Introduction to Restoration Ecology What is ecological restoration?

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Introduction to Restoration Ecology What is ecological restoration?

Transcript of Introduction to Restoration Ecology What is ecological restoration?

Page 1: Introduction to Restoration Ecology What is ecological restoration?

Introduction to Restoration Ecology

What is ecological restoration?

Page 2: Introduction to Restoration Ecology What is ecological restoration?

Why do restoration?

• Human impacts threaten integrity, resilience and sustainability– Introduced species,

structures, and processes

– Altered disturbance regimes

– Fragmentation– Changing climate

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What are the goals of restoration?

• Make ecosystems more like they once were

• Reduce need for continual intervention and active management

• Sustainability

• Ecological integrity

• Resilience

Page 4: Introduction to Restoration Ecology What is ecological restoration?

Defining ecological restoration• “the process of assisting the recovery and

management of ecological integrity. Ecological integrity includes a critical range of variability in biodiversity, ecological processes and structures, regional and historical context and sustainable cultural practices”

(Society for Ecological Restoration, http://www.ser.org/definitions.html)

Page 5: Introduction to Restoration Ecology What is ecological restoration?

Defining ecological restoration

• A “broad conceptual framework for helping ecosystems recover more nearly natural structure and function while providing for continued use by humans. For ecological restoration to proceed on sound scientific footing, it must be rooted in the best knowledge available, with carefully reasoned analysis, checked against factual evidence.”

http://www.eri.nau.edu/FAQ.htm

Page 6: Introduction to Restoration Ecology What is ecological restoration?

Similar terms (Bradshaw 1997, van Diggelen et al. 2001)

• Reclamation – Makes useful, but not necessarily original state– Typically focuses on increasing biodiversity– Often applied in highly disturbed sites

• Rehabilitation– Reintroduces some ecosystem functions– Any improvement from a degraded state

• Restoration– Most ambitious– Typically attempts to reconstruct structure,

composition and function of an ecosystem

Page 7: Introduction to Restoration Ecology What is ecological restoration?

Successful restoration Some of the

oldest and most successful restoration projects are in prairies

Many restoration projects include restoring natural fire regimes

Page 8: Introduction to Restoration Ecology What is ecological restoration?

Restoration includes (Bradshaw 1997, Jackson et al. 1995, Keane and Arno 2001)

• Assess need for action– Inventory and describe– Consider humans in an integrated

ecological approach

• Identify goals and objectives• Prioritize• Design and implement treatments • Monitor and evaluate success• Maintain• Use adaptive management

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Choosing references (White and Walker 1997, Landres et al. 1999, Stephenson 1999)

• References are used in judging when restoration is successful

• References can be existing conditions in healthy ecosystems, or they may be inferred from historical information and models

• Historical composition, structure, and disturbance regimes should be guides rather than goals

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Assumptions (http://www.ies.wisc.edu/cre/ )

• We can recreate historical conditions • The physical environment can be manipulated to

support the desired plants and animals. • Inadequate substrate can be manipulated to

sustain native biota.• The desired biota (plants & animals) will establish if

selected plant species are introduced.• Reestablishing natural disturbance regimes is

critical to long-term sustainability

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Approaches

• Stephenson (1999) contrasted two:– Structure first,

then process– Process first, then

structure

• Most people implement a hybrid of the two approaches

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Opportunities (http://www.ies.wisc.edu/cre/)

• Produce native seed

• Support local business and communities with small-scale logging

• Promote as ecotourism

• Sequester carbon

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Challenges (http://www.ies.wisc.edu/cre/)

• Fragmented landscapes are dominated by humans

• Land use restrictions can affect taxes, income generation, and public support

• Requires interdisciplinary collaboration• Long-term maintenance• Gaining public support for fire and other

restoration programs

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Scale

• Most restoration efforts are small and site-specific

• Many restoration needs are broader (cover large areas) and long-term

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Factors affecting success (Adapted from Jackson et al. 1995)

Ecological circumstances

Values Social commitment

Judgements

Ideal

Rich data and expertise

Narrowly anthropocentric

Biocentric

Poor, with irreversible damage

Data and knowledge

High

Low

Good, with little damage

Page 16: Introduction to Restoration Ecology What is ecological restoration?

Literature citedCenter for restoration ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Available

[Online] < http://www.ies.wisc.edu/cre/ > October 2, 2001.

Ecological restoration institute, Northern Arizona University. Available [Online] < http://www.eri.nau.edu/FAQ.htm > October 2, 2001.

Jackson, L.L., N. Lopoukhine, D. Hillyard. 1995. Ecological restoration: A definition and comments. Restoration Ecology 3(2): 71-75.

Society for Ecological Restoration. 1996. Definition of ecological restoration. Available [Online] < http://www.ser.org > October 2, 2001.

Stephenson, N.L. 1999. Reference conditions for giant sequoia forest restoration: structure, process and precision. Ecological Applications 994): 1253-1265.

Van Diggelen, R., Ab P. Grootjans and J. A. Harris. 2001. Ecological restoration: state of the art or state of the science? Restoration Ecology 9 (2):115-118.

White, P. S., and J. L. Walker. 1997. Approximating nature’s variation: selecting and using reference information in restoration ecology. Restoration Ecology 5:338-349.