D. A. Comba P. S. Dalyander Nicholas Enwright Margaret L. Palmsten Gregory Steyer Megan La Peyre T. M. Davenport 2024 <p><span>Increasing global investments focused on conservation and restoration of natural resources aim to address challenges presented by&nbsp;</span><span class="glossify-tooltip-link glossify-tooltip-popup" aria-label="Climate change includes both global warming driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns. Though there have been previous periods of climatic change, since the mid-20th century humans have had an unprecedented impact on Earth's climate system and caused change on a global scale.">climate change<span>&nbsp;</span></span><span>and biodiversity loss. Many restoration and conservation program assessments examine individual actions, assuming additive effects only, failing to acknowledge or capture potential synergistic or antagonistic effects across a region or program. Cumulative effects assessments (CEA) provide a more ecologically relevant framework to assess the outcome of large restoration efforts. These assessments are critical given the increasing frequency of projects and the potential for cross-project interaction, yet there are few efforts to document the presence and patterns of cumulative effects for large-scale restoration programs. Understanding both the individual and cumulative effects of projects within a large restoration program can also inform the conceptualization of future large-scale restoration efforts by enabling the full suite of outcomes to be evaluated and considered against no-action scenarios in future planning. Here, we describe the development of a conceptual framework for CEA from large-scale restoration efforts.</span></p> application/pdf 10.3996/css86719022 en U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Cumulative effects assessment of restoration programs: A framework to assess achievement of regional and programmatic goals reports