©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.
Measurements of the Soil Microbial Community for Estimating the Success of Restoration
Abstract:Recent research has shown quantitatively how by measuring the soil microbial community we can assess degradation and the effects of management designed to reverse it. The size, composition and activity of the soil microbial community convincingly distinguish between systems, and between the impact of management strategies upon them. Measurements of these characteristics of the microbial community provide invaluable information for restoring degraded land and are ready for routine use. Specifically, profiles of phospholipid fatty acid contents, and substrate induced respiratory responses to different carbon substrates, will yield significant data upon which management decisions may be based.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 2003
Measuring Success: Evaluating the Restoration of a Grassy Eucalypt Woodland on the Cumberland Plain, Sydney, Australia
Abstract:We compared the floristic composition and structure of restoration areas of eucalypt woodland with untreated pasture (control) and remnant vegetation (reference) in western Sydney. The restored areas comprised over 1,000 ha of abandoned pasture, which had been treated to reduce weeds and planted with seedlings of 26 native plant species raised from seed obtained locally from remnant vegetation. Plantings were carried out 0–9 years ago. The results therefore suggest either failure of restoration treatments or a restoration trajectory that is too slow to detect within 10 years of establishment. Our conclusions agree with those of similar studies in other ecosystems and support: (1) the need to monitor restoration projects against ecological criteria with rigorous sampling designs and analytical methods, (2) further development of restoration methods, and (3) regulatory approaches that seek to prevent damage to ecosystems rather than those predicated on replacing losses with reconstructed ecosystems.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 2003
North American Approach to the Restoration of Sphagnum-dominated Peatlands
Abstract:A new approach addressing the North American context has been developed and is presented in this paper. The short-term goal of this approach is to establish a plant cover composed of peat bog species and to restore a water regime characteristic of peatland ecosystems. The long- term objective is to return the cutover areas to functional peat accumulating ecosystems. The approach developed for peatland restoration in North America involves the following steps: 1) field preparation, 2) diaspore collection, 3) diaspore introduction, 4) diaspore protection, and 5) fertilization.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 2003
Plant ecotypes: Genetic differentiation in the age of ecological restoration
Abstract:The translocation of organisms during the restoration of native ecosystems
has provoked new questions concerning the consequences
of sampling protocols and of intraspecific
hybridization between locally adapted and transplanted
genotypes. Studies are now underway to determine
both the extent of local adaptation among focal populations
and the potential risks of introducing foreign
genotypes, including founder effects, genetic swamping
and outbreeding depression. Data are needed to delineate
‘seed transfer zones’, or regions within which plants
can be moved with little or no consequences for population
fitness.
Publication Date: 2003
Plant functional types: A promising tool for management and restoration of degraded lands
Abstract:We discuss the relevance and the use of plant functional types (PFTs) as tools for ecosystem management and planning and for monitoring restoration in southern Europe, northern Africa and elsewhere. Using this approach it is possible to improve management strategies for the conservation, restoration and sustainable exploitation of biodiversity and of ecosystems.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 2003
Plant Functional Types: A Promising Tool for Management and Restoration of Degraded Lands
Abstract:We describe two case studies undertaken to evaluate the effects of logging or overgrazing on plant species diversity in pine forests of southern France and steppe ecosystems of southern Tunisia. Both studies employed the same methodology to identify plant functional traits (morphological, life history and regeneration traits) associated with community response to disturbance. The results of these analyses allowed us to develop state and transition models that could be used to plan and predict ecosystem trajectories, assess ongoing degradation processes and monitor community and ecosystem responses to management and restoration practices. We discuss the relevance and the use of plant functional types (PFTs) as tools for ecosystem management and planning and for monitoring restoration in southern Europe, northern Africa and elsewhere. Using this approach it is possible to improve management strategies for the conservation, restoration and sustainable exploitation of biodiversity and of ecosystems.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 2003
Plant Functional Types: A Promising Tool for Management and Restoration of Degraded Lands
