Habitat Needs Assessment‐II for the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program: Linking science to management perspectives

The Upper Mississippi River Restoration (UMRR) Program vision statement is for a healthier and more resilient Upper Mississippi River ecosystem that sustains the river’s multiple uses. To address this vision, the UMRR Program recently developed a suite of 12 indicators that quantify aspects of ecosystem health and resilience (i.e., connectivity, redundancy and diversity, and controlling variables). These indicators reflect the ability of large floodplain river ecosystems to adapt and respond to disturbances. The primary purpose of this document is to help inform the UMRR Program in selecting, designing, and evaluating future restoration projects using these indicators and professional knowledge to achieve the UMRR Program’s vision.