Abstract: Ecosystem management requires a holistic and systematic approach inclusive of ecological and social outcomes. Socio-ecological assessments can inform adaptive management, prioritize restoration activities and monitor restoration effectiveness. Effective restoration practices promote a balance of ecological and social goals by addressing ecological integrity, maximizing benefits while minimizing investment, and encompassing collaborative stakeholder participation. An ecological/social balance requires a diversity of habitats and species and diversity in community stakeholders and beneficiary groups. The ecological suitability approach, presented for Gulf of Mexico estuaries, characterizes the ability of habitats to support ecologically and locally important species. The composite measure incorporates ecological and social measures to assess ecological suitability for individual and combinations of estuarine species. The ecological suitability value (ES) for a given spatial unit is based on several factors for each species, which include biophysical measures of the quality and extent of suitable habitat, their trophic importance in a food web context, and their societal importance in relation to stakeholder values and benefits. To be more inclusive of species, we consider importance beyond commercial and recreational value by using a beneficiary approach to determine the social weighting factor for each species based on local importance relative to economic activities. ES values for individual spatial units can be aggregated to estimate the distribution of ecological suitability at the estuarine scale. We demonstrate the methods for calculating ES values, using examples for each step in the process. The information provided by ecological suitability assessments is intended to support restoration prioritization decisions for Gulf of Mexico estuaries and to serve as a baseline measure to gauge restoration effectiveness over time.
