Ecological Restoration Image from Wikipedia
Dec 26, 2015
Photo of Marsh (U.S. diplomat & philologist) from Wikimedia Commons; Quote from S. Kingsland (2005)
Ecological Restoration
George Perkins Marsh(1801 – 1882)
Man & Nature (1864)
Contemporaneous with Romantic-Transcendalists
(e.g., Emerson, Muir, Thoreau)
Marsh’s “key insight” –anthropogenic imbalances in Nature
“did not correct themselves automatically… Humans had to restore what humans had disturbed.”
Photo from Oregon State University
Ecological Restoration
Aldo Leopold(1887 – 1948)
A Sand County Almanac (1949)
Milestone for plant community restoration –Leopold & colleagues restored ~120 ha
of forest & prairie at U. Wisconsin Arboretum;1930s
Human history is replete with examples of over-exploitation& habitat destruction without restoration that resulted in
societal collapse (i.e., societies that were not operating sustainably)
Photo of Diamond from Wikimedia Commons; image of book jacket from amazon.com
Ecological Restoration
Jared Diamond(b. 1937)
Collapse (2005)
Final paragraph of Collapse: “My remaining cause for hope… we have the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of distant peoples and past peoples. That’s an opportunity that no past
society enjoyed to such a degree…”
Photo of Diamond from Wikimedia Commons; image of book jacket from amazon.com
Ecological Restoration
Jared Diamond(b. 1937)
Collapse (2005)
Photos of a restoration success story from Wikimedia Commons
Crissy Field, San FranciscoBefore restoration
Crissy Field, San FranciscoAfter restoration
Ecological Restoration
“…the process of intentionally altering a site to establish a defined, indigenous, historic ecosystem. The goal of the process is to emulate the structure,
function, diversity and dynamics of the specified ecosystem…” (Society for Ecological Restoration 1991)
Ecological Restoration
Groom et al. (2006) recognize several sub-categories:
Rehabilitation – improves a site from its degraded state
Enhancement or augmentation – improves a few ecosystem functions in a site from its degraded state
Reclamation – often associated with mines or waste dumps, in which the initial goal is detoxification & terrain stabilization
Replacement – specifies a novel community type for the site to achieve a particular conservation goal; often to improve ecosystem processes with less regard for
ecosystem structure
Modified from Fig. 15.1 in Groom et al. (2006)
Bio
mas
s &
nu
trie
nt
cycl
ing
Species & complexity
Ecosystem processes
Ecosystem structure
ORIGINAL ECOSYSTEM
DEGRADED ECOSYSTEM
Restoration
Rehabilitation
Enhancement
No action?
No action?
Replacement
Replacement
Ecological Restoration
Trajectories of restoration projects
Ecological Restoration
Additional sub-categories from Groom et al. (2006) & other texts:
Remediation (similar to reclamation) – removes chemical contaminants from polluted areas – by biotic, chemical or physical means –
especially to protect human & ecosystem health
Re-creation (similar to replacement) – constructs a new biological community on a site in which anthropogenic disturbance
essentially removed the entire native community, often in an attempt to match a particular historic condition
Ecological Restoration
U. S. Legislation – e.g., Clean Water Act (1972)
“to restore & maintain the chemical, physical & biological integrity of the Nation’s [surface] waters”
Requires mitigation: if unavoidable impacts to waters & wetlands occur, those responsible must restore / re-create comparable ecosystems elsewhere
Photo of wetland mitigation project in Australia (outside jurisdiction of CWA) from Wikimedia Commons
Photo of coal strip mine in Wyoming from Wikimedia Commons
Ecological Restoration
U. S. Legislation – e.g., Surface Mining Control & Reclamation Act (1977)
Aims to prevent adverse effects of surface mining (especially coal)& requires mining companies to restore mined sites
(usually initiated through reclamation)
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
Ex situ breeding reintroduction
Whooping Crane (Grus americana)
The tallest bird species in N. America; one of the most endangered (41 wild birds in 1941; ~350 today)
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
Ex situ breeding reintroduction
Whooping Crane (Grus americana)
Cross-fostering with Sandhill Cranes failed, due to imprinting on foster parents (which resulted in inappropriate mate choices later)
Captive breeding, followed by migratory training using light aircraft, has re-established an eastern migratory population (Wisconsin–Florida)
Photo of translocation of wolves from Alberta, Canada to Yellowstone, Jan. 1995, from Wikimedia Commons
Translocation
Wolves (Canis lupus) in Yellowstone
Photo of Alberta wolf in acclimation pen in Yellowstone, Jan. 1995, from Wikimedia Commons
Translocation
Wolves (Canis lupus) in Yellowstone
Photo of translocated Alberta wolf in Yellowstone, from Wikimedia Commons
Translocation
Wolves (Canis lupus) in Yellowstone
Photo from Wikimedia Commons; Figure from W. J. Ripple & R. L. Beschta (2007) Biological Conservation
“Restoring Yellowstone’s Aspen with Wolves”
“Restoring Yellowstone’s Aspen with Wolves”
Figure & quote from W. J. Ripple & R. L. Beschta (2007) Biological Conservation
“combined effects of a behaviorally-mediated and density-mediated trophic
cascade”
Density-mediated – indirect carnivore effect on plants owing to lethal direct carnivore effect on herbivore density
Behaviorally-mediated – indirect carnivore effect on plants owing to
non-lethal carnivore effecton herbivore behavior
Re-wilding North America with Pleistocene Megafauna
Some Conservation Biologists have made
a serious proposal that we should re-create the N. Am.
