©Danilo Lima, Agripalm Ambiental
The RRC database contains a wide variety of resources and publications related to ecological restoration, and we are actively working to expand this collection. It is our aim to serve as the principal clearinghouse for information and tools to support the work of researchers, practitioners, land managers, educators, students, and anyone else interested in restoration. Use the filter tool below to search the database by title, author, resource type, keyword, or any combination of these factors.
Although SER does review all entries in the database for relevance and quality, these resources have not been rigorously reviewed or extensively vetted in every case, and SER therefore makes no claim as to their accuracy or accordance with generally accepted principles in the field. The database is provided as a resource for visitors to the SER website, and it is ultimately left to the individual user to make their own determinations about the quality and veracity of a given publication or resource.
If there is a resource we missed, please let us know! We are interested in current books, articles, technical documents, videos, and other resources that are directly relevant to ecological restoration science, practice or policy, as well as resources treating the social, cultural and economic dimensions of restoration.
Agroecological Restoration of Savanna Ecosystems
Abstract:Results of experiments which demonstrate that nutrient deficiency in the Sahel savanna is a more serious problem than low rainfall and that nitrogen and phosphorus are the limiting nutrients in many savanna ecosystems are reviewed. The roles played by trees in the savanna such as provision of shade, preservation of water, reduction of susceptibility to erosion and nutrient pump are highlighted and species whose cultivation must be intensified so as to promote sustainability in savanna ecosystems are listed. The principles of agroecological restoration of savanna ecosystems whose focus is on the restoration of ecological balance and which has been successfully practiced in Ghana are highlighted.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1998
Restoration of fish habitats
Abstract:This document briefly outlines the importance, values and functions of marine wetland areas, as well as the responsibilities of DPI Fisheries in relation to administration of the Fisheries Act 1994. The main body of the document involves an 11 Step plan for use in development of
restoration plans. This plan highlights the importance of outlining the entire project prior to commencement of works, the documentation of results following works and the instigation of an ongoing management plan following works.
Publication Date: 1998
The Effects of Organic Amendments on the Restoration of a Disturbed Coastal Sage Scrub Habitat
Abstract:The effectiveness of organic mulch as a simple means of enhancing the restoration of disturbed lands by providing a competitive edge to native perennials, such as Artemisia californica (California sagebrush), over exotic annuals, such as Avena fatua (wild oat), was studied by investigating the effect of organic amendments on microbial activity and nitrogen immobilization through both soil analysis and aboveground plant growth. The addition of organic amendment resulted in an increase in microbial activity, a parallel increase in nitrogen immobilization, and no significant differences in total soil nitrogen. When the availability of nitrogen was reduced through increased immobilization, amended plots established an environment more conducive to native perennial shrubs, allowing them to out compete exotic annuals for water and nutrients. This simple procedure could have major implications for enhancing the restoration of disturbed lands.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1998
The role of thermal regime in tundra plant community restoration
Abstract:Our small-scale experiment showed that the native thermal regime of a plant community is vital in revegetating a disturbed tundra. But large-scale restoration using transplants requires resources of modern extraction technology, engineering, and planning to salvage the extensive live tundra mats now routinely destroyed under gravel fills of roads, structures, and mine-site stockpiles.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1998
Vegetation Restoration by Seasonal Exclosure in the Kerqin Sandy Land, Inner Mongolia
Abstract:The aim of the reported study was to evaluate the effectiveness of this seasonal exclosure on vegetation restoration. Species compositional data were obtained from 356 quadrats and ordinated by Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA). Ordination indicated that landform was the most important factor influencing the species composition of the vegetation. Regardless of landform and type of grazing control, however, vegetation coverage, vegetation height and species richness were higher at sites where grazing had been controlled, than at sites lacking any control. Perennial species were dominant at the former while annual species were dominant at the latter. Both shrub and tree species were quite rare at the sites where seasonal exclosure had been carried out. It is concluded that seasonal exclosure is sufficient to restore and maintain grassland vegetation in and around the study area. When shrubby or tree vegetation is needed for reasons such as fixing sands or preventing sand dune remobilization, complete exclosure is recommended.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1998
Yellow Bush Lupine Invasion in Northern California Coastal Dunes: Ecological Impacts and Manual Restoration Techniques
Abstract:We studied the ecological effects of the invasion of coastal dunes by Lupinus arboreus (yellow bush lupine), an introduced species, and used the results to develop manual restoration techniques on the North Spit of Humboldt Bay. Vegetation and soil data were collected in five vegetation types representing points along a continuum of bush lupine’s invasive influence. We collected data on the number and size of shrubs, vegetation cover, and soil nutrients. One set of plots was subjected to two restoration treatments: removal of lupine shrubs only, or removal of all nonnative vegetation and removal of litter and duff. Treatments were repeated annually for four years, and emerging lupine seedlings were monitored for three years. Prior to treatment, ammonium and nitrate were found to increase along the lupine continuum, but organic matter decreased at the extreme lupine end. Yellow bush lupine was not the most significant variable affecting variation in soil nutrients.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1998
