DOI: 10.5061/dryad.mpg4f4qxf
title: Coastal Habitat Restoration Survey

description: Online expert elicitation survey of the membership of Coastal and
 Estuarine Research Federation (CERF) and International Coral Reef Society
 (ICRS). This dataset includes responses to a series of questions exploring
 scientist and practitioner experience restoring particular coastal
 habitats (coral reefs, oyster reefs, mangroves, salt marsh, and
 seagrasses), as well as perceptions of the purpose of restoration, site
 selection practices, the types of metrics used to evaluate restoration
 success, and the potential challenges to successful restoration.
description: We conducted an online expert elicitation survey of the
 membership of Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF) and
 International Coral Reef Society (ICRS), two organizations focused on
 coastal habitat restoration with members representing academia,
 government, and non-governmental organizations within the U.S and
 internationally. The standardized online survey was developed and
 pretested by the authors and hosted and administered through Qualtrics
 Research Suite. The survey was distributed by email to membership lists of
 both organizations by the organization leadership. The email invitation
 was sent to CERF members in January 2017 and to ICRS members in April
 2017.  We received 67 responses from CERF members and 41 responses from
 ICRS members. Five additional respondents who belonged to both
 organizations were excluded from our analyses. Because we did not have
 access to the membership lists for either organization, we were unable to
 calculate a response rate. Of those who were qualified to take the survey
 by virtue of having some restoration experience, the completion rate was
 63%. This dataset includes responses to a
 series of questions exploring scientist and practitioner experience
 restoring particular coastal habitats (coral reefs, oyster reefs,
 mangroves, salt marsh, and seagrasses), as well as perceptions of the
 purpose of restoration, site selection practices, the types of metrics
 used to evaluate restoration success, and the potential challenges to
 successful restoration (see Appendix A for a list of survey questions). We
 included responses to a question regarding the perceived importance of
 genetic diversity for restoration success as an indicator of innovative
 restoration practices. For experience with individual coastal habitats,
 the purpose of restoration, and metrics used to evaluate restoration
 success, we calculated the percentage of respondents responding
 affirmatively to a given habitat/purpose/metric. We measured each
 respondent’s perceptions of the challenges to successful restoration on an
 ordinal Likert-type scale from 1 to 4: not a challenge (1); minor
 challenge (2); moderate challenge (3); major challenge (4). The importance
 of genetic diversity was also measured on an ordinal Likert-type scale
 from 1 to 5: do not know (0); not at all important (1); slightly important
 (2); moderately important (3); very important (4); extremely important
 (5). The survey also included sociodemographic questions to document
 gender, age, education, U.S./international, type of employer (academia,
 state government, federal government, non-governmental organization,
 other), years in restoration, and the percentage of restoration efforts
 that they have been involved in which have been published in the
 scientific literature. We used Chi-square
 tests to analyze whether the proportion of each habitat restored, the
 purpose of restoration efforts, the metrics measured, and site selection
 methods differed between organizations. To analyze the data regarding
 challenges to successful restoration and the importance of genetic
 diversity overall and by habitat, we used non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis
 tests to determine whether the ordinal responses for each threat differed
 between the two organizations. We used linear models with a fixed factor
 of organization to test whether age, years in restoration, or the
 percentage of restoration efforts published differed between
 organizations. Finally, we tested differences in gender identity, type of
 employer, domestic/international, or highest degree by organization using
 Chi-square tests. All analyses were run in R Studio v.1.1.442 using the
 base packages.
description: These data were used in the analyses presented in Hughes, A. R.,
 Edwards, P., Grabowski, J. H., Scyphers, S., & Williams, S. L.
 (2020). Differential incorporation of scientific advances affects coastal
 habitat restoration practice. Conservation Science and Practice.
