While Pacific salmon are economically and culturally important worldwide, Alaska, USA is one of the few remaining places on earth where sustainable management of salmon is possible, even in the face of wide-ranging threats, including overharvesting and the impacts of climate change. A continuing challenge that we face is to understand the ecological processes that result in sustainable salmon populations and report that science to stakeholders in a way that promotes decision-making to avoid the destruction of salmon populations that has occurred in most areas of the lower 48 states. To address this challenge, our studies in the southern Kenai Lowlands of Alaska are designed to understand the ecological linkages between the landscape and salmon-bearing streams. Our focus on headwater streams that are essential habitat for juveniles of several salmonids demonstrates multiple connections between uplands, wetlands, and the headwater streams. These ecological linkages have been mapped across the watersheds of the southern Kenai Lowlands and used to create spatial tools for communicating with stakeholders who are making land-use decisions that affect salmon-supporting habitats. We present how the main findings of our research, i.e., the influence of alders, peatlands, and groundwater flows on riparian and headwater streams, were incorporated into a spatial tool that was used in case studies with user groups and in outreach efforts. We include evidence that these efforts to engage with stakeholders are resulting in attitudinal shifts as well as on-the-ground changes in peoples’ decision-making.

中文翻译：

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将景观属性与鲑鱼和美国阿拉斯加基奈低地南部的​​决策联系起来

尽管太平洋鲑鱼在全球范围内具有重要的经济和文化意义，但即使面对诸如收割过度和气候变化的影响之类的广泛威胁，美国阿拉斯加仍是地球上少数可以进行鲑鱼可持续管理的地方之一。我们面临的持续挑战是，了解导致鲑鱼种群可持续的生态过程，并以促进决策的方式向利益相关者报告科学，以避免在下48个州的大多数地区发生鲑鱼种群的破坏。为了应对这一挑战，我们在阿拉斯加基奈低地南部的​​研究旨在了解景观与鲑鱼溪流之间的生态联系。我们将重点放在源头河流上，源头河流是几种鲑鱼幼体的重要栖息地，这表明高地，湿地和源头河流之间存在多种联系。这些生态联系已在基奈低地南部的​​流域上绘制，并用于创建空间工具，以便与利益相关者进行沟通，这些利益相关者正在制定影响鲑鱼栖息地的土地使用决策。我们介绍了如何将我们研究的主要发现，即al木，泥炭地和地下水流对河岸和源头河水的影响，纳入到空间工具中，用于与用户群体进行案例研究并进行外展工作。我们提供的证据表明，与利益相关者互动的这些努力正在导致态度转变以及人们决策的实际变化。