what is adaptive management?
Adaptive management is often referred to as 'learning by doing'. More fundamentally, adaptive management provides a pathway for proceeding forward with managing complex systems or projects in the face of uncertainty. The classic adaptive management loop consist of five components: 1) Planning, 2) Doing, 3) Evaluation, 4) Learning, and the option to 'Adjust' as needed. That 'adjustment' on the basis of evaluating what was done can lead to adjustment of conceptual models, adjustment of plans or adjustment of actions.
Adaptive management uses the formulation of a plan based on the best available information and articulation of a conceptual model of how the system works with predictions about how it should response to management actions. One of the hallmarks of good adaptive management is that, multiple competing responses to management actions can be identified prior to actions (i.e. 'DO'ing). A decision/plan can be made on the basis of the predicted response, but if alternative, unforseen, or undeseriable outcome take place instead, management responses can be identified ahead of time. This allows competing concerns to be recognized, addressed and used to help craft the plan. |
A simple example
We recently had a project where we were going to install some beaver dam analogs. Most the science on hydrologic impacts of beaver dam impacts suggests that peak flows are often reduced, that flow is attenuated in temporary storage in ponds and groundwater, and slowly released out in the weeks and months that follow (often resulting in an increase in baseflows). However conceptually elegant that sounds, there is still a common perception in the West that any obstruction to flow will impact downstream water users, and that beaver dams will 'steal' water from downstream water users. In this recent project, these concerns almost killed the project. Using adaptive management, we were able to salvage the project. We worked with a concerned downstream water user to better understand their concerns, and their operations (i.e. when they were diverting and how that water impacted their operations and ability to grow late season hay and feed).
In the end, we disagreed on whether or not the BDAs would negatively impact the water user (i.e. lower late-season base flows impacting their irrigation), versus improve conditions by elevating late season base flows (or produce an immeasurable gain). However, we used the creation of an adaptive management plan to address this concern explicitly and appropriate management response should the downstream water users concerns become realized. In short, we:
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Adaptive MANAGEMENT that is Pragmatic and affordable
In Bouwes et al. (2016) we lay out our vision for how adaptive management can move beyond something only the biggest projects with the healthiest budgets can afford, to something we can and should as routine practice on almost every restoration project.
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At left is an example of more specific actions tied to the adaptive management loops. These plans can be cheap to prepare and simple to implement.
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Some examples of our own adaptive management plans
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