Ideally, restoration re-establishes natural processes in degraded habitats (e.g. flow and sediment regimes). However, in altered systems where process-based restoration is not feasible, habitat construction is another approach to mitigate degradation. Because habitat construction does not directly focus on restoring processes that build and maintain desired habitats, projects must be developed and placed within the contemporary regulatory, ecological, and hydrogeomorphic context of a system, to maximize effectiveness. Here, we develop a framework for evaluating the regulatory, ecological, and hydrogeomorphic components using 15 years of fish spawning habitat construction in the St. Clair-Detroit River System. The process began by identifying regulatory requirements at a coarse resolution to quickly focus on locations where ecological potential and hydrogeomorphic constraints could be assessed at finer resolutions. Next, ecological potential was assessed using a lithophilic fish spawning habitat suitability index. The suitability index identified five sites for habitat construction and lake sturgeon spawning was documented at each site following construction. However, qualitative monitoring showed fine sediments accumulated at older sites. Thus, geomorphic assessments were incorporated to identify sediment sources and model flow within targeted areas. Since geomorphic assessments required the finest resolution and had the most uncertainty, they were conducted after broad-scale regulatory considerations and ecological assessments narrowed focus to a few candidate sites. The order of operations identified in this case study evolved from the iterative approach of the restoration team, but in retrospect, it helped develop a framework that directed project development resources to aspects with more uncertainty, where learning is most critical.

中文翻译：

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修复场地评估的结构化方法：来自圣克莱尔-底特律河系统 15 年鱼类产卵栖息地创建的经验教训

理想情况下，恢复重建退化栖息地的自然过程（例如水流和沉积物状态）。然而，在基于过程的恢复不可行的改变系统中，栖息地建设是另一种减轻退化的方法。由于栖息地建设并不直接关注建立和维护所需栖息地的恢复过程，因此必须在系统的当代监管、生态和水文地貌环境中开发和放置项目，以最大限度地提高效率。在这里，我们使用圣克莱尔-底特律河系统 15 年的鱼类产卵栖息地建设，开发了一个框架，用于评估监管、生态和水文地貌组成部分。该过程首先以粗略的分辨率确定监管要求，以快速关注可以以更精细的分辨率评估生态潜力和水文地貌限制的位置。接下来，使用亲石性鱼类产卵栖息地适宜性指数评估生态潜力。适宜性指数确定了五个建造栖息地的地点，并在建造后在每个地点记录了湖鲟产卵。然而，定性监测显示较旧的地点积累了细小的沉积物。因此，结合地貌评估来确定目标区域内的沉积物来源和模型流动。由于地貌评估需要最好的分辨率和最大的不确定性，它们是在广泛的监管考虑和生态评估将重点缩小到几个候选地点之后进行的。本案例研究中确定的操作顺序是从恢复团队的迭代方法演变而来的，但回想起来，它帮助开发了一个框架，将项目开发资源引导到更具不确定性的方面，其中学习是最关键的。