2. Principles

Chapter 2: Principles of Low-Tech Process-Based Restoration

The second chapter covers the underlying principles necessary to understand low-tech process-based restoration.

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Riverscapes Principles

Restoration Principles


Implications for Practice

  • Low-tech process-based restoration principles are critical to understand as both the basis for effectively applying low-tech restoration treatments and managing expectations about timing and magnitude of outcomes.
  • We propose and synthesize principles that help practitioners tackle low-tech process-based restoration of structurally-starved riverscapes. Many of these principles likely apply to a greater range of riverscapes, but we do not cover those applications here.

  • We break our guiding principles into:
    • Riverscapes Principles - those that represent an understanding of what constitutes healthy riverscapes to help define what restoration should be aiming for; and
    • Restoration Principles – those that influence the choices and approach we take in planning, designing and implementing low-tech restoration
  • Since we focus on structurally-starved riverscapes, low-tech restoration that mimics and promotes the processes of wood accumulation and beaver dam activity specifically emerge out of these principles.


Chapter Two Figures

All original figures downloadable and citeable now with DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.14515854.v1


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