Ecological assessment criteria for restoring anadromous salmonid habitat in Pacific Northwest estuaries

Restoration of estuarine habitats is essential for the conservation and rec overy of depressed Pacific salmon populations. However, assessing the funct ions of recently restored habitat poses a number of problems because of the transitory occurrence of salmonids in any one location. We propose assessm ent criteria and metrics that are based on the habitat's capacity, opportun ity, and realized function to enhance survivability of juvenile salmon. Bec ause of the paucity of data relating capacity and opportunity attributes to realized function (e.g. growth, consumption rate, survival), there continu es to he a need for manipulative experiments to assess the developmental st atus of restoration sites. Such a self-monitoring approach of letting the f ish diagnose the ecological state of restoration would effectively address the small-scale, site-specific assessment goals and criteria, but ignores t he larger-scale issues relating to the ability of diverse salmon species an d life histories to occupy estuarine habitat landscapes. If coastal restora tion is going to contribute the recovery of anadromous salmonid populations , a landscape perspective is fundamental to restoration planning, implement ation, and particularly assessment. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All righ ts reserved.