Ecological Restoration

(Concept)
Restoration Ecology
ECL302
Kinley Choden
 Introduction
… take place in an increasingly altered world (Steffen et al., 2015).

Ecologists deploy a strong and diverse body of theory to address a wide range
of ecological problems (Pickett et al., 2007; Hastings and Gross, 2012).
Degradation
Human dispersal over the past 120,000 years has been
accompanied by wave after wave of extinctions and other
forms of environmental degradation. However, this wave
of losses typically subsides as a culture settles into a
reasonably stable relationship with a new and usually
diminished suite of species. And although human societies
by no means manage this consistently, some achieve a
sustainable relationship with their environment that they
may maintain for millennia and that may be characterized
by high levels of biodiversity at both the community and
the species level (Curt Meine, 2001)
Degradation
Degradation is the change in the forest that has negative impacts on the structure or
function of stand or forest land, so that it reduces the forest capacity to provide forest
services/products. REDD+ policy suggests a threshold of 35 tonnes of carbon per
hectare (C/ha)

(REDD+, 2009)
Degradation
Degraded land
- lost some degree of its natural productivity
- Due to human-caused processes.

Land where the native vegetation has been altered by human activity resulting in a
reduction in tree canopy cover, standing biomass or species diversity from which the
system cannot recover unaided within a defined time period
(Fairhurst and McLaughlin 2009).
Map of standard deviation (percent of cell area) among the four
prominent global databases of degraded lands. Source: Gibbs and
Degradation
… global demands for food, feed and fuel continue to
increase at unprecedented rates, while the agricultural land
base needed for production is shrinking in many parts
of the world (Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations, 2005).

Though inevitable, agricultural expansion into natural

ecosystems leads to significant losses of ecosystem
services, such as habitat necessary to maintain
biodiversity, storage of carbon, flood mitigation, and soil
and watershed protection, to cite a few (Lambin and
Meyfroidt, 2011).
Degradation

Every institution points to various types of underutilized or

degraded land as the solution to reconcile forest
conservation with increasing agricultural production
(Alexandratos and Bruinsma, 2012).

There are a host of benefits to be achieved from the

idealized vision of restoring degraded lands, especially when
this could spare forests and avoid competition with food
crops (Ramankutty, Heller, and Rhemtulla, 2010)
Degradation
Land degradation also leads to direct impact on public health

Coastal degradation leads to “elevates the risk of shoreline inhabitants to increasingly frequent and
intense storms and causes increased migration.

“One important complementary strategy to counteract the extensive human impacts on the natural
world is to restore damaged ecosystems.” (Holl,2020)

Illustration by
Egan Jimenez, Princeton School of
Public and International Affairs
 Degradation
Some degraded ecosystems are able to recover naturally but many do not.

There are several possible reasons for this, like

 too few of the original plant and animal biota remain at the site,
 change in some component of the biophysical environment (soil fertility),
 repeated disturbances preclude successional development.

Self-renewal

An ecosystem’s capacity for self-renewal refers to its ability to recover from a natural disturbance such as
fire, flood or wind, and to maintain the necessary ecological processes.
Degradation
Why human intervention in the degraded area?
- the process may be slow.
- increases the chance of further disturbances and degradation
- human intervention can initiate the recovery process
- Human intervention can accelerate the rate at which it proceeds.
Land degradation
i. The most severely degraded land has lost much
of its original biodiversity and most of its
structure, biomass or site productivity (Point B).

ii. Land occupied by woody regrowth after an

earlier disturbance (Point C).

iii. Degraded primary forests have experienced a

very intense disturbance. Some residual trees
remain (Point D).
Types of system response to a disturbance factor
Restoration Ecology
The study of the relation- ships among organisms and their environment in a restoration
context

Restoration ecology draws on all branches of ecological science (Falk et al., 2006).

Typically, this context includes a natural system of some kind that has been altered in
composition, structure, or function.

Restoration ecology is the future of conservation biology’ (Young 2000).

