©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.
Restoration of Temperate Wetlands
Abstract:This book provides a broad overview of current information and experience of wetland restoration. In some cases it highlights the lack of knowledge available and illustrates how difficult it can be to make informed decisions. With contributions from Scandinavia, Europe, Australia, the USA and Canada, outlining the latest research and observations from a range of international wetland scientists and practitioners, this book provides a critical review of current information and knowledge and gives insights into many aspects of wetland restoration, with a focused approach to the ecological principles that underpin it.
Resource Type:BookPublication Date: 1995
Watershed Restoration: A Guide for Citizen Involvement in California
Abstract:This document has been created to guide and support every person in the community, from homemaker to elected official, who wants her or his watershed to provide clean water, harvestable fish resources and other proof that life in the watershed cannot only be maintained but also enjoyed. It is based on years of experience with watershed protection and restoration in California. If citizen involvement is to be effective, it must draw not only on scientific knowledge but also on an understanding of how to translate individual views into commitments and capable group action.
Resource Type:BookPublication Date: 1995
Landscape Dynamics and Arid Land Restoration
Abstract:Restoration strategies that initiate autogenic succession—by using rather than by combating natural processes—have great potential for arid ecosystems. Damaged ecological processes must be restored to restoration sites. Landscape dynamics can be directed toward restoration objectives with strategies that: (1) reduce or eliminate the causes of degradation; (2) address soil degradation and initiate soil improving processes; (3) establish vegetation that addresses microsite availability, soil improvement, and nutrient cycling problems; and (4) arrange landscape components to reduce detrimental landscape interactions while increasing synergies among landscape components. Landscape configuration can be designed to: (1) encourage synergies among landscape components; (2) reduce nutrient losses to adjacent landscape components; (3) facilitate natural seed dispersal mechanisms; (4) attract beneficial animals; and (5) reduce detrimental animal activities.
Resource Type:Technical DocumentPublication Date: 1995
A Beginner’s Guide to Desert Restoration
Abstract:Desert restoration, like restoration in other areas, has suffered from a lack of communication among active and past restorationists. The Desert Restoration Task Force is working to improve communication by making this guide available in both print and electronic form. We expect this to be a working document that will be updated as information is shared and new lessons are learned. Our understanding of how desert ecosystems function and how to restore them is growing, but limited; but there are still many successes to report. By communicating both successes and failures, we can build on the knowledge base rather than repeating the same mistakes.
Resource Type:Technical DocumentPublication Date: 1995
Ecosystem Rehabilitation of the Rural Landscape in South and Central Asia: An Analysis of Issues
Abstract:Ecosystem rehabilitation and sustainable development, more specifically the sustainable management of natural resources, are closely interlinked with each other, one leading to the other. The interplay of ecology, sociology, economics, anthropology and culture needs to be tied together in order to constitute a meaningful rehabilitation strategy. Indeed, the guiding principles for sustainable development cut across these very disciplinary realms, with obvious trade-offs between and among them. Resources in a rural ecosystem are of three types: Private, Common and Public. Common resources are owned by the community as a whole, whereas Public resources could be either exclusively under the control of the government, or just possibly concern ill-defined ownership rights between the government and the community. Whilst a landscape may be an appropriate spatial unit for rehabilitation, the nature of access to resources by different sections of the community may be crucial in designing strategies for rehabilitation. In a landscape, these interacting components might each demand a set of specific strategies, under a generalized framework. In this document, case studies on rehabilitating rural landscapes across land management types are discussed.
Resource Type:Technical DocumentPublication Date: 1994
Wildland Shrub and Arid Land Restoration Symposium
Abstract:The proceedings emphasize the use of revegetation to rehabilitate arid to semiarid lands for a variety of objectives. For convenience, we have divided these entries into six sections: Overview, Restoration and Revegetation, Ecology, Genetic Integrity, Management Options, and Field Trip. The symposium also included workshops on Large-Scale Rangeland Revegetation and on Revegetation Contracting and Practice.
