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)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特-塞文水道沿线许多地点的基础设施。这不仅提供了使基础设施现代化的机会，还有助于改善这些水生生态系统的健康状况。研究可能有助于为船闸和水坝的运作变化提供信息，或与这些系统的管理有关的政策，这些系统可以为鱼类提供好处(例如，改善鱼类的通过能力，减少与入侵物种相关的风险)，帮助濒危物种，减少海岸线侵蚀，增加娱乐用途，并为周围社区提供好处。为此，拟议的战略规划小组的总体目标是产生知识，以支持里多河和特伦特-塞文河航道的管理，在面临人为压力的情况下最大限度地提供生态系统服务。我们建议将自然科学、工程学和社会科学研究结合起来，以解决以下目标：1)确定大坝和船闸站的存在和运行对一个系统和范围的非生物(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)确定海岸线栖息地和水生植物管理战略对生态系统结构的影响；以及3)调查与水道管理情景和沟通战略相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中确定的沟通战略与我们的合作伙伴和利益攸关方分享我们的调查结果，同时在一个综合的、多学科的框架中培训学生。拟议的研究将通过为加拿大公园提供为政策制定和管理提供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.