A Decision-Support System for Prioritizing Restoration Sites on the Mississippi River Alluvial Plain

Conversion of forested wetlands to agricultural use and the resulting fragmentation of the landscape has led to concerns for the functional integrity of the Mississippi River Alluvial Plain ecosystem. We describe an effort spearheaded by The Nature Conservancy to initiate a multi-decade partnership dedicated to creating and implementing a viable, cooperative, landscape-level restoration project in the Mississippi River Alluvial Plain. Important phases of the process during the first 5 years were (1) initiation of the development of an extensive network of partners, including state and federal agencies, private land owners, conservation groups, academicians, and other interested citizens; (2) development of a geographic information system (GIS) for the entire extent of the ecosystem; and (3) for one watershed, the Tensas basin in northeastern Louisiana, refinement of a high resolution GIS to generate more detailed land-use conversion statistics to demonstrate the feasibility of a semi-objective, landscape-scale restoration planning procedure, including methodology for prioritization of existing wetland forest patches and areas most suitable for reforestation and connection via corridors. La conversion de humedales boscosos a campos agricolas y la fragmentacion del paisaje resultante es motivo de preocupacion respecto a la integridad funcional del ecosistema Llanura Aluvial del Rio Mississippi. Describimos un esfuerzo encabezado por The Nature Conservancy para iniciar una asociacion dedicada a crear e instrumentar un proyecto de restauracion de la Planicie Aluvial del Rio Mississippi, que fuera viable, de cooperacion multiple y a nivel paisaje. Las fases importantes de este proceso durante los primeros cinco anos fueron: (1) inicio del desarrolo de una estensa red de miembros (que incluye agencias estatales y federales, propietarios de tierras, grupos conservacionistas, academicos y otros ciudadanos interesados), (2) desarrollo de un Sistema de Informacion Geografica que abarca la extension total del ecosistema y (3) el refinamiento de un Sistema de Informacion Geografica de alta resolucion para una cuenca, el vaso Tensas en el noreste de Louisiana; para generar estadisticas mas detalladas de la conversion del uso del suelo, para demostrar la factibilidad de un procedimiento semi-objetivo y a escala de paisaje de planificacion de restauracion, incluyendo la metodologia para la priorizacion de parches existentes de humedal boscoso y de areas adecuadas para reforestacion e interconexion por medio de corredores.

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