explored are also addressed. The information in this TN was synthesized from discussions at a virtual workshop for USACE practitioners.
  • Notes on Bedload Sediment Collector Deployment: Eau Claire River, Wisconsin

    Purpose: A bedload sediment collector field deployment was conducted during low flow conditions from August 2023 to September 2023 on the Eau Claire River, Wisconsin, to assess the operation and performance of a 12 ft bedload sediment collector (BSC). This initial deployment of the technology served to familiarize the research team with the new 12 ft BSC system in preparation for its potential deployment during high flow conditions and at other locations. The insights from this study are intended to identify opportunities to use this technology, particularly in the Upper Mississippi River navigation system.
  • Mediated Model Development for Coastal Marsh Management in the Chesapeake Bay

    Purpose: The purpose of this technical note is to develop a conceptual model that describes the critical processes, stressors, and interactions that affect coastal marsh dynamics within the Chesapeake Bay, as identified by subject matter experts, and then link those factors to specific management actions. Managing coastal marshes within Chesapeake Bay involves multiple stakeholders across federal, state, local, and nongovernmental agencies. Reaching consensus among large stakeholder groups can be difficult, since each has their own perspective and requirements for management. Mediated modeling is a technique that facilitates consensus building among stakeholders and provides a transparent roadmap for decision-making. This technical note describes how mediated modeling was applied to marsh management in Chesapeake Bay. On 4–5 May 2022, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Integrated Ecological Modeling Team (EcoMod) partnered for a multistakeholder mediated modeling workshop to (1) build a conceptual model that depicts the relevant processes impacting marsh dynamics, and (2) identify indicators that are necessary for tracking marsh conditions, which inform needed management strategies. This conceptual model provides the foundation for the development of a marsh management decision framework that will use indicators to identify marsh conditions that subsequently trigger management decisions.
  • Overview of a Rapid Discrete Infrared Acquisition System and Method for Automated Behavioral Analysis of Multiple Emissive Objects

    Purpose: Many animal species form congregations on the landscape. These concentrations of animals provide an opportunity for biologists to conduct efficient population monitoring efforts. While general use of these sites is easy to document, continual monitoring is often problematic due to limited resources (time, expertise, etc.), potential for human disturbance on animal population and behavior, and an inability to determine an accurate assessment of counts. To allow for accurate and efficient assessment of animal numbers and usage of an area, an automated technology has been developed to monitor and characterize large animal concentrations. This automated technology provides information on population size, movement behavior characteristics, and other behavioral aspects of the target species.
  • Engineering With Nature: Natural Infrastructure for Mission Readiness at U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Installations

    Abstract: This book illustrates some of the current challenges and hazards experienced by military installations, and the content highlights activities at eight U.S. Navy and Marine Corps military installations to achieve increased resilience through natural infrastructure.
  • Applying the Ecosystem Goods and Services (EGS) Framework: Meramec Case Study

    Abstract: This technical report explores ecosystem goods and services (EGS) assessment to support US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) decision-making by applying the recently published proposed EGS framework (Wainger et al. 2020) to a case study. A joint effort of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and USACE, the Meramec River Basin Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study provides an opportunity to investigate the practicality of EGS analysis and how it might determine complementarity or antagonism among study partner goals. The EPA seeks primarily to protect human health, while USACE aims to restore aquatic ecosystems. Subjected to elevated heavy metals from upstream mining, altered hydrology, and other degrading factors, the river system nevertheless supports high aquatic biodiversity and numerous rare species. The project team developed an EGS conceptual model to document the potential ecological features and processes changes, ecological outcomes, and social benefits or harms of proposed management actions. Nonmonetary EGS benefit indicators illustrated concordance of the project goals with national restoration priorities. Overall, this initial analysis indicates that EGS analysis is feasible with the types of models and data available for the project, promotes explicit analysis of synergies and conflicts, and helps communicate effects and trade-offs during planning.
  • Incorporating Ecosystem Goods and Services (EGS) into US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Project Planning: A Retrospective Analysis