Large-scale Ecological Restoration of Degraded Tropical Forest Lands: The Potential Role of Timber Plantations
Abstract:Timber plantations are one of the few means by which large areas of cleared or degraded landscape can be reforested. These usually restore the productive capacity of the landscape but do little to recover biological diversity. But a number of approaches might be used to redesign such plantations so that they would both yield the timber needed to justify the investment and also contain some proportion of their former biodiversity. These approaches include using indigenous species rather than exotic species, creating species mosaics by matching species to particular sites, embedding the plantation monocultures in a matrix of intact or restored vegetation, using species mixtures rather than monocultures, or encouraging the diverse plant understories that can often develop beneath plantations.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1998
Maintaining and Restoring Biodiversity in European Boreal Forests by Developing Natural Disturbance Regimes
Abstract:Three main disturbance regimes are distinguished in the European boreal forest, based on the complex interactions between probabilistic (e.g. mean fire intervals at different site types) and random events (e.g. where and when a fire occurs): (1) gap-phase Picea abies dynamics; (2) succession from young to old-growth mixed deciduous/coniferous forest; and (3) multi-cohort Pinus sylvestris dynamics. The model stems mainly from studies in Fennoscandia, but some studies from outside this region are reviewed to provide support for a more general application of the model. The model has been implemented in planning systems on the landscape level of several large Swedish forest enterprises, and is also used as an educational tool to help private land owners with the location and realization of forest management regimes. Finally, the model can be used to develop an administrative system for the monitoring of biodiversity in boreal forest.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1998
Managing Urban Wetlands for Multiple Use: Research, Restoration, and Recreation
Abstract:Conservation of urban wetland habitat is challenging, because multiple uses must coexist. We use examples from California and Wisconsin to describe potential synergies among recreation, restoration and research activities (the 3 R’s). Allowing passive recreation is often essential to garner public support for habitat protection, restoration, and research. In turn, restoration activities can improve the appearance of degraded sites, and designing the work as a research experiment can serve the scientific community.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1998
Mangrove Restoration: A Potential Tool for Coastal Management in Tropical Developing Countries
Abstract:Past mangrove restoration projects in developing countries have focused only on methods of re-establishing trees, with little attention given to assessing whether ecosystem function is restored. However, the goal of mangrove restoration projects should be to actively promote a return to the natural assemblage structure and function (within the bounds of natural variation) that is self-sustaining. This goal requires: (i) identifying the natural state, including key organisms in maintaining the physical substratum, community structure and food webs maintaining fish stocks; (ii) developing biotechnology for restoring key organisms; and (iii) assessing the long-term success of the project. As restoration promises to be an important tool for maintaining coastal ecosystem health in developing countries, priority should be given to incorporating restoration projects and their evaluation into coastal management plans.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1998
Restoration and management of riparian ecosystems: A catchment perspective
Abstract:We propose that strategies for the management of riparian ecosystems should incorporate concepts of landscape ecology and contemporary principles of restoration and conservation. A detailed understanding of the temporal and spatial dynamics of the catchment landscape (e.g. changes in the connectivity and functions of channel, riparian and terrestrial components) is critical. This perspective is based upon previous definitions of riparian ecosystems, consideration of functional attributes at different spatial scales and retrospective analyses of anthropogenic influences on river catchments.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1998
Restoration and Rehabilitation of Species-Rich Grassland Ecosystems in France: a Review
Abstract:Some variations are presented of a general model of restoration and rehabilitation: (1) rejuvenation of fallow land by grazing with rustic animal breeds in wetlands or chalk grasslands in south and northwestern France, (2) restoration by recovery of extensive agricultural management in intensive agricultural areas such as the Rho_ne or Meuse Valleys, and (3) rehabilitation by appropriate ecological engineering carried out in grasslands degraded by intensification, ski-track, or civil engineering installations. Despite some positive results, these undertakings have not always had the expected effects and therefore should not provide alibis for the destruction of natural grasslands. In general, the success of such undertakings depends on the maintenance in the surrounding areas of protected seed source reservoirs and on the persistence of a diversified landscape pattern permitting connectivity between these seed sources and the restoration or rehabilitation sites.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1998
Community-Based Coastal Resources Management in Indonesia: Examples and Initial Lessons from North Sulawesi
Abstract:This paper describes the experiences and lessons learned by Proyek Pesisir in establishing community-based marine sanctuaries at one field site within the Minahasa Regency. It is argued that community-based and decentralized coral reef and coastal management initiatives can be established within the current institutional framework given the new openness within government and demands by the public for governance reforms.
