Midterm Flashcards
Restoration Definition
The process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed.
Rehabilitation Definition
Assisted recovery of a degraded site so that it is habitable for wildlife and in a functional state.
Reclamation Definition
Reinstating a level of ecosystem functionality and ongoing provision of ecosystem services potentially derived from non-native ecosystems as well
Remediation Definition
The removal, reduction, or neutralization of hazardous material from a site to prevent or minimize any adverse effects on the environment now or in the future.
What is the difference between restoration and reclamation?
Restoration focuses on returning the ecosystem to its original state, where reclamation focuses on making it a productive ecosystem again.
Define Frequency
How often a disturbance occurs
Define Magnitude
How intense the disturbance is (tree falling vs tsunami)
Return Interval
The time it takes an ecosystem to recover after a disturbance
Define Resistance. Use the ball and cup method
Resisting ecological change, its ability to stay in the trough (stable ecosystem)
Define Resilience
The amount of disturbance an ecosystem can tolerate before a regime shift occurs.
Can move within the cup and recover without being moved into another stable state.
Define Ecological Niche. What does it include?
A physical space occupied by an organism, its functional role in community and its position on environmental gradients. Include all abiotic and biotic components of an organisms environment.
Includes activities and modifications made by organisms.
What is a fundamental niche?
The area which an organism can move to, they don’t occupy this space but they could.
What is the concept of niche construction? How can we modify a niche?
Structuring force in ecological communities caused by traits of organisms can modify environment that can be beneficial or detrimental to the niches of coexisting species.
We can modify the realized niche within the fundamental niche.
What are the mechanisms driving plant community assembly?
- starts with pioneer species
- Facilitation: improving site conditions
- Tolerance: No effect on later successional species. Life history traits are important
- Inhibition: Site occupation. Long-lived species are dominant
What are the three drivers of succession?
- Availability of sites
- Availability of different species giving rise to various successional trajectories
- Different capability of species to establish and compete
What four things modify niche?
- Reducing or inducing disturbance (designed disturbance)
- Introduction or removal of species (native keystone species; invasive species)
- Nutrient management
- Hydrological management
Define Bioremediation
Use of biological organisms to remove or neutralize pollutants or contaminants from a contaminated site.
Define Phytoremediation
What type of process is it?
Bioremediation process uses plants (phyto) to remove, transfer, stabilize, and or destroy contaminants in the soil/water.
What is the most important factor for improving an ecosystem in soil restoration?
- Restocking nutrient capital into the soil including SOM and macronutrients
List the three functions of SOM for each: biological, physical, and chemical
Biological
- Energy source
- Nutrient reservoir
- Soil/plant System Resilience
Physical
- Structure stability
- Water retention
- Thermal property
Chemical
- CEC
- pH
- Soil minerals binding to SOM
What are the 8 principles underpinning ecological restoration?
- Engages Stakeholders
- Draws on many types of knowledge
- Is informed by native reference ecosystems while considering environmental change
- Supports ecosystem recovery process
- Is assessed against clear goals and objectives using measurable indicators
- Seeks the highest level of recovery possible
- Gains cumulative value when applied at large scales
- Is part of a continuum of restorative activities
What are the 6 attributes of restored ecosystems? (Recovery Wheel)
- Absence of threats: Removal of:
- over-utilization
- contamination
- invasive species. - Physical conditions: Reinstatement of conditions:
- hydrological (water chemo-physical)
- substrate chemical
- Substrate physical - Species composition: presence of: - Desirable plants
- Desirable animals
- No undesirable species. - Structural diversity: Reinstatement of
- all strata
- faunal food webs (trophic levels)
- spatial habitat diversity - Ecosystem functionality: Appropriate levels of :
- Productivity and nutrient cycling
- habitat elements and plant-animal interactions
- normal stressors (resilience), on-going reproduction and recruitment of species - External exchanges: Reinstatement of habitat linkages and connectivity for migration
- gene flow
- flows including hydrology, fire, or other landscape scale processes.
What are the four objectives that a restoration plan should articulate?
- Attribute or sub-attribute that is being manipulated
- Desired outcome (e.g., increase, decrease, or maintain)
- Magnitude (e.g., 60% increase in plant cover)
- Time frame
Gann et. al
