Spontaneous Succession versus Technical Reclamation in the Restoration of Disturbed Sites (original) (raw)
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Possibilities and limitations of passive restoration of heavily disturbed sites
Landscape Research, 2019
Passive restoration, which relies exclusively on natural processes and technical reclamation, which intervenes strongly into the restoration process, represent the extremes of a restoration action continuum. Between the extremes, we consider various degrees of active restoration. We suggest a general scheme to determine which approach to use based on site conditions, landscape context and societal circumstances. We conclude that passive restoration should usually be preferred in smaller sites with low abiotic stress and moderate productivity that are recovering from moderate disturbances. A passive approach may also be preferred in those landscapes that are less altered by humans, where target species are common and both invasive aliens and strong competitive generalists are rare. In such landscapes, passive restoration may succeed even if initial disturbances are intense. Potential of passive restoration has not yet been fully utilised. Passive restoration is viable economically and can produce multiple social and ecological benefits.
Restoration as a Process of Assembly and Succession Mediated by Disturbance
Successional processes in ecosystems have long been studied in ecology, and over a century of work in this field have spawned a series of different successional theories related to how ecosystems develop over time (see Chapter 1). Although ecologists agree on some of the main drivers of changes in species composition within a community, the plethora of different habitats which occur in nature, often with differing histories and organismal composition and structure, does not allow for a unifying theory of succession applicable to all ecosystems or habitats (McIntosh 1999).
The ecology of restoration: historical links, emerging issues and unexplored realms
Ecology Letters, 2005
Restoration ecology is a young academic field, but one with enough history to judge it against past and current expectations of the science's potential. The practice of ecological restoration has been identified as providing ideal experimental settings for tests of ecological theory; restoration was to be the Ôacid testÕ of our ecological understanding. Over the past decade, restoration science has gained a strong academic foothold, addressing problems faced by restoration practitioners, bringing new focus to existing ecological theory and fostering a handful of novel ecological ideas. In particular, recent advances in plant community ecology have been strongly linked with issues in ecological restoration. Evolving models of succession, assembly and state-transition are at the heart of both community ecology and ecological restoration. Recent research on seed and recruitment limitation, soil processes, and diversity-function relationships also share strong links to restoration. Further opportunities may lie ahead in the ecology of plant ontogeny, and on the effects of contingency, such as year effects and priority effects. Ecology may inform current restoration practice, but there is considerable room for greater integration between academic scientists and restoration practitioners.
Choosing appropriate temporal and spatial scales for ecological restoration
Journal of biosciences, 2002
Classic ecological restoration seems tacitly to have taken the Clementsian "balance of nature" paradigm for granted: plant succession terminates in a climax community which remains at equilibrium until exogenously disturbed after which the process of succession is restarted until the climax is reached. Human disturbance is regarded as unnatural and to have commenced in the Western Hemisphere at the time of European incursion. Classic ecological restoration thus has a clear and unambiguous target and may be conceived as aiming to foreshorten the natural processes that would eventually lead to the climax of a given site, which may be determined by its state at "settlement". According to the new "flux of nature" paradigm in ecology a given site has no telos and is constantly changing. Human disturbance is ubiquitous and long-standing, and at certain spatial and temporal scales is "incorporated". Any moment in the past 10,000 years that may be sel...
Do not neglect surroundings in restoration of disturbed sites
Restoration Ecology, 2015
We examined the influence of surroundings, i.e. proximity effects, on the course of spontaneous vegetation succession using two data sets. In the first data set, we tested the effects of surrounding vegetation (woodlands, wetlands, grasslands, and synanthropic) on succession in various disturbed habitats in the Czech Republic by comparing successional sites with more natural vegetation within 100 m and at 1 km from each site. The habitats included old fields, gravel-sand pits, spoil heaps from black coal mining, industrially extracted peatlands, and acidic stone quarries. We found that, with the exception of wetlands, the influence of the vegetation types on seral vegetation was nearly always significant using marginal and partial Canonical Correspondence Analyses. In the second data set, which included 27 limestone quarries, we compared species lists outside (up to 100 m apart) and inside the quarries using Detrended Correspondence Analysis and the Sørensen similarity index. We found much higher species similarity between outside and inside particular limestone quarries than among the quarries themselves and among their surroundings, which also indicates that the seral vegetation is decisively influenced by the surroundings. We argue that restoration ecologists should carefully consider the nature of the surroundings of disturbed sites because of its profound impact on restoration processes. They should conduct inventories and prescribe some restoration measures not only inside a restored site, but also in its surroundings.
Ecological Engineering, 2001
Total vegetation cover, cover of woody species, and participation of dominants in later (pre-forest) successional stages of 16 successional seres starting on bare ground in various human-disturbed habitats (Czech Republic, Central Europe) were compared and evaluated from the viewpoint of restoration ecology. Continuous vegetation was formed before the 15th year of succession in all the seres studied. The establishment and expansion of woody species tended to be easier under moderate environmental conditions and was retarded in rather extreme habitats (dry, wet, nutrient poor, acid). The later-successional dominants were all native species and some rare and endangered species were recorded in these stages. The main conclusion is that spontaneous succession can be relied upon in restoration projects except in the case of extreme, especially toxic substrata. To leave a site to allow spontaneous processes to revegetate it is especially advantageous if the disturbed site is small, surrounded by natural vegetation, and if site conditions were not principally altered by the disturbance. Spontaneous succession is cheap and spontaneously revegetated sites usually exhibit higher natural value.
Ecological restoration as precaution and not as restitutional compensation
Biodiversity and Conservation, 2013
Ecological restoration has become a major issue in environmental management. To overcome the backward orientation of the restoration concept (focusing on reference states and natural ecosystems) the introduction of a precautionary principle is proposed. The principle has been developed for decision-making under high uncertainty about the probability and severity of an environmental damage. Meanwhile, it has been accepted in many countries of the world as a guiding principle for environmental legislation. Likewise it is the basis for international conventions aiming at the conservation of biodiversity. Nevertheless, biodiversity is still neglected in large reclamation projects. Several links between precaution and restoration are described. Restoration can be used to prevent future damage. Otherwise restoration is plagued by uncertainty about the outcome of the measures and may have negative effects or even fail. An analysis of common
The role of spontaneous vegetation succession in ecosystem restoration: A perspective
Applied Vegetation Science, 2001
The paper summarizes ideas which were discussed during the 'Spontaneous Succession in Ecosystem Restoration' conference and elaborated through further discussion among the authors. It seeks to promote the integration of scientific knowledge on spontaneous vegetation succession into restoration programs. A scheme illustrating how knowledge of spontaneous succession may be applied to restoration is presented, and perspectives and possible future research on using spontaneous vegetation succession in ecosystem restoration are proposed. It is concluded that when implementing spontaneous succession for ecological restoration the following points must be considered: setting clear aims; evaluation of environmental site conditions; deciding whether spontaneous succession is an appropriate way to achieve the aims; prediction of successional development; monitoring of the results. The need for interdisciplinary approaches and communication between scientists, engineers and decision-makers is emphasized.