Resource Database

Invasive Species Summit: Restoration and Long-term Management

On November 3, 2017, New York Botanical Garden and the Lower Hudson Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (PRISM) co-presented “Invasive Species Summit: Restoration and Long-term Management”. Five experts shared their insights about best practices to manage and restore ecosystems, and led audience conversation about how to establish goals, prioritize, take action to implement projects, and overcome challenges to achieve long-term success at both small- and large-scale sites. A recording of the full program is available on the NYBG YouTube Channel.

Integrating plant richness in forest patches can rescue overall biodiversity in human-modified landscapes

The substitution of natural ecosystems with agriculture has led to the establishment of human-modified landscapes globally. In some tropical regions, this process is decades-old, allowing for the study of the effect of such modifications on the remaining biodiversity. However, unlike forest fragments inside regions with extensive primary coverage, the conservation value of ecosystems embedded within intensive farming, i.e., the anthropogenic matrices, has long been ignored, as have the effects of the landscape on such disturbed forest communities. Since the degradation process is predicted to cause the collapse of these fragmented forests, we can choose either to neglect them or to attempt the reversal of the degradation process for biodiversity conservation. Here we investigated the possible influence of landscape predictors on numerous plant species and on the relative proportions of different functional groups. Our results revealed that the richness found in human-modified landscapes had significantly more species than the protected reserves (+90%). The distribution of species suggested that any forest patch is likely to harbour a rare species. Generalised linear models and quantile regressions showed that forest cover and connected area influences the persistence of pioneer species and non-pioneer species of the canopy and zoochorics, with the latter also depending on slope. Rarefaction analysis revealed that natural remnants retain many species, even in sites with less than 20% forest cover. The presence of many zoochoric and non-pioneer canopy species may indicate a qualitative aspect to support conservation–restoration efforts. These results indicate that the current strategy, which is limited to the preservation of biodiversity in public conservation reserves, should be reconsidered and should include smaller remnants of the natural ecosystem in a regional context and adopt large-scale restoration strategies to preserve the species pool.

Ecological Restoration and the Law: Recovering Nature’s Past for the Future

This special edition of the Griffith Law Review, the first of its kind in the world, investigates the emerging legal interventions, both those officially sanctioned and informally applied, to recover nature’s past for the future. These interventions range from the sporadic acknowledgments of ecological restoration in transnational law, such as in the Convention on Biological Diversity and the European Union’s Habitats Directive, to national-level initiatives such as the Collaborative Landscape Restoration Program implemented in the United States under the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. The articles that follow help us to critically evaluate the character and impact of current regulations and other governance mechanisms that address ecological restoration, to advance theoretical understandings for better governance reforms for ecological restoration, and more broadly to generate critical and interdisciplinary insights into environmental law.

A systematic review of ecological attributes that confer resilience to climate change in environmental restoration

Ecological restoration is widely practiced as a means of rehabilitating ecosystems and habitats that have been degraded or impaired through human use or other causes. Restoration practices now are confronted by climate change, which has the potential to influence long-term restoration outcomes. Concepts and attributes from the resilience literature can help improve restoration and monitoring efforts under changing climate conditions. We systematically examined the published literature on ecological resilience to identify biological, chemical, and physical attributes that confer resilience to climate change.

Forest landscape restoration opportunity assessment for Malawi

This report presents the results of the National Forest Landscape Restoration Assessment (NFLRA) for Malawi. The NFLRA process was launched in February 2016 by the Minister of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining in close collaboration with government departments in the Ministries of Agriculture, Water and Irrigation; Lands; Local Government; Finance; Gender and Social Services; and other concerned stakeholders. The national assessment was designed to identify needs and opportunities for the restoration of the productivity and ecological function of degraded and deforested landscapes in Malawi that will in turn help to achieve Malawi’s sustainable development goals related to food, water, and livelihood security and climate resilience.

The NFLRA Report, together with the associated National Forest Landscape Restoration Strategy, provide the data, analyses and vision to achieve large-scale restoration in Malawi. Restoration is achieved by strategically addressing the drivers of land degradation and deforestation that limit agricultural productivity and the potential for sustained economic growth, and the interlinked underlying causes resulting in declining agricultural productivity and decreasing food security, increasing water scarcity, limited sources of household energy and declining supply of biomass energy, and escalating vulnerability to changing climate and other weather-related shocks. In addition, this report and the accompanying NFLR Strategy provide the framework for Malawi to achieve its 4.5-million-hectare national restoration commitment to the African Forest Landscape restoration Initiative (AFR100) under the Bonn Challenge.

Roots of Prosperity: The economics and finance of restoring land

The premise of this report is that there is an urgent need to increase financing for restoration, and there are many pathways to make this happen. This publication explains seven key barriers to investment in restoration and highlights policy solutions and financial mechanisms—many of which are already in play—that can be used to overcome these barriers. Through a discussion of the financial and economic issues surrounding restoration, the report encourages governments and practitioners to conduct analyses and enact strategies that support forest and landscape restoration.