Resource Type:Technical DocumentPublication Date: 1994
Six strategies for rehabilitating land disturbed by oil development in Arctic Alaska
Abstract:A long-term research program investigating site-specific and cost-effective methods for rehabilitating degraded lands for fish and wildlife habitat has developed six general strategies that are applicable to the range of disturbed conditions. These strategies include 1) flooding of gravel mine sites for fish habitat, 2) creation of wetlands in ponds perched on overburden stockpiles, 3) revegetation of thick gravel fill and overburden to compensate for lost wildlife habitat, 4) removal of gravel fill to help
restore wet tundra habitats, 5) restoration of tundra on less severely modified habitats, and 6) remediation of areas contaminated by oil
spills, seawater spills, and drilling mud.
Publication Date: 1994
A Citizen’s Guide to Wetland Restoration: Approaches to Restoring Vegetation Communities and Wildlife Habitat Structure in Freshwater Wetland Systems
Abstract:This guidebook is designed to help citizens restore and improve wetland and riparian habitats within the Puget Lowland. The intended audience is private landowners who have access to a degraded wetland or stream, and wish to improve the function or landscape aesthetics of the site without involving earthwork or altering water flows. As a result, planting vegetation and installing wildlife habitat features are the main restoration techniques described in this guidebook.
Resource Type:Technical DocumentPublication Date: 1994
Guidelines to the Development and Monitoring of Ecological Restoration Programmes
Abstract:This report provides some guidelines for maximising the biological effectiveness, and therefore the cost effectiveness, of terrestrial restoration programmes undertaken by the Department of Conservation. It is concerned mainly with principles.
Resource Type:Technical DocumentPublication Date: 1994
Restoration and rehabilitation of degraded ecosystems in arid and semi-arid lands – A view from the South
Abstract:A general model is presented describing ecosystem degradation to help decide when restoration, rehabilitation, or reallocation should be the preferred response. The latter two pathways are suggested when one or more “thresholds of irreversibility” have been crossed in the course of ecosystem degradation, and when “passive” restoration to a presumed predisturbance condition is deemed impossible.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1993
Restoration and Rehabilitation of Degraded Ecosystems in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands. I. A View from the South
Abstract:A general model is presented describing ecosystem degradation to help decide when restoration, rehabilitation, or reallocation should be the preferred response. The latter two pathways are suggested when one or more “thresholds of irreversibility” have been crossed in the course of ecosystem degradation, and when “passive” restoration to a presumed predisturbance condition is deemed impossible. The young but burgeoning field of ecological restoration, and the older field of rehabilitation and sustainable range management of arid and semiarid lands (ASAL), are found to have much in common, especially compared with the reallocation of lands, which is often carried out without reference to pre-existing ecosystems. After clarifying some basic terminology, we present 18 vital ecosystem attributes for evaluating stages of degradation and planning experiments in the restoration or rehabilitation of degraded ecosystems. Finally, we offer 10 hypotheses concerning ecological restoration and rehabilitation as they apply to ASAL and perhaps to all terrestrial ecosystems.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1993
The Role of Plantation Forests in Rehabilitating Degraded Tropical Ecosystems
Abstract:Plantations of multi-purpose tree species can play an important role in restoring productivity, ecosystem stability, and biological diversity to degraded tropical lands. The present study, conducted at a degraded coastal pasture site in Puerto Rico, compares 4.5-year-old Aibizia lebbek (L.) Benth. plantation stands and adjacent control areas with respect to biomass production, understorey species diversity and nutrient storage patterns within vegetation, forest floor organic matter, and mineral soil compartments. Species richness was considerably greater in plantation than control plots for grasses, vines, and forbs. Seedlings of several secondary forest species were abundant in the plantation understorey but absent in control plots, suggesting an important role for such plantations in accelerating natural regeneration of native forest species on certain sites.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1992
The Role of Seed Banks in Vegetation Dynamics and Restoration of Dry Tropical Ecosystems
Abstract:This paper reviews studies on seed banks in tropical dry vegetation and, for comparison, some wet tropical and dry subtropical vegetation. A first general conclusion is that tropical seed banks are smaller than those in temperate ecosystems. Many studies are devoted to only one species, among which are several Acacia species, both tropical and subtropical, some of which reach densities in the seed bank of up to 10000 seeds/m2. The lesser importance of the seed bank strategy in tropical species may be related to higher risks of seed loss through higher mortality (fire, predation, pathogens etc.), or to intermittent germination occasions in relation to ephemeral favourable conditions (e.g. rains during the dry season). Regarding vegetation dynamics, the importance of seed banks and regeneration from seeds is most pronounced in larger forest gaps. Examples are discussed of rapid succession to forest of savannas after protection from fire, which is partly due to regeneration from the seed bank. The significance of seed banks in vegetation restoration projects is outlined and the need for additional sowing of seeds of important species underlined.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1992
Minnesota Wetland Restoration Guide – Revegetation Chapter 5
Abstract:This Guide was first published in December of 1992. The original document provided technical guidelines for restoring and managing drained wetlands in Minnesota with an emphasis on engineering design. In 2002 BWSR published “Native Vegetation in Restored and Created Wetland, its Establishment and Management in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest” and more recently developed additional vegetation guidance with “Restoring and Managing Native Wetland and Upland Vegetation”. These documents were primarily developed to address the vegetative needs for wetland mitigation projects.
