Science to support management of Parks Canada's historic Rideau and Trent-Severn waterways to maintain and enhance ecosystem services

目前，加拿大政府（即加拿大公园管理局）正在投资大约10亿美元，在未来十年里，在历史悠久的里多运河和特伦特-塞文水道沿线的许多地方升级基础设施。这不仅为基础设施的现代化提供了机会，而且还可以帮助改善这些水生生态系统的健康。研究可能有助于告知船闸和水坝的操作变化，或有关这些系统管理的政策，这些系统可以为鱼类（例如改善鱼类的通道，减少与入侵物种相关的风险），濒危物种，减少海岸线侵蚀，加强娱乐利用并为周围社区提供利益。为此，拟建SPG的总体目标是产生知识，以支持Rideau和Trent-Severn水道的管理，从而在面对人为压力时最大化生态系统服务。我们建议将自然科学、工程和社会科学研究相结合，以解决以下目标：1)确定大坝和水闸站的存在和运行对系统和河段尺度上的非生物（即水、沉积物）和生物（即休闲鱼类、濒危鱼类和海龟）连通性的影响；2)确定岸线生境和水生植物管理策略对生态系统结构的影响；3)调查与航道管理情景和沟通策略相关的关键利益相关者的观点。除了这些核心目标之外，我们还将使用目标3中确定的沟通策略与合作伙伴和利益相关者分享我们的发现，同时在一个综合的多学科框架内培训学生。拟议的研究将通过为加拿大公园管理局提供政策制定和管理所需的环境和社会科学证据，帮助保护这些国家重要水道的社会、文化和生态价值。

Currently, the Government of Canada (i.e. Parks Canada) is investing roughly a billion dollars to upgrade infrastructure at numerous locations along the historic Rideau Canal and Trent-Severn waterways over the next decade. This provides an opportunity to modernize not the only the infrastructure, but could also help improve the health of these aquatic ecosystems. Research may help inform operational changes of locks and dams, or policies with respect to the management of these systems that can provide benefits to fish (e.g. improve passage of fish, decrease risks associated with invasive species), to species at risk, decrease shoreline erosion, enhancing recreational use and providing benefits to surrounding communities. To that end, the overall goal of the proposed SPG is to generate knowledge to support the management of the Rideau and Trent-Severn waterways, in a way that maximizes ecosystem services in the face of anthropogenic stressors. We propose tocombine natural science, engineering, and social science research to address the following objectives: 1) Determine the influence of dam and lock station presence and operations on abiotic (i.e., water, sediment) and biotic (i.e., recreational fish, at risk fish and turtles) connectivity at a system and at a reach scale; 2) Identify the effects of shoreline habitat and aquatic macrophyte management strategies on ecosystem structure; and 3) Investigate the perspectives of key stakeholders related to waterway management scenarios and communication strategies. Beyond these core objectives, we will share our findings with our partners and stakeholders using the communication strategies identified in Objective 3 while training students in an integrated, multi-disciplinary framework. The proposed research will help safeguard the social, cultural, and ecological values of these nationally significant waterways by providing Parks Canada with the environmental and social science evidence needed to inform policy development and management.