Process‐based restoration (PBR) of streams—a suite of techniques developed in mountainous regions—is now being applied to prairie streams with different geomorphological, hydrological, and ecological conditions. In October 2024, we held a meeting of stream restoration practitioners to share outcomes from initial prairie PBR projects—primarily large‐wood additions and beaver mimicry and restoration. Practitioners agreed that geomorphological processes sustaining prairie streams are not well understood, and this leads to disagreement about the efficacy of specific restoration techniques. While beaver dams were present on pre‐colonization prairie streams, the ability of beaver mimicry projects to recruit beaver and sustain natural processes is poorly characterized. Biological responses to prairie PBR appear positive, but the response of many taxa and the social acceptability of projects has not been studied. We highlight a substantial area of data deficiency and identify the need for more research on prairie PBR projects.
Clancy et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
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