Resource Type:Technical DocumentPublication Date: 1992
EU Habitat Directive
Abstract:The aim of this Directive shall be to contribute towards ensuring bio-diversity through the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora in the European territory of the Member States to which the Treaty applies. Measures taken pursuant to this Directive shall be designed to maintain or restore, at favourable conservation status, natural habitats and species of wild fauna and flora of Community interest. Measures taken pursuant to this Directive shall take account of economic, social and cultural requirements and regional and local characteristics.
Resource Type:White PaperPublication Date: 1992
Lake and Reservoir Restoration Guidance Manual
Abstract:The purpose of the Manual is to provide guidance to the lake manager, lake homeowner, lake association and other informed laypersons on lake and reservoir management, restoration and protection.
Resource Type:Technical DocumentPublication Date: 1990
Wetland Creation and Restoration, Volumes 1
Abstract:In 1985, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began a multiyear research program to examine the scientific issues which result from wetland creation and restoration. As part of the overall program, they embarked on an effort to synthesize the knowledge accumulated to date into a statement of the status of the science of wetland creation and restoration. The Agency views the document as a first step in meeting the needs of wetlands regulators for an analytical framework from which to make decisions concerning wetland creation and restoration.
Resource Type:White PaperPublication Date: 1989
Wetland Creation and Restoration, Volumes 2
Abstract:In 1985, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began a multiyear research program to examine the scientific issues which result from wetland creation and restoration. As part of the overall program, they embarked on an effort to synthesize the knowledge accumulated to date into a statement of the status of the science of wetland creation and restoration. The Agency views the document as a first step in meeting the needs of wetlands regulators for an analytical framework from which to make decisions concerning wetland creation and restoration.
Resource Type:White PaperPublication Date: 1989
Restoration Ecology: A Synthetic Approach to Ecological Research
Abstract:Restoration Ecology is the result of a conference held in Madison, Wisconsin in 1984. The subject of the book is nothing short of ecosynthesis – from the sense of restoring damaged ecosystems to investigating the phenomenon of community assembly or construction. As such, the book spans a wide range of topics, ecological systems, and levels of phenomenology. Both the field practitioner and the theoretical ecologist will find food for thought in the apges of this work.
Resource Type:BookPublication Date: 1989
Biocultural restoration of a tropical forest
Abstract:Allen describes the challenges, benefits, and complex interchange between culture and ecology behind establishing the Guanacaste National Park in Costa Rica.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1988
Accelerated Regeneration of Hard Corals: A Manual for Coral Reef Users and Managers
Abstract:The following report is intended as a manual for those contemplating the regeneration of an area of reef for either management or financial reasons. It is not written as a scientific paper and experimental results upon which the manual is based are confined to technical appendices. Techniques were developed and evaluated at Green Island Reef which had been affected several years earlier by the crown-of-thorns starfish. A project monitoring the natural regeneration at Green Island was undertaken concurrently and is reported separately, though the results contained therein are referred to where relevant.
Resource Type:Technical DocumentPublication Date: 1987
Application of successional theory to tundra restoration: A review
Abstract:The objectives of this paper are to discuss (1) factors controlling the pattern and rate of successional change and (2) the ways in which successional theory can be applied to speed ecosystem restoration after disturbance in tundra.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 1987
Guide for developing a fire management plan
Abstract:The aim of this guide is to assist landholders in the planning and development of a fire management plan for their property. We have outlined the steps that we took in making fire management plans for Aboriginal owned lands across Northern NSW, so that others can follow these steps and produce their own property plans. This guide aims to be descriptive rather than prescriptive in the hope that other landholders can adapt the process we have outlined to suit their individual situations and capacity.
