Ecological Restoration

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Ecological Restoration
Image from Wikipedia
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Ecological Restoration
George Perkins Marsh (1801 1882)
Man Nature (1864) Contemporaneous with
Romantic-Transcendalists (e.g., Emerson, Muir,
Thoreau)
Marshs key insight anthropogenic imbalances
in Nature did not correct themselves
automatically Humans had to restore what humans
had disturbed.
Photo of Marsh (U.S. diplomat philologist) from
Wikimedia Commons Quote from S. Kingsland (2005)
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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
Photo from Oregon State University
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Ecological Restoration
Jared Diamond (b. 1937)
Collapse (2005)
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
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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. Thats an opportunity that no past
society enjoyed to such a degree
Photo of Diamond from Wikimedia Commons image of
book jacket from amazon.com
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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)
Crissy Field, San FranciscoBefore restoration
Crissy Field, San FranciscoAfter restoration
Photos of a restoration success story from
Wikimedia Commons
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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
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Ecological Restoration
Trajectories of restoration projects
Ecosystem processes
ORIGINAL ECOSYSTEM
Replacement
Restoration
Replacement
Rehabilitation
Enhancement
Biomass nutrient cycling
No action?
DEGRADED ECOSYSTEM
No action?
Ecosystem structure
Species complexity
Modified from Fig. 15.1 in Groom et al. (2006)
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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
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Ecological Restoration
U. S. Legislation e.g., Clean Water Act (1972)
to restore maintain the chemical, physical
biological integrity of the Nations 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
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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 of coal strip mine in Wyoming from
Wikimedia Commons
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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
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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 (WisconsinFlorida)
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
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Translocation
Wolves (Canis lupus) in Yellowstone
Photo of translocation of wolves from Alberta,
Canada to Yellowstone, Jan. 1995, from Wikimedia
Commons
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Translocation
Wolves (Canis lupus) in Yellowstone
Photo of Alberta wolf in acclimation pen in
Yellowstone, Jan. 1995, from Wikimedia Commons
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Translocation
Wolves (Canis lupus) in Yellowstone
Photo of translocated Alberta wolf in
Yellowstone, from Wikimedia Commons
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Restoring Yellowstones Aspen with Wolves
Photo from Wikimedia Commons Figure from W. J.
Ripple R. L. Beschta (2007) Biological
Conservation
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Restoring Yellowstones Aspen with Wolves
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
effect on herbivore behavior
Figure quote from W. J. Ripple R. L. Beschta
(2007) Biological Conservation
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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
Artists re-creation of North American
Pleistocene fauna from Wikimedia Commons
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Re-wilding North America with Pleistocene
Megafauna
and carnivores, such as African lions
Siberian tigers (modern analogs of Smilodon
Saber-toothed cat)
Its a serious proposal, but is it a good idea?
Skull artists re-creation of Smilodon from
Wikimedia Commons
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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?
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Seabird Islands Take Mere Decades to Recover
Following Rat Eradication
Photo of New Zealand seabird colony from
Wikimedia Commons
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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)
Figure from H. P. Jones Ph.D. 2010 Yale School
of Forestry Environ. Sci. (2010) Ecological
Applications
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Seabird Islands Take Mere Decades to Recover
Following Rat Eradication
I show that soil, plant, and spider
marine-derived nitrogen levels and CN 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
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Rapid Recovery of Damaged Ecosystems
Meta-analysis
240 published studies
Figure from H. P. Jones Ph.D. 2010 Yale School
of Forestry Environ. Sci. O. J. Schmitz
(2009) PLoS ONE
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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
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Rapid Recovery of Damaged Ecosystems
Meta-analysis
We provide startling evidence that most
ecosystems globally can, 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.
Quotes from H. P. Jones Ph.D. 2010 Yale School
of Forestry Environ. Sci. O. J. Schmitz
(2009) PLoS ONE
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The Rise of Restoration Ecology
Cover of Science July 31, 2009
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Enhancement of Biodiversity Ecosystem Services
by Ecological Restoration
Meta-analysis (89 restoration assessments
response ratio lnRestored / Degraded or
Reference)
Provisioning e.g., fish, food crops,
timber Supporting 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
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Enhancement of Biodiversity Ecosystem Services
by Ecological Restoration
Meta-analysis (89 restoration assessments
response ratio lnRestored / Degraded or
Reference)
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.
Figure quote from J. M. Rey Benayas et al.
(2009) Science
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Ecological Restoration
Image from www.portlandonline.com