ecological restoration image from wikimedia commons

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Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

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Page 1: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

Ecological Restoration

Image from Wikimedia Commons

Page 2: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

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.”

Page 3: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

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

Page 4: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

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)

Page 5: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

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)

Page 6: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

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)

Page 7: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

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

Page 8: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

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

Page 9: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

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

Page 10: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

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

Page 11: Ecological Restoration Image 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)

Page 12: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

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)

Page 13: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

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)

Page 14: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

Photo of translocation of wolves from Alberta, Canada to Yellowstone, Jan. 1995, from Wikimedia Commons

Translocation

Wolves (Canis lupus) in Yellowstone

Page 15: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

Photo of Alberta wolf in acclimation pen in Yellowstone, Jan. 1995, from Wikimedia Commons

Translocation

Wolves (Canis lupus) in Yellowstone

Page 16: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

Photo of translocated Alberta wolf in Yellowstone, from Wikimedia Commons

Translocation

Wolves (Canis lupus) in Yellowstone

Page 17: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

Photo from Wikimedia Commons; Figure from W. J. Ripple & R. L. Beschta (2007) Biological Conservation

“Restoring Yellowstone’s Aspen with Wolves”

Page 18: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

“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

Page 19: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

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

Page 20: Ecological Restoration Image 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?

Page 21: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

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?

Page 22: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

Photo of New Zealand seabird colony from Wikimedia Commons

“Seabird Islands Take Mere Decades to Recover Following Rat Eradication”

Page 23: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

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)

Page 24: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

“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

Page 25: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

“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

Page 26: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

“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

Page 27: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

“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.”

Page 28: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

Cover of Science – July 31, 2009

“The Rise of Restoration Ecology”

Page 29: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

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

Page 30: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

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])

Page 31: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

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

Page 32: Ecological Restoration Image from Wikimedia Commons

Ecological Restoration

Image from www.portlandonline.com