Components to consider for ecological restoration
Ecological Restoration
Describe and quantify those departures from a characteristic
ecosystem state

Understand what drives and regulates the degradation

Project how the system can be moved back toward a less

disturbed state

Recover the properties of an intact system such as species

assemblages, food webs, and functional attributes
(Hobbs and Suding, 2009).
Ecological Restoration

The Society for Ecological Restoration (SER, 2004) defines ecological restoration as,

“the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded,
damaged, or destroyed.”

Ecological restoration has been viewed as ecosystem medicine where the

practitioner is helping nature heal (Nilsen, 1991)
Ecological Restoration

Restorationists attempt to move the composition, structure, and dynamics of a damaged

system to an ecological state that is within some acceptable limit relative to a less altered and
(probably) more sustainable system

(Falk 1990; Allen et al., 2002).

Philosophy of Restoration
Founded upon fundamental ecological and conservation principles

Involves management actions designed to facilitate the recovery or re-

establishment of native ecosystems.

Restore natural systems to conditions consistent with their

recent
evolutionary environments

Prevent further degradation

(Society for Ecological Restoration, 1993).

Disturbances and Restoration

Degree of disturbances and recovery processes (Palmer and Ruhl

Motivation for restoration
• Compensation for past damages
 Conserving biodiversity
 Enhancing ecosystem processes
 Counteracting climate change

• Economic
 Providing ecosystem services
 “Providing employment and job training”

• Cultural/spiritual
 Reconnecting with nature and experiential education
 Conserving cultural values
 “Atoning for past damages”

• Legislative
 Complying with legislation
Restoration outcome
A “fully restored” ecosystem is inferred to be self-sustaining and resilient; that is, it has the
capacity for recovery from expected change and stress (SER, 2004). In cases where landscape-
scale processes no longer occur naturally, restoration can compensate for some constraints on
self-sustainability by reintroducing the missing process.
Triple bottom line - ecological restoration

From an ecological perspective, it is an intentional activity

that initiates or accelerates ecosystem recovery with respect
to species composition, community structure, ecological
function, suitability of the physical environment to support
the biota, and connectivity with the surrounding landscape.
Triple bottom line - ecological restoration

From an economic perspective, ecological

restoration recovers flows of natural goods and
services of economic consequence that functional
ecosystems provide to society.
Triple bottom line - ecological restoration

From the socio-cultural perspective, ecological

restoration renews our relationship with nature in the
realms of aesthetics, personal fulfillment, and shared
experience and meaning.
Terms used to describe the processes

Site level

Reclamation

• Used for situations where productivity or structure is regained but biodiversity is not.

• Recovery of productivity at a degraded site using mostly exotic tree species.

• Species monocultures are often used.

• Original biodiversity is not recovered but protective function and many of the original
ecological services may be re-established.
Terms used to describe the processes

Site level

Rehabilitation

• Re-establishing the productivity and some, but not necessarily all, of the plant and
animal species originally present.

• For ecological or economic reasons the new forest may include species not originally
present.

• In time, the original forest’s protective function and ecological services may be re-
established.
Terms used to describe the processes

Site level

Ecological Restoration

• Re-establishing the structure, productivity and species diversity of the forest

originally present.

• In time, ecological processes and functions will match those of the original forest.
Restoration, ecosystem structure and function
Restoration and environmental quality
Landscape Level of restoration
Terms used to describe the processes

Landscape level

Forest landscape restoration

A process that aims to regain ecological integrity and enhance human well-being
in
deforested or degraded forest landscapes.
Terms used to describe the processes

Landscape level

Ecological integrity

Maintaining the diversity and quality of ecosystems, and enhancing their capacity to adapt to
change and provide for the needs of future generations.
Terms used to describe the processes

Landscape level

Human well-being

Ensuring that all people have a role in shaping decisions that affect their ability to meet their
needs, safeguard their livelihoods and realize their full potential.
Review questions

1. Define the following terms:

a) Degradation
b) Restoration
c) Reclamation
d) Rehabilitation

2. Discuss the philosophy behind ecological restoration

3. How can an ecological restoration be used to enhance rural livelihood?

4. Evaluate the possibility of integrating Payment For Ecosystem Services

(PES) in
funding or as an investment to initiate ecological restoration?