Intro to restoration eco

Question 1

What is the definition of Restoration Ecology?

Answer 1

Restoration is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged or destroyed. (SER )

Question 2

What is the biggest cause of ecosystem degradation?

Answer 2

Human modification of land

Question 3

What does the degradation of ecosystems imply?

Answer 3

Loss of biodiversity and species

Question 4

What are the two ways that an ecosystem can change?

Answer 4

1. Linear
2. Non-Linear

Question 5

What does a linear change of an ecosystem involve?

Answer 5

Natural succession is an example: Biodiversity, biomass and soil organic layer increase over time (linearly).

It involves:
-continuous states
-No sharp boundaries
-gradual response to disturbance

Restoring such ecosystem involves lowering the disturbance levels (going left on the graph)

Question 6

What does a NON-linear change in an ecosystem involve?

Answer 6

An example is the Sahara (sharp decline, no going back).

It involves:
-Sharp boundaries between states (less sharp environmental boundaries)
-discrete states (A, B or C no AB etc)
-response to distrubance: resilient then big change (THRESHOLDS)
-need to overcome threshold (so no gradual change) in order to restore

Question 7

What are the 3 types of thresholds?

Answer 7

1. Biotic: Species*Species
2. Biotic: Species*Landscape
3. Abiotic

Question 8

What does the biotic spp*spp threshold involve?

Answer 8

-Presence of dominant competitive (exotic) species
-predation/grazing pressure too low or too high
-absence of facilitating species (e.g. pollinators)

Question 9

What does the biotic spp*landscape threshold involve?

Answer 9

-suitable area cannot be colonised
-area too small to host healthy population
-landscape does not match species (multihabitat use within and between life stages)

Question 10

What does the abiotic threshold involve?

Answer 10

-resource-related (nutrients, water, light)
-non-resource (microclimate, toxic contaminants)

N.B.: more difficult to overcome than biotic

Question 11

What does multihabitat use involve?

Answer 11

The use of a species of different habitat for different functions of life/traits: e.g. foraging, shelter, reproduction and orientation

Question 12

What does heterogeneity in an ecosystem involve?

Answer 12

1. COMPOSITIONAL - diversity of habitat types (multihabitat use)
2. CONFIGURATIONAL - how the limited habitat types look (shape, better evenly distributed, connected or more transitions (edge))

Question 13

What is the first step of a systematic approach to restoration and what questions does it involve?

Answer 13

1. Choosing a target
   What reference to choose?
   -HISTORICAL: as it was previously there; pro: rest population is present, high chance that it fits the landscape; con: possible lagre effort to change current situation

-FEASIBLE TARGET: looking at current conditions and see what is possible; pro: cheapest, least disturbance; con: less spp rich

Question 14

Why restoring an ecosystem?

Answer 14

1. ecosystem services
2. intrinsic value

Question 15

To what restoring an ecosystem?

Answer 15

1. Wilderness: eliminating stressor and letting the natural processes restart for themselves
2. Arcadia: semi-natural cultural landscapes with patterns (heavily managed and helped in transitions)

Question 16

What are the other steps to the systematic approach?

Answer 16

2. Mechanism - why did it disappear?
3. Biotic or abiotic thresholds? - key habitat, soil chemistry
4. Configuration landscape - size reserve, connectivity, elements, hydrology?
   
   • from large to small: climate, topography, hydrology, soil parent material, root zone, soil organisms, vegetation, herbivores, predsators
5. Source population - animal reintroduction, seed banks?
6. Current/follow-up managemant - type, intensity, timing
7. Approach restoration - intervention, legislation, communication etc
8. Monitoring - target reached? if not why?

Question 17

What needs to be taken into consideration when thinking about rest populations?

Answer 17

1. Is it present?
2. Is it close by?
3. Can the target spp recolonise reserve in suitable time?

What can be done?
Improve connectivity
Reintroduce spp
Choose another restoration target

Question 18

What are the considerations needed for spp reintroduction?

Answer 18

-ethical considerations
-is the environment suitable ((a)biotic conditions + landscape)?
-how to reintroduce? seeds, sods (+ microorganisms) and hay or animals?
-what would the source be? local - regional - national
same type of environment
several (large) populations (bc of higher genetic variation)

Question 19

What are 2 important characteristics when thinking about source populations for reintroduction?

Answer 19

1. Genetic diversity - take from large population bc better chance of having strong genetic traits
2. Local adaptations - usually more successful bc better adapted to local conditions (or mix of large populations, more chance the local genetic traits are there)