Pleistocene fauna with modern analogs
e.g., African elephants, South
American camelids…
Artist’s re-creation of North American Pleistocene fauna from Wikimedia Commons
Re-wilding North America with Pleistocene Megafauna
Skull & artist’s re-creation of Smilodon from Wikimedia Commons
… and carnivores, such as African lions
& Siberian tigers (modern analogs of
Smilodon [Saber-toothed cat])
It’s a serious proposal, but is it
a good idea?
Key ecological goals for restoration
1. Restore natural ecosystem processes
2. Re-establish native species and their functional roles (especially key players, e.g., ecosystem engineers, foundation species, etc.)
3. Remove / control / monitor exotic species
4. Others?
Photo of New Zealand seabird colony from Wikimedia Commons
“Seabird Islands Take Mere Decades to Recover Following Rat Eradication”
Figure from H. P. Jones [Ph.D. 2010 Yale School of Forestry & Environ. Sci.] (2010) Ecological Applications
“Seabird Islands Take Mere Decades to Recover Following Rat Eradication”
15 islands off NE coast of
New Zealand
Black dashed lines = Control islands (never
invaded by rats)
Red dashed lines = Positive Control islands (rats currently
present)
“Seabird Islands Take Mere Decades to Recover Following Rat Eradication”
“I show that soil, plant, and spider marine-derived nitrogen levels and C:N ratios take mere decades to recover even after
centuries-long rat invasion. Moreover, active seabird restoration could speed recovery even further, giving much hope
to quickly conserve many endemic species on islands worldwide.”
Quote from H. P. Jones [Ph.D. 2010 Yale School of Forestry & Environ. Sci.] (2010) Ecological Applications
“Rapid Recovery of Damaged Ecosystems”
Meta-analysis
Figure from H. P. Jones [Ph.D. 2010 Yale School of Forestry & Environ. Sci.] & O. J. Schmitz (2009) PLoS ONE
240 published studies
“Rapid Recovery of Damaged Ecosystems”
Figure from H. P. Jones [Ph.D. 2010 Yale School of Forestry & Environ. Sci.] & O. J. Schmitz (2009) PLoS ONE
Meta-analysis
“Rapid Recovery of Damaged Ecosystems”
Quotes from H. P. Jones [Ph.D. 2010 Yale School of Forestry & Environ. Sci.] & O. J. Schmitz (2009) PLoS ONE
Meta-analysis
“We provide startling evidence that most ecosystems globallycan, given human will, recover from very major perturbations
[a.k.a. disturbances] on timescales of decades to half-centuries.”
“The message of our paper is that recovery is possible and can be rapid for many ecosystems, giving much hope for humankind to transition to sustainable management of global ecosystems.”
Figure & quote from J. M. Rey Benayas et al. (2009) Science
“Enhancement of Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services by Ecological Restoration”
Meta-analysis(89 restoration assessments;
response ratio = ln[Restored / Degraded or Reference])
Provisioning = e.g., fish, food crops, timberSupporting = e.g., nutrient cycling, primary production
Regulating = e.g., climate, water supply, soil characteristics
Figure & quote from J. M. Rey Benayas et al. (2009) Science
“Enhancement of Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services by Ecological Restoration”
“Ecological restoration increased provision of biodiversity and ecosystem services by 44 and 25%, respectively. However, values of both remained
lower in restored versus intact reference ecosystems.”
Meta-analysis(89 restoration assessments;
response ratio = ln[Restored / Degraded or Reference])