    Abstract: Ecosystem goods and services (EGS) have been promoted as a way to effectively examine trade-offs and improve communication of project-related environmental outcomes in terms of human well-being. Notably, EGS provide a construct that seems capable of enhancing the capacity to communicate with stakeholders about how ecosystem restoration and rehabilitation activities can affect them—and in ways that are more meaningful to the public than the habitat metrics currently employed. The concept of EGS is not new to the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Civil Works Program. This document presents a review of past attempts to apply EGS assessment techniques in the context of USACE project planning and then identifies obstacles met in those efforts that could be avoided in the future. This report is not intended to showcase approaches to consider EGS in planning studies. Rather, this paper uses case studies to illustrate the challenges of considering ecosystem services in the context of planning studies. These challenges will need to be addressed in any future applications of EGS assessments to USACE Civil Works Program decision-making.
  • Assessing the Validity and Accuracy of Wetland Indicator Status Ratings for Eight Species in Alaska Subregions

    Abstract: Preexisting ecological information and plant species occurrence data were used to determine the accuracy and validity of the present regional and subregional wetland indicator status ratings for eight species: Andromeda polifolia, Arctous rubra, Carex canescens, Rhododendron tomentosum, Rubus arcticus, Salix arctica, Salix pulchra, and Viola palustris. Technical documentation was developed to either (1) support the current National Wetland Plant List (NWPL) subregion boundaries and wetland indicator status ratings for the NWPL Alaska Region or (2) support a proposed change to the subregions or wetland indicator status ratings for the NWPL Alaska Region, for inclusion into the next NWPL update. The project developed repeatable, quantitative methods for assignment of wetland indicator status rating. Analyses included multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), analysis of similarities (ANOSIM), nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS), and principal component analysis (PCA). Prevalence index (PI) was used as a numeric approximation of wetland status for comparing observations across subregions. A pilot study on S. pulchra data evaluated regional assignments by machine learning and assessed the feasibility of correlation network analysis and Louvain clustering for wetland indicator status rating assignment as dictated by co-occurring species. The methods developed for this Alaska-specific study may be applied to any future regional or subregional updates to the NWPL.
  • Upper Mississippi River Main Channel Sediment Placement: Purpose, Practice, Effects, and Recommendations

    Abstract: Dredged-sediment management in the Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway is constrained by environmental factors and regulations that limit where sediment can be placed. Regulations regarding in-water sediment placement are not consistent among states. In-water placement should be promoted because it keeps sediment in the system and reduces costs for managing sediment dredged from the river. Studies investigating the environmental effects of in-water placement generally conclude that sand-on-sand placement has minimal effect on aquatic resources in the dynamic riverine environment. This report discusses in-water sediment management techniques, including flow- and sediment-regulating structures (i.e., dikes and wing dams) and a bed-load sediment collector by-pass system.
  • Restoration Monitoring Metric Framework: Integrating Innovative Remote-Sensing Technologies: Comparisons between Field and Remotely Sensed Vegetation Surveys of Restored Forested and Grassland Sites in Ohio

    Abstract: Restoration monitoring is generally perceived as costly and time-consuming, yet the concept of universal restoration monitoring metrics is trending for evaluation of restoration performance across spatial scales, project boundaries, and jurisdictions. Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) practitioners seek to restore natural resources injured by oil spills or hazardous substance releases into the environment. Therefore, a multiagency team [US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), US Department of the Interior (DOI), and US Department of Energy (DOE)] developed and field-tested a multitiered monitoring framework, illustrating a range of field and remote-sensing techniques and methodologies. The restoration monitoring framework and field demonstration offer a unique methodology to acquire and evaluate simultaneously collected, multiscale/multiplatform data. The result of this research provides new insights to (1) assist planning, implementing, and monitoring restoration progress and effectiveness; and (2) apply common monitoring methods, endpoints, and metrics to other types of ecosystem restoration initiatives. Although the aim was to inform monitoring and management of areas that had been injured, these methods could also be used to inform restoration monitoring practices in a broader context, benefiting environmental stewardship missions of all project partners.