Relevance for the Short Term Action Plan for Ecosystem Restoration:
This report discusses the economics and finance of land restoration, including how to prioritize projects based on specific objectives, and estimate the effects of restoration on job creation, GDP growth, poverty alleviation, food security, and greenhouse gas emissions. It specifically discusses costs and benefits of restoration (A4) and how smart policies and innovative financing (A5) can help governments meet their restoration targets.

Ecological Restoration in International Environmental Law

This is the first published book to examine comprehensively the relationship between international environmental law and ecological restoration. While international environmental law (IEL) has developed significantly as a discipline over the past four decades, this book enquires whether IEL can now assist states in making a strategic transition from not just protecting and maintaining the natural environment but also actively restoring it. Arguing that states have international duties to restore, this book offers reflections on the philosophical context of ecological restoration and the legal content of a duty to restore from an international law, European Union law and national law perspective. The book concludes with a discussion of several contemporary themes of interest to both lawyers and ecologists including the role of private actors, protected areas and climate change in ecological restoration.

Securing forest tenure rights for rural development : Lessons from six countries in Latin America

Secure land tenure in rural landscapes is widely recognized as an essential foundation for achieving a range of economic development goals. However, forest areas in low and middle-income countries face particular challenges in strengthening the security of land and resource tenure. Forest peoples are often among the poorest and most politically marginalized communities in their national contexts, and their tenure systems are often based on customary, collective rights that have insufficient formal legal protection. This study on Securing Forest Tenure Rights for Rural Development aims to contribute to efforts worldwide to reduce poverty and strengthen sustainable management in forest areas. It does so by reviewing the progress of tenure reforms in six countries in Latin America, and drawing lessons to help advance the realization of these reforms and inform similar initiatives in other countries.

Anthropogenic ecosystem disturbance and the recovery debt

Ecosystem recovery from anthropogenic disturbances, either without human intervention or assisted by ecological restoration, is increasingly occurring worldwide. As ecosystems progress through recovery, it is important to estimate any resulting deficit in biodiversity and functions. Here we use data from 3,035 sampling plots worldwide, to quantify the interim reduction of biodiversity and functions occurring during the recovery process (that is, the ‘recovery debt’). Compared with reference levels, recovering ecosystems run annual deficits of 46–51% for organism abundance, 27–33% for species diversity, 32–42% for carbon cycling and 31–41% for nitrogen cycling. Results are consistent across biomes but not across degrading factors. Results suggest that recovering and restored ecosystems have less abundance, diversity and cycling of carbon and nitrogen than ‘undisturbed’ ecosystems, and that even if complete recovery is reached, an interim recovery debt will accumulate. Under such circumstances, increasing the quantity of less-functional ecosystems through ecological restoration and offsetting are inadequate alternatives to ecosystem protection.

Forest landscape restoration: increasing the positive impacts of forest restoration or simply the area under tree cover?

Restoring forest landscapes is critical in the face of continued global forest loss and degradation. In this article, we explore some challenges underlying the delivery of global commitments to restore forest landscapes. We propose that three fundamental questions need to be resolved upfront for the effective implementation of Forest Landscape Restoration and related commitments: (1) What social and ecological landscape objectives are being sought through Forest Landscape Restoration? (2) How are specific areas being selected for restoration? (3) How is success measured when restoring forest
landscapes? We believe that there is an urgent need to adequately answer these questions to successfully implement political commitments for large-scale forest restoration.

Forest landscape restoration in hilly and mountainous regions

This is a special issue of International Forestry Review on Forest Landscape Restoration in Hilly and Mountainous Regions. While the growing literature on FLR and associated methodologies being proposed emphasizes the importance of including stakeholders in decision making and implementation, local communities in hilly and mountainous regions often face particular challenges. The papers in this Special Issue of the International Forestry Review shed light on some of the approaches incorporated in FLR design and its outcomes in cases from China, Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Implementing forest landscape restoration: A practitioner’s guide

Recognizing the challenge of implementing high-level FLR pledges, and realizing that obtaining results on the ground will confront many context-specific questions, a team of scientists from relevant IUFRO units has prepared this guide. This guide is intended to be a training resource for FLR facilitators who have a broad approach to land management. This guide addresses FLR implementation as a whole but with a view toward climate change mitigation and adaptation; only if the landscape is changing and FLR is successful will climate benefits materialise.

Relevance for the Short Term Action Plan for Ecosystem Restoration:
This publication has broad applicability to Groups of activities C and D with regard to projects implemented within the FLR framework.

