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）正在投资约10亿美元，在未来十年内升级历史悠久的里多运河和特伦-塞文水道沿着许多地点的基础设施。这不仅为基础设施的现代化提供了机会，而且还有助于改善这些水生生态系统的健康。研究可能有助于为船闸和水坝的运作变化提供信息，或为这些系统的管理政策提供信息，这些系统可以为鱼类带来好处（例如改善鱼类通道，减少与入侵物种有关的风险），为面临风险的物种提供好处，减少海岸线侵蚀，加强娱乐用途，并为周围社区带来好处。为此，拟议的特别方案的总体目标是，在面临人为压力时，以最大限度地发挥生态系统服务的方式，产生知识，以支持里多和特伦-塞文水道的管理。我们建议结合自然科学、工程和社会科学研究来解决以下目标：1）确定大坝和船闸的存在和运行对非生物（即，水，沉积物）和生物（即，（2）确定海岸线生境和水生大型植物管理战略对生态系统结构的影响;（3）调查与水道管理方案和沟通战略有关的主要利益攸关方的观点。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我们的合作伙伴和利益相关者分享我们的研究结果，同时在综合的多学科框架中培训学生。拟议的研究将通过为加拿大公园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.