Resource Type:Technical DocumentRestoration Manual for Native Habitats of South Texas
Abstract:The purpose of this manual is to encourage landowners and land managers to restore native plant communities. Native plants, wildlife, and humans all benefit from restoration and conservation efforts of good land stewards. Restoration of complex prairie and native rangeland to a state similar to pre-settlement times is challenging because vegetation communities and the factors that influence them continually change in time and space. It is rewarding to watch the landscape change and produce benefits after restoration has been implemented.
Resource Type:Technical DocumentGuidelines for Restoration of Species-rich Grasslands
Abstract:Restorati on of semi-natural grassland has been successfully realized on many diff ering sites for many years all over Europe. Restorati on success strongly depends on different factors: suitable site preparati on of receptor sites, selecti on of the opti mal restorati on method and target community, and the implementation of a proper management. Using seeds of regional provenance for the establishment of species-rich grasslands contributes to the enhancement of the biological diversity in the region. The developing species-rich grassland can fulfi l several ecosystem services such as water retenti on, carbon sequestrati on and oxygen producti on. In additi on, speciesrich grasslands are an important part of our cultural heritage, enriching the quality of life in the region.
Resource Type:Technical DocumentGuidelines for Seed Harvesting in Species-rich Grasslands
Abstract:Species-rich semi-natural grasslands provide an essenti al contributi on to the preservati on of European biodiversity. They are ecosystems rich in nati ve, oft en rare or endemic plants and habitats necessary for many animal species. such as birds and insects of great conservati on importance. They are also highly benefi cial to the water quality and present usually a very low risk of soil erosion. However, in the last few decades, abandonment of surfaces more diffi cult to culti vate and increased ferti lizati on have considerably reduced their area. It is therefore important to conserve the sti ll existi ng examples of such grasslands and promote restorati on of new ones on areas with both farm and non-farm use. Modern ecological restorati on, as process of assisti ng the recovery of ecosystems which have been degraded, damaged or destroyed, is based on two main principles: • nati ve biodiversity must be protected through the use of only nati ve seeds and plants; • propagati on material must come from donor sites with ecological characteristi cs similar to the receptor site. To obtain seeds of nati ve ecotypes consistent with the ecological and biological conditi ons of the receptor site, direct harvesti ng from semi-natural grasslands can be an excellent strategy especially in highly variable environments. To implement it in the best way, appropriate selecti on of the donor site and correct uti lizati on of the harvesti ng techniques are important.
Resource Type:Technical DocumentRehabilitation: A Quick Guide
Abstract:The ostrich industry in the Klein Karoo supports a process whereby producers will, by 2019, decrease their impact on the biodiversity through improved veld management and restoration, whilst pursuing increased production based on sound research to retain and expand international and local markets. With the rehabilitation of four study sites, no attempt should be made to try and restore the sites to a pre-settlement condition. The rehabilitation should rather focus on the stabilization of soil erosion, the establishment of a dense and protective plant cover and the introduction of some of the more palatable plant species that were lost due to general habitat degradation.
Resource Type:Technical DocumentUrban Subwatershed Restoration Manual Series
Abstract:Under an EPA grant, the Center developed from 2003 to 2008 an eleven-manual series on practical techniques to restore urban watersheds. The manuals cover the seven major practices used to restore urban watersheds: stormwater retrofits, stream repair, riparian management, discharge prevention, pollution source controls, watershed forestry and municipal operations. In addition, the series outlines new methods for desktop and field assessment and stakeholder management to develop effective small watershed restoration plans, and presents an integrated framework for urban watershed restoration.
Resource Type:Technical DocumentEcosystem Approach Sourcebook
Abstract:This website has been created in response to a request of the seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties (decision VII/11, paragraph 9) as a tool to help practitioners implement the ecosystem approach and share experiences. Once finalized, the sourcebook will have several components: a case study database, information about the ecosystem approach, and the various tools and techniques that can be used to implement it. At the present time, the first version of the case study database is operational. Other components of the sourcebook will be added shortly, so please visit this website from time to time to check on new developments.
Resource Type:Web-based ResourceEcosystem Approach Sourcebook Database
Abstract:This database houses multiple case studies show casing the Ecosystem Approach, and can be searched by biome, sector, issues, tools and approaches, principles and operational guidance
Resource Type:Web-based Resource