Resource Type:Technical DocumentPublication Date: 1998
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Woodland Ecosystem Restoration
Abstract:In this study, the cost-effectiveness of government expenditure is investigated by comparing the cost of grant aid with the ecosystem restoration potential of new woodlands. An expert- based system for scoring ecosystem restoration potential is described and applied to over 200 new woodlands in a Geographic Information System. New woodlands varied considerably with respect to both cost and ecosystem restoration score, with the most cost-effective woodlands established close to existing woodlands using natural colonisation techniques. Overall ecosystem score was negatively correlated with government expenditure. Alternative approaches to improving the cost-effectiveness of grant aid are discussed.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1998
Creating and Restoring Wetlands: A Whole-Ecosystem Experiment in Self-Design
Abstract:A hydrologically open created wetland can develop, through self-design, a diverse assemblage of species even where no propugules existed before.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1998
Defining and Restoring Biological Integrity in Wilderness Lakes
Abstract:Restoring ecosystems to some previous “natural” state is often impeded by the lack of information on what goal is to be attained. However, a target for restoration of lake ecosystems can be established by developing a multimetric tool for the assessment of biological integrity. Our study identified a set of recurring responses to disturbance that indicate impaired biological integrity in lakes that include properties of species composition, taxonomic diversity, and functional organization of the lake communities. We then tested these hypothesized responses in 12 small, isolated Adirondack lakes impacted by nonnative fish species, from collections of fish, benthic invertebrates, zooplankton, and phytoplankton over a 3-yr period. We also tested the feasibility of restoring biological integrity through fish-community manipulation in three additional lakes utilizing these integrity indicators as a recovery target.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1998
Catalyzing Natural Forest Restoration on Degraded Tropical Landscapes
Abstract:In this paper, the results of recent studies conducted since 1995 in several countries in Latin America, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region on the phenomenon of plantation-catalysed native forest restoration will be summarised and their potential application in wildlife conservation programmes discussed.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1997
Ecological theory and community restoration Eeology
Abstract:Community ecological theory may play an important role in the development of a science of restoration ecology. Not only will the practice of restoration benefit from an increased focus on theory, but basic research in community ecology will also benefit. We pose several major thematic questions that are relevant to restoration from the perspective of community ecological theory and, for each, identify specific areas that are in critical need of further research to advance the science of restoration ecology.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1997
Hopes for the future: Restoration ecology and conservation biology
Abstract:Conversion of natural habitats into agricultural and industrial landscapes, and ultimately into degraded land, is the major impact of humans on the natural environment, posing a great threat to biodiversity. The emerging discipline of restoration ecology provides a powerful suite of tools for speeding the recovery of degraded lands. In doing so, restoration ecology provides a crucial complement to the establishment of nature reserves as a way of increasing land for the preservation of biodiversity. An integrated understanding of how human population growth and changes in agricultural practice interact with natural recovery processes and restoration ecology provides some hope for the future of the environment.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1997
Human Ecological Questions for Tropical Restoration: Experiences from Planting Native Upland Trees and Mangroves in the Philippines
Abstract:The restoration efforts that were most successful were ones in which the cooperators were committed, technically able to do the tasks, and able to gain the support of the wider community. Learning from these issues, the program engaged in a different strategy for promoting soil and water conservation – offering training workshops and demonstrations with farmers in the communities. Although there was still variance in the villages’ success, the soil and water component with the intensive group training and community promotion was more successful for the tree planting which trained and depended only on the village leaders. Similarly, in the mangrove planting, planting was more successful when the social organization of the community was taken into consideration. The author provides a checklist of questions that should be used to guide restoration efforts.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1997
Hydrologic Restoration of Coastal Wetlands
Abstract:Hydrologic modification of coastal wetlands is pervasive, continuing and longstanding in the US. Appreciation for the subtleties of the direct and indirect effects of hydrologic changes on emergent vegetation, soils and co-dependent flora and fauna is contributing to restoration efforts. However the results of wetland restoration/rehabilitation are moslty empirical, rather than scientific in understanding. Science is contributing to the management interest by providing documentation of the past and present failures and successes, and, unveiling the fundamental understanding necessary to move from one wetland to another in an informed and adaptable manner.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1997
Linking Restoration and Landscape Ecology
Abstract:Landscape ecology focuses on questions typically addressed over broad spatial scales. A landscape approach embraces spatial heterogeneity, consisting of a number of ecosystems and/or landscape structures of different types, as a central theme. Such studies may aid restoration efforts in a variety of ways, including (1) provision of better guidance for selecting reference sites and establishing project goals and (2) suggestions for appropriate spatial configurations of restored elements to facilitate recruitment of flora/fauna. Likewise, restoration efforts may assist landscape-level studies, given that restored habitats, possessing various patch arrangements or being established among landscapes of varying diversity and conditions of human alteration, can provide extraordinary opportunities for experimentation over a large spatial scale.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1997
Risk management research plan for ecosystem restoration in watersheds
Abstract:This document outlines the scope of the National Risk Management Research Laboratory’s (NRMRL) risk management research in the area of ecosystem restoration. NRMRL is uniquely positioned to make substantial contributions to ecosystem science because of its in-house expertise relative to surface, subsurface, atmospheric, and hydrologic systems. These systems are the substrata
for biotic interactions, particularly relative to higher plants and animals.