 doi:10.1111/csp2.305 The metadata of this dataset is
 also registered at the Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data
 Management Office: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/806786 This dataset package contains the following 3 files: coastal_survey.csv: the results of the online survey in comma separated format CoastalHabitatSurvey_OnlineSurveyQuestions.pdf: The survey questions itself in pdf format README.txt: Additional information on the dataset including the dataset column descriptions   Parameters/Column headers descriptions: Name Description Units Missing data identifier Oysters restored Yes/no whether respondent has restored oysters Not applicable NA Marshes restored Yes/no whether respondent has restored salt marshes Not applicable NA Seagrasses restored Yes/no whether respondent has restored seagrasses Not applicable NA Mangroves restored Yes/no whether respondent has restored mangroves Not applicable NA Corals restored Yes/no whether respondent has restored corals Not applicable NA Number of habitats restored Sum of number of coastal habitats (oysters, marsh, seagrasses, mangroves, corals) restored Integer from 0-5 NA Research purpose Yes/no whether research has been the purpose of restoration Not applicable NA Remediation purpose Yes/no whether remediation has been the purpose of restoration Not applicable NA Habitat purpose Yes/no whether habitat enhancement has been the purpose of restoration Not applicable NA Fisheries purpose Yes/no whether fisheries enhancement has been the purpose of restoration Not applicable NA Water quality purpose Yes/no whether improving water quality has been the purpose of restoration Not applicable NA Biodiversity purpose Yes/no whether enhancing biodiversity as been the purpose of restoration Not applicable NA Protection purpose Yes/no whether protection of people or property has been the purpose of restoration Not applicable NA Erosion purpose Yes/no whether erosion control has been the purpose of restoration Not applicable NA Carbon purpose Yes/no whether carbon sequestration has been the purpose of restoration Not applicable NA Community purpose Yes/no whether community engagement has been the purpose of restoration Not applicable NA Economic metrics Yes/no whether economic metrics have been used to monitor restoration success Not applicable NA Social metrics Yes/no whether social metrics have been used to monitor restoration success Not applicable NA Community metrics Yes/no whether community outreach metrics have been used to monitor restoration success Not applicable NA Ecological metrics Yes/no whether ecological metrics have been used to monitor restoration success Not applicable NA Geophysical metrics Yes/no whether geophysical metrics have been used to monitor restoration success Not applicable NA Poor water ordinal Degree to which poor water quality is a challenge to successful restorationon on a scale from 1 (not a challenge) to 4 (major challenge) Likert scale NA Disease ordinal Degree to which disease is a challenge to successful restorationon on a scale from 1 (not a challenge) to 4 (major challenge) Likert scale NA Coastal development ordinal Degree to which coastal development is a challenge to successful restorationon on a scale from 1 (not a challenge) to 4 (major challenge) Likert scale NA Permitting ordinal Degree to which permitting and regulations are a challenge to successful restorationon on a scale from 1 (not a challenge) to 4 (major challenge) Likert scale NA Public awareness ordinal Degree to which public awareness or support is a challenge to successful restorationon on a scale from 1 (not a challenge) to 4 (major challenge) Likert scale NA Site availability ordinal Degree to which site availability is a challenge to successful restorationon on a scale from 1 (not a challenge) to 4 (major challenge) Likert scale NA Storms ordinal Degree to which storms are a challenge to successful restorationon on a scale from 1 (not a challenge) to 4 (major challenge) Likert scale NA Herbivory or predation ordinal Degree to which herbivory or predation is a challenge to successful restorationon on a scale from 1 (not a challenge) to 4 (major challenge) Likert scale NA Competition ordinal Degree to which competition is a challenge to successful restorationon on a scale from 1 (not a challenge) to 4 (major challenge) Likert scale NA Invasive species ordinal Degree to which invasive species are a challenge to successful restorationon on a scale from 1 (not a challenge) to 4 (major challenge) Likert scale NA Climate change ordinal Degree to which climate change is a challenge to successful restorationon on a scale from 1 (not a challenge) to 4 (major challenge) Likert scale NA Boating ordinal Degree to which boating is a challenge to successful restorationon on a scale from 1 (not a challenge) to 4 (major challenge) Likert scale NA Dredge ordinal Degree to which dredge and fill is a challenge to successful restorationon on a scale from 1 (not a challenge) to 4 (major challenge) Likert scale NA Genetic diversity is important restoration strategy ordinal Degree to which respondent agrees that genetic diversity is an important restoration strategy on a scale from 1 (do not agree at all) to 5 (agree a great deal) Likert scale NA Importance of oyster genetic diversity ordinal Degree to which respondent agrees that genetic diversity is important for oyster restoration on a scale from 1 (not at all important) to 5 (extremely important). No answer or don't know coded as NA. Likert scale NA Importance of marsh genetic diversity ordinal Degree to which respondent agrees that genetic diversity is important for marsh restoration on a scale from 1 (not at all important) to 5 (extremely important). No answer or don't know coded as NA. Likert scale NA Importance of seagrass genetic diversity ordinal Degree to which respondent agrees that genetic diversity is important for seagrass restoration on a scale from 1 (not at all important) to 5 (extremely important). No answer or don't know coded as NA. Likert scale NA Importance of coral genetic diversity ordinal Degree to which respondent agrees that genetic diversity is important for coral restoration on a scale from 1 (not at all important) to 5 (extremely important). No answer or don't know coded as NA. Likert scale NA Societies Society that respondent belongs to: Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF) or International Coral Reef Society (ICRS) Not applicable NA Gender Gender that respondent identifies with: male, female, prefer not to answer Not applicable NA Percentage of restoration projects published Self-reported percentage of restoration projects that have been published 0-100 NA Site selection - need vs. success Categorical response regarding what determines where you conduct restoration: where restoration is most likely to be ecologically successful; where restoration is most needed ecologically; where restoration is most needed to benefit society; where restoration is most likely to be permitted or funded; other Not applicable NA Site selection - picking site vs. habitat Categorical response to which is more challenging: picking an appropriate site to restore a given habitat; picking an appropriate habitat to restore a given site Not applicable NA Most important for selecting restoration site Categorical response for what factor is most important for selecting restoration sites: access and logistical feasibility; permitting or regulations; appropriate environmental conditions; available funding; geographic proximity Not applicable NA Country Categorical response to in which country do you reside Not applicable NA Birth year Free numerical response to what is your birth year Numerical NA Highest degree Categorical response to what is your highest degree: High school diploma or GED; Bachelors; Masters; PhD Not applicable NA Employer Categorical response to which of the following best describes your employer: national government; state or provincial government; academic institution; non-governmental organization; private for-profit organization; local municipality; other Not applicable NA