Scoping review protocol - habitat restoration in aquatic ecosystems.

Abstract

Abstract This scoping review protocol outlines the methods for examining research trends in aquatic habitat restoration across North American lakes, estuaries and coastal ecosystems over the past 15 years. It sets out the review's objective of identifying the metrics, timescales and success parameters used in restoration studies, together with definitions of key terms such as aquatic habitat, habitat restoration and habitat management. It details the eligibility criteria, limiting inclusion to English-language original research articles published since 2010 that report biological or physical/chemical response variables against pre-restoration or reference-site data, while excluding reviews, meta-analyses, government and non-governmental organization reports and studies outside North America. It describes the search strategy across databases including Web of Science, Scopus and Agricola, and a three-step screening process involving independent dual review with tiebreaker resolution. It also specifies the data charting approach, covering ecosystem type, restoration method, response variables, study timescale and goal attainment, and the planned synthesis methods, including calculation of success proportions, thematic comparison across ecosystem types and analysis of common terminology.