Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 11
Maintenance and Stewardship
Maintenance involves any short-term activities performed to ensure the development of the proj-
ect site as intended prior to project completion. Maintenance is generally focused on promoting
the survival and growth of installed plant materials during a predetermined plant establishment
period to meet established success criteria.
Aftercare encompasses both sets of activities occurring
in maintenance and stewardship (Clewell and Aronson 2007, 2013; Clewell, Rieger, and Munro
2005).
Stewardship encompasses a wide range of ongoing and, in many cases, long-term management
activities intended to promote the maturation of the project site. It typically involves manipulating
the processes associated with either the biotic or the abiotic elements of the ecosystem. Steward-
ship generally follows the plant establishment period but may coincide with, or take the place of,
plant maintenance. Our distinction between these two types of activities and their context with the
maturation of the site reflects the typical contracting process, in which survival of what is planted
is a requirement to ensure delivery of the project in a suitable condition.
Maintenance: Plant Establishment Period
The length of the plant establishment period for restoration projects varies considerably. The plant
establishment period is generally based on the amount of time required to ensure the success of
the plantings installed at a restoration project site; however, it can be related to any of the success
criteria for a restoration project. These success criteria are commonly incorporated into project
permit conditions so that the length of the establishment period becomes fixed in the permit con-
ditions.
We have seen restoration projects involving native plant installation with the following defined
“plant establishment periods” and associated criteria:
• Survival of all of the plantings for one full year after installation, including replacement of
all failed plantings
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