Ecological restoration

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Ecological restoration
Image from Wikipedia
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Recommended books
"Eat food not highly processed food-like
material. Not too much. Mostly plants."
Images of book jackets from amazon.com
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Climate change opinions
Do you think human activity is a significant
contributing factor in changing mean global
temperature?
From Doran Zimmerman (2009) Eos (formerly
Transactions of the American Geophysical Union)
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Announcement (4/2/09)
Turn in your journals in class today!
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Ecological restoration
Jared Diamond (b. 1937)
Collapse (2005)
Human history is replete with examples of
over-exploitation and habitat destruction without
restoration that resulted in the collapse of
societies
Photo of Diamond from Wikipedia image of book
jacket from amazon.com
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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 in 1930s at U. Wisconsin Arboretum
Photo from Oregon State University
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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 from Wikipedia
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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
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
U. S. Legislation e.g., Clean Water Act (1972)
to restore and maintain the chemical, physical
and biological integrity of the Nations
surface waters
Requires mitigation such that if unavoidable
impacts to waters wetlands occur, those
responsible must restore comparable waters
wetlands elsewhere
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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 Wikipedia
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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 Wikipedia
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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 Wikipedia
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Translocation
Wolves (Canis lupus) in Yellowstone
Photo of translocation of wolves from Alberta,
Canada to Yellowstone, Jan. 1995, from Wikipedia
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Translocation
Wolves (Canis lupus) in Yellowstone
Photo of Alberta wolf in acclimation pen in
Yellowstone, Jan. 1995, from Wikipedia
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Translocation
Wolves (Canis lupus) in Yellowstone
Photo of translocated Alberta wolf in
Yellowstone, from Wikipedia
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Ecological restoration
Image from www.portlandonline.com