Biodiversity collections are experiencing a renaissance fueled by the intersection of informatics, emerging technologies, and the extended use and interpretation of specimens and archived databases. In this article, we explore the potential for transformative research in ecology integrating biodiversity collections, stable isotope analysis (SIA), and environmental informatics. Like genomic DNA, SIA provides a common currency interpreted in the context of biogeochemical principles. Integration of SIA data across collections allows for evaluation of long-term ecological change at local to continental scales. Challenges including the analysis of sparse samples, a lack of information about baseline isotopic composition, and the effects of preservation remain, but none of these challenges is insurmountable. The proposed research framework interfaces with existing databases and observatories to provide benchmarks for retrospective studies and ecological forecasting. Collections and SIA add historical context to fundamental questions in freshwater ecological research, reference points for ecosystem monitoring, and a means of quantitative assessment for ecosystem restoration.

Channel incision degrades ecosystems by lowering water tables and disconnecting floodplains. Stream restoration often aims to reverse these impacts. However, projects typically receive minimal monitoring, and treatment effectiveness has not been validated. We used trait‐based analysis to evaluate whether two stream restoration techniques—beaver dam analogs (BDAs) and plug‐and‐ponds—raised water tables and increased overbank flooding, whether these altered environmental filters facilitated recovery of riparian plant communities, and how reassembly impacted the representation of traits that influence ecosystem function. We report on a before‐after‐control‐impact study and Bayesian analysis that estimated the probability that treatments affected riparian plant functional diversity and composition. We found a high probability (0.99 and 0.97, respectively) that BDAs decreased functional dispersion by ≥50% and plug‐and‐ponds decreased dispersion by ≥30%. Both treatments increased the relative abundance of high moisture use plants, wetland plants, and plants with high anaerobic tolerance. For example, BDAs increased the relative abundance of obligate wetland plants by 100%, and plug‐and‐ponds increased the relative abundance of facultative wetland plants by 105%, on average. These results suggest treatments modified environmental filters and recovered riparian plant communities. Ecosystem function was likely altered as the streamside plant community reassembled. Small increases in functional divergence suggest both treatments increased resource use efficiency, and we found a high probability of small treatment effect sizes (<20%) related to changes in community‐level C:N and nitrogen fixation. Our results demonstrate trait‐based analysis can detect a rapid response to restoration and offer a cost‐effective monitoring approach to compare treatments across space and time.

In 2012, the U.S. Department of Agriculture adopted a new planning rule that outlined a process for developing, amending, and revising land management plans for the 155 National Forests, 20 National Grasslands, and one Tallgrass Prairie managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The rule outlines a framework with three phases: assessment, development/amendment/revision, and monitoring. We are assisting National Forests in the western U.S. with the first phase by completing a series of assessments of riparian and groundwater-dependent ecosystems. Here, we describe our methods and the lessons learned over the course of conducting assessments for seven National Forests. Per the requirements of the planning rule, we conduct a rapid assessment of ecological integrity that uses existing data to evaluate drivers, stressors, structure, function, composition, and connectivity. We have collaborated with National Forests, state agencies, and other research groups to obtain datasets representing various wetland landscape features. Our work supports the plan revision process, from assessment through plan approval, and informs future forest and project planning for the restoration and maintenance of structure, function, composition, and connectivity. We developed our assessment methods in collaboration with resource managers at the National Forest and regional level to ensure useful end products such as published technical reports, literature reviews, photo libraries, or collections of datasets related to riparian and groundwater-dependent ecosystems. Our approach and lessons learned throughout the process are relevant to other resource management planning applications, analyses of landscape condition, as well as assessments of other ecosystems, such as forests or grasslands.