Collaborative Achievements and Challenges for Our 10-YR River Research Effort

TY - JOUR

T1 - Collaborative Achievements and Challenges for Our 10-YR River Research Effort

AU - D'Andrilli, Juliana

AU - Peipoch, Marc

AU - Payn, Robert A.

AU - D. DeGrandpre, Michael

AU - Valett, H. Maurice

N1 - Funding Information: A majority of the world's rivers have been substantially modified by human activities (Meybeck 2003 ). A notable example is the Upper Clark Fork River (UCFR) in Western Montana, U.S.A, where historic mining and floods have created the largest U.S. Environmental Protection Agency megafund site. A $200 million dollar ecological restoration of the UCFR was initiated in 2013 and will continue for 20 yrs. Ecological restoration efforts in the UCFR channel and floodplain (Fig. 1 ) include removal of metal‐laden floodplain soils, lowering of the floodplain to reconnect with annual peak flows, and revegetation of over 70 km of the river riparian system. This restoration effort, and funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), marked an unparalleled opportunity for our team of researchers to extend long‐term process‐based insight into the dynamics of a critical river corridor ecosystem during and following a large‐scale floodplain restoration. Our story of recently expanded UCFR research, from the project's inception to the execution of new and extended data collection efforts funded by the Long Term Research in Environmental Biology (LTREB) program in the NSF Division of Environmental Biology, was born from a series of conversations around conference venues where we shared ideas in formal and informal settings. Moreover, in implementing the project, we have come to recognize the importance of developing a common language so that we can communicate across disciplinary lines, effectively troubleshoot challenges, and ensure that mistakes are not repeated. Here, we put the spotlight on the emergence of team success from initial conversations and challenges and emphasize our various mechanisms of communication required to ensure broad and lasting impacts. Funding Information: A majority of the world's rivers have been substantially modified by human activities (Meybeck?2003). A notable example is the Upper Clark Fork River (UCFR) in Western Montana, U.S.A, where historic mining and floods have created the largest U.S. Environmental Protection Agency megafund site. A $200 million dollar ecological restoration of the UCFR was initiated in 2013 and will continue for 20 yrs. Ecological restoration efforts in the UCFR channel and floodplain (Fig.?1) include removal of metal-laden floodplain soils, lowering of the floodplain to reconnect with annual peak flows, and revegetation of over 70 km of the river riparian system. This restoration effort, and funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), marked an unparalleled opportunity for our team of researchers to extend long-term process-based insight into the dynamics of a critical river corridor ecosystem during and following a large-scale floodplain restoration. Our story of recently expanded UCFR research, from the project's inception to the execution of new and extended data collection efforts funded by the Long Term Research in Environmental Biology (LTREB) program in the NSF Division of Environmental Biology, was born from a series of conversations around conference venues where we shared ideas in formal and informal settings. Moreover, in implementing the project, we have come to recognize the importance of developing a common language so that we can communicate across disciplinary lines, effectively troubleshoot challenges, and ensure that mistakes are not repeated. Here, we put the spotlight on the emergence of team success from initial conversations and challenges and emphasize our various mechanisms of communication required to ensure broad and lasting impacts.

PY - 2021/11

Y1 - 2021/11

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85115384293&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1002/lob.10465

DO - 10.1002/lob.10465

M3 - Comment/debate

AN - SCOPUS:85115384293

SN - 1539-607X

VL - 30

SP - 127

EP - 128

JO - Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin

JF - Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin

IS - 4

ER -