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A decision support system for prioritizing forested wetland restoration in the Yazoo Backwater Area, Mississippi

Water-Resources Investigations Report 2000-4199
By: , , and 
https://doi.org/10.3133/wri004199

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Abstract

A working prototype decision support system (DSS) was developed for the Yazoo Backwater Area, Mississippi, to help planners and managers prioritize, plan, conduct, and optimize forested wetland restoration activities. The DSS comprises geographic information system (GIS) spatial data themes, application programs that provide a cumulative analysis of the relative ability of sites to function as wetlands, and output data that are specific to a given restoration analysis scenario. The DSS input includes GIS data themes such as geomorphology, soils, land use, elevation, farmed wetlands, flood frequency, topographic depressions, streams, public lands, roads, and permanent water bodies, which can be used as spatial templates to define areal hydrologic settings. These GIS data themes can then be ranked and combined to estimate the relative suitability of a potential wetland restoration site, thereby, determining relative wetland equivalence on the landscape. The GIS applications used in this DSS perform the following three functions: assess the ecology (the Eco-Assessor); reclassify land-use in areas selected for restoration (the Tree-Translator); and generate output data to compare restoration scenarios (the Parameter-Generator). Areas selected for reforestation are translated (in the GIS) into ?forested? land use, and the tree species that are ?planted? on the landscape (in the DSS) either compose an ecologically optimal or an economically optimal community of tree species. Output from the DSS can be compared and analyzed by using economic, statistical, graphical, and tabular methods. Output data for seven selected scenarios were generated for the Yazoo Backwater Area and are presented as examples to illustrate the flexibility of the DSS to identify areas that meet restoration objectives.
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title A decision support system for prioritizing forested wetland restoration in the Yazoo Backwater Area, Mississippi
Series title Water-Resources Investigations Report
Series number 2000-4199
DOI 10.3133/wri004199
Edition -
Year Published 2000
Language ENGLISH
Publisher U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey ; Branch of Information Services [distributor],
Description 43 p.
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