Relation between the Framework and Ecosystem Diagnosis and Treatment

 
The planning framework is intended to facilitate development, implementation and evaluation of an ecologically based recovery and management plan. It consists of three major components, first, a conceptual framework that shows the flow of logic through the recovery plan and second, a scientific foundation that lays out a set of general scientific assumptions that will be the basis for the city’s efforts. The third component is the analytical structure that implements the concepts in the conceptual and scientific components. Ecosystem Diagnosis and Treatement (EDT) provides this analytical structure (Figure 1).

The conceptual framework consists of a vision, a set of biological objectives and the strategies that make up a recovery program (McConnaha, 1999). The vision describes the desired future condition in regard to biological, economic and social values. The biological objectives are a more quantitative, scientifically based description that includes measurable indices of progress. The biological objectives describe vision in regard to characteristics of the environment and the biological performance of species and populations expected under those conditions. Strategies in turn are categories of actions designed to achieve the biological objectives. The framework also recognizes that ecological systems are usefully described as nested hierarchies and that the three major elements can apply to the city as a whole, to regions within the city and to individual watersheds. The vision at the broad scale, for example the basin, constrains and guides the vision developed for individual watersheds. At the same time, the vision developed at the finer scales should reflect local concerns, priorities and conditions while contributing to the overall vision. The inclusion of scale also includes the recognition that restoration efforts are nested within the broader regional climatic and social context.

The scientific foundation begins with eight broad ecological principles that describe a general conceptual foundation for the city’s efforts. These broad principles are then focused on specific principles related to salmonid fishes and to development and maintenance of their associated habitats. It results in a set of ecologically based guidelines for restoration efforts.

A species-habitat model like Ecosystem Diagnosis and Treatment can form the analytical reflection of the city’s framework and scientific foundation (Figure 1). It provides a way to utilize and implement the concepts in the framework and apply them to the development and evaluation of a recovery plan. It will provide the basis for development of a working hypothesis concerning how environmental characteristics interact with species performance and, consequently, how actions affect habitat to change biological performance. As a working hypothesis, it is also the basis for testing and refinement over time and will indicate issues and priorities for research, evaluation and monitoring.

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