Gender matters in Forest Landscape Restoration: A framework for design and evaluation

The essence of gender-responsive Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) is ensuring that women and men at all levels have equal voice and influence in strategic decisions related to FLR, and that this contributes to substantive equality in outcomes for women and men. Free and Prior Informed Consent’, ‘fair’ and ‘just’ compensation, and impartial and effective grievance mechanisms for all those affected are critical to safeguarding the rights of local and indigenous women and men. Decisions about target areas for restoration, choice of stakeholders for FLR governance and how to include them, restoration approaches, priority species and how to monitor progress should be made following gender-inclusive participatory processes to capitalize on the knowledge and experiences of both women and men. Mechanisms and measures at various scales are required to equitably distribute benefits and costs associated with restoration for both women and men in participating communities.

Ecología de la restauración en México: estado actual y perspectivas

This article synthesizes the results of a literature review to assess the state of the art of ecological restoration in Mexico, including current perspectives and challenges within the national context. The authors looked at a number of different sources in conducting their review, including publications, conferences, institutions working in the space, research trends, and capacity building opportunities. The article presents a synthesis of current trends in the field and discusses gaps and deficiencies. It also discusses the need for a national policy around restoration science as well as long-term funding sources to support continued development of restoration in Mexico.

The business perspective in ecological restoration: issues and challenges

Much of the practice of restoration is conducted by businesses—contractors, consultants, designers, engineers. Restoration businesses interact with a variety of stakeholders to complete projects on time and on budget, and to achieve ecological and business objectives. Our research explores the business perspective in restoration based on data collected from businesses (contractors, consultants, design engineers), agencies, and nongovernmental organizations involved in a Superfund cleanup project in Montana, one of the largest river restoration efforts ever.

Abandoned pastures cannot spontaneously recover the attributes of old‐growth savannas

Active restoration strategies have been recommended to recover Neotropical savannas in abandoned lands, but no studies have investigated the trajectories and speeds of spontaneous recovery for these systems. Research into the dynamics of degraded savannas is urgently needed to guide restoration decision making. In this study, the authors analysed the dynamics of secondary savannas in the Brazilian Cerrado by sampling 29 abandoned pastures (time since abandonment ranging from 3 to 25 years) and applying the space‐for‐time substitution method. They modelled the temporal changes in plant community attributes and estimated the time required for these attributes to match those of two reference ecosystems, old‐growth savanna and a forest‐type savanna, which had encroached following fire suppression (encroached savanna). Tree canopy cover, richness and density rapidly increased with time since pasture abandonment. The cover and richness of the ground layer increased at a much slower pace. Up to 25 years after abandonment, secondary savannas continued to lack many (37%) old‐growth savanna species, mostly from the ground layer (82% of grasses absent). This period was also not sufficient for the secondary savannas to become floristically similar to the encroached savannas, which are dominated by shade‐tolerant tree species. Despite the reported high natural regeneration of Neotropical savanna vegetation, abandoned pastures will not spontaneously return to an old‐growth savanna state.

Native seed supply and the restoration species pool

Globally, annual expenditure on ecological restoration of degraded areas for habitat improvement and biodiversity conservation is approximately $18bn. Seed farming of native plant species is crucial to meet restoration goals, but may be stymied by the disconnection of academic research in seed science and the lack of effective policies that regulate native seed production/supply. To illustrate this problem, the authors identified 1,122 plant species important for European grasslands of conservation concern and found that only 32% have both fundamental seed germination data available and can be purchased as seed. The “restoration species pool,” or set of species available in practice, acts as a significant biodiversity selection filter for species use in restoration projects. For improvement, we propose: (1) substantial expansion of research and development on native seed quality, viability, and production; (2) open‐source knowledge transfer between sectors; and (3) creation of supportive policy intended to stimulate demand for biodiverse seed.

Online Learning for Volunteer Stewards: Strengthening Resources for Ecological Restoration

Presented by SERMWGL. The Morton Arboretum is developing a new blended learning format to support educational needs of volunteer stewards conducting restoration. The multimedia initiative combines online modules, field experiences, and traditional classes, and allows audiences to access interactive course materials from home computers.

Planning riparian restoration with plant functional group approaches

Dr. Hough-Snee will discuss a variety of recent approaches and tools that can be used when monitoring riparian vegetation and floodplain ecosystems at scales relevant to land management, including watershed and administrative unit scales (grazing allotment, National Forest Ranger District, etc.). He’ll begin by discussing historic monitoring, innovation in field methods, and how contemporary data that fits into project-scale and regulatory frameworks can aid project planning, monitoring, and evaluation.