Publication Date: 1997
The human component of urban wetland restoration
Abstract:Urban ecological restoration can produce important social benefits in addition to those biophysical improvements traditionally included in the evaluation of restoration success. Achieving social benefits requires local people to participate in planning, implementation, and evaluation of restoration. Restoration also provides experimental opportunities to study the interactions between human and non-human components of ecosystems. Existing sociological, psychological, and anthropological literature provide methods for analyzing effects of restoration on adaptive behavior, community structure, values, perceptions, knowledge, and personal efficacy.
Resource Type:White PaperPublication Date: 1997
Fish Habitat Rehabilitation Procedures
Abstract:This technical document is a guide to restoring fish habitat in British Columbia. The lack of any mechanisms to ensure the rehabilitation or offsetting measures for adversely impacted hillslopes, riparian areas and streams resulted in B.C.’s Watershed Restoration Program (WRP), which was implemented in mid-1994. In combination with recent forest practices legislation in B.C. (Forest Practices Code), there is an opportunity to reverse habitat losses associated with past and new forest harvesting. Both restoration and the Code are based on several decades of research on watershed processes, limitations to salmonid production in streams, and habitat rehabilitation techniques described in Chapters 5 through 15. These provide the technical basis for a suite of integrated restorative measures to accelerate natural recovery processes in forested watersheds impacted by past practices that would otherwise require decades, even centuries to recover naturally.
Resource Type:Technical DocumentPublication Date: 1997
Guide to Forest Restoration and Management in the Sahel based on Case Studies at the National Forests of Guesselbodi and Gorou-Bassounga, Niger
Abstract:Drawing from seven years of progress of project for Guesselbodi and Gorou-Bassounga National Forests in Niger, the authors were able to produce a detailed manual that can be used to establish restoration and management plans for other forests in the region. Descriptions of activities such as resource inventories, landform evaluations, erosion pattern analysis and vegetative mapping, among many others, are given in detail in order to serve as an instructional guide for planners.
Resource Type:Technical DocumentPublication Date: 1997
Restoration Ecology and Sustainable Development
Abstract:The problem of ecosystem damage is international; a recent estimate suggests that 43% of the earth’s terrestrial surface has a reduced capacity to supply benefits to humanity because of recent direct impacts of land use. The discipline of restoration ecology aims to provide a scientifically sound basis for the reconstruction of degraded or destroyed ecosystems and to produce self-supporting systems which are, to some degree, resilient to subsequent damage. This book looks at the main issues with a broad perspective, using case studies where appropriate and considering the economic and social context in which restoration is carried out. It is essential to reverse current trends by developing and using our knowledge of how to restore ecosystems. The book is therefore important for scientists, professionals in ecological restoration, landscape architects and environmental engineers, and more generally for those involved in sustainable development.
Resource Type:BookPublication Date: 1997
The Role of Plant-Animal Mutualisms in the Design and Restoration of Natural Communities
Abstract:I would like to explore how a focus on the principles of plant-animal mutualisms can improve both the demographic functioning of an ecological restoration, and also the economic balance sheet that is integral to projects aimed at improving our natural areas.
Resource Type:BookPublication Date: 1997
The Tallgrass Restoration Handbook: For Prairies, Savannas, and Woodlands
Abstract:The book is a hands-on manual that provides a detailed account of what has been learned about the art and science of prairie restoration and the application of that knowledge to restoration projects throughout the world. Chapters provide guidance on all aspects of the restoration process, from conceptualization and planning, to execution and monitoring.
Resource Type:BookPublication Date: 1997
Watershed Restoration: Principles and Practices
Abstract:In straightforward, easy-to-understand language, Watershed Restoration: Principles and Practices will give you an in-depth understanding of the principles of watershed restoration, how to build partnerships for a restoration program, practices and strategies for achieving restoration, what works and what doesn’t, and what is in store for the future. In addition to providing the scientific, social, and policy frameworks for conducting restoration, the book spotlights how citizen groups, communities, conservation coalitions, private interests, and management agencies are working together to restore watersheds. Case studies address urbanized watershed, farmlands, forestlands, rangelands, and large river systems from New England to California. A critique of these restoration projects summarizes the approaches that offer the best opportunities for long-term success.
Resource Type:BookPublication Date: 1997