The Role of Tropical Secondary Forests in Conservation and Restoration

Secondary forest regrowth following agricultural land use represents a major feature of human modified landscapes across the tropics. International interest is growing regarding the importance of secondary forests for biodiversity conservation, for large-scale reforestation programs, and for the role of these forests in mitigating effects of global climate change. In this webinar, researchers from different disciplines of social and natural science will discuss the importance of second-growth forests for conserving and restoring biodiversity, and recovering ecosystem functions and services. This webinar will address key questions about the ecology, governance, landscape conditions, and social drivers of secondary tropical forests and the role these forests can play for conservation and restoration in the Anthropocene. The panel will include researchers from different disciplines of natural and social sciences that will discuss these aspects and pinpoint guidelines for future research and policies for conserving biodiversity and to restore degraded lands in human modified landscapes across the world’s tropics.

Urban Ecological Restoration: Unique Challenges and Benefits

Derek Schafer, Executive Director, will present on the initiatives WCC has implemented throughout its service area that protects land, provides greenspace, restores waterways, and creates resilient communities – while also providing alternative transportation and recreational corridors.

Ecological Restoration in International Environmental Law

Authors An Cliquet, Anastasia Telesetsky, Afshin Akhtarkhavari discuss their book: “Ecological Restoration in International Environmental Law.” This is the first published book to examine comprehensively the relationship between international environmental law and ecological restoration.

Strategies for Effective Stewardship: A Watershed Wide Approach

Presented by SERNW. John Goetz of Clean Water Services discusses questions and issues surrounding watershed management projects, by addressing topics including site preparation, herbicide usage, plant monitoring, and urban beaver research.

Bioinvasion: When Does it Really Matter?

Presented by Dr. David Sabaj-Stahl of the SERNW. Novel approaches were developed to assess the occurrence and potential impacts of spatial autocorrelation on correlation analyses involving invasive/native species and related community constructs.

Steelhead Conservation Concerns Amid Accelerating Climate Dynamism

Applying Seed-Based Approaches to Ecological Restoration: an overview and examples from across the globe.

Stephanie Frischie, Chris Helzer, and Todd Erickson present the rationale and successive steps that are required for the efficient delivery and use of seeds in ecological restoration. Case studies from prairie ecosystems in North America and the hot deserts of north-western Australia illustrate the process.

Long-term influence of sod cutting depth on the restoration of degraded wet heaths

Temperate heaths have an unfavorable conservation status in most European biogeographical regions. Increasing nitrogen levels promote competitive grass species such as Molinia caerulea, which is a main threat to heathland conservation in Europe. This article investigates the long‐term influence of sod cutting and the resulting changes in soil properties on the heath composition, integrity, and structure. In 15 nature reserves across the northern half of Belgium, we used (1) a large number of plots (203); (2) a broad range of sod cut depths (2–40 cm), and (3) a temporal dimension that describes how long the effects of sod cutting persist (census up to 19 years after sod cutting). There was a positive relationship between sod cut depth and soil pH and water level, and a negative relationship with Al³⁺, NH₄⁺, and total organic matter (TOM). However, only a limited number of typical (target) species appeared after sod cutting, and then only weakly. Most of the time they remained a minor component of the restored vegetation. Moreover, M. caerulea reappeared and its cover significantly increased during the years following sod cutting. Although we were able to show that sod cut depth has a differential effect on soil properties and vegetation recovery, it also appeared that sod cutting does not restore wet heaths in the long term when applied in regions with high nitrogen deposition.

Developing and supporting quality nursery facilities and staff are necessary to meet global forest and landscape restoration needs

Global leaders have pledged to restore millions of hectares during the next decade, necessitating many millions of established plants. Although natural regeneration and direct seeding will likely meet a portion of that need, large quantities of high-quality, nursery-grown seedlings are also required. Insufficient plant quantities or poor-quality plants result in unsuccessful outplanting programs. Such failures have considerable economic and environmental consequences and will result in an inability to meet restoration goals. Nonetheless, the importance of restoration nurseries is often overlooked when making large-scale restoration commitments. Technology already exists to produce high-quality plants to meet a variety of goals. This technology cannot be applied, however, unless adequate resources and training are made available by overcoming political and socioeconomic barriers. In this article, we discuss the important role of nurseries to meet global restoration commitments and review three case studies where increased support to nursery programs resulted in improved restoration success.

Routledge Handbook of Ecological and Environmental Restoration

Ecological restoration is a rapidly evolving discipline that is engaged with developing both methodologies and strategies for repairing damaged and polluted ecosystems and environments. During the last decade the rapid pace of climate change coupled with continuing habitat destruction and the spread of non-native species to new habitats has forced restoration ecologists to re-evaluate their goals and the methods they use. This comprehensive handbook brings together an internationally respected group of established and rising experts in the field.

Social Science and Sustainability

Sustainability policies shape the ways that society and the economy interact with the environment, natural resources and ecosystems, and address issues such as water, energy and food security, and climate change. These policies are complex and are, at times, obscured by contestation, uncertainty and sometimes ignorance. Ultimately, sustainability problems are social problems and they need to be addressed through social and policy change.