Abstract:We describe two case studies undertaken to evaluate the effects of logging or overgrazing on plant species diversity in pine forests of southern France and steppe ecosystems of southern Tunisia. Both studies employed the same methodology to identify plant functional traits (morphological, life history and regeneration traits) associated with community response to disturbance. The results of these analyses allowed us to develop state and transition models that could be used to plan and predict ecosystem trajectories, assess ongoing degradation processes and monitor community and ecosystem responses to management and restoration practices. We discuss the relevance and the use of plant functional types (PFTs) as tools for ecosystem management and planning and for monitoring restoration in southern Europe, northern Africa and elsewhere. Using this approach it is possible to improve management strategies for the conservation, restoration and sustainable exploitation of biodiversity and of ecosystems.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 2003
Plant Traits as Predictors of Performance in Ecological Restoration
Abstract:This study has important implications for practical restoration programmes and policies. Efficiency might be increased by introducing only species with good performance, but this would lead to uniformity among restored grasslands and would diminish the benefits of habitat restoration for national and regional biodiversity. Future work should focus on practical methods to increase the successful establishment of the poor performing but desirable species, by (i) targeting restoration to low fertility soils, (ii) changing the abiotic environment or (iii) the ‘phased introduction’ of species several years after restoration, when both the plant community is more stable and the environmental conditions are more favourable for establishment.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 2003
Plant Traits as Predictors of Performance in Ecological Restoration
Abstract:There are few studies of the performance of species in restored vegetation communities. Here we report the results of a meta-analysis of 25 experiments concerned with species-rich grassland restoration on ex-arable land and agriculturally improved grasslands situated at a wide range of locations throughout lowland Britain. Differences in species’ performance were related to 38 physiological and morphological traits. This study has important implications for practical restoration programmes and policies. Efficiency might be increased by introducing only species with good performance, but this would lead to uniformity among restored grasslands and would diminish the benefits of habitat restoration for national and regional biodiversity. Future work should focus on practical methods to increase the successful establishment of the poor performing but desirable species, by (i) targeting restoration to low fertility soils, (ii) changing the abiotic environment or (iii) the ‘phased introduction’ of species several years after restoration, when both the plant community is more stable and the environmental conditions are more favourable for establishment.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 2003
Plant Invaders, Global Change and Landscape Restoration
Abstract:In this paper, we will provide a brief overview of the major human-induced agents of environmental change and their potential consequences on invasive species. We will also examine invasive species as agents of environmental change. For each agent of environmental change, we will discuss the potential spatial and temporal extent of the agents influence especially as it relates to rangeland management. Using Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass) as an example invasive species, we will examine spatial management options for restoration of native plants in the Great Basin of the U.S.A.
Resource Type:White PaperPublication Date: 2003
Restoration Challenges and Strategies in Iceland
Abstract:Methods of restoration in Iceland are shifting from being primarily agronomic in character to being increasingly based on ecological principles, where the aim is to promote ecosystem development and direct succession. The use of native species, including trees and shrubs is increasing, and there is growing emphasis on low input approaches instead of intense methods involving wholesale planting or sowing. Research efforts are being directed at the underlying processes of succession and how it is affected by different reclamation treatment, the ecology and behavior of key species, the use of native species in restoration, and various technical aspects of revegetation.
Resource Type:White PaperPublication Date: 2003
Wetlands Strategy for South Australia
Abstract:The Wetlands Strategy will ensure wetlands are given appropriate status, and are managed accordingly in South Australia. The Strategy will do this by delivering the key elements of wetland conservation and management to the Government, business, industry, private landholders and the broader community. Of critical importance is the need for all stakeholders to use this Strategy as a mechanism to achieve more integrated approaches for the management of wetlands.
Resource Type:White PaperPublication Date: 2003
Practical Measures in Arid Land Restoration after Mining – A Review for the Southern Namib
Abstract:The techniques available are discussed under the headings: (a) provision of suitable landform and substrate and (b) facilitating natural processes. Landscaping man-made landforms to match their surroundings, the provision of rough surfaces and small water catchments as well as applying fresh topsoil are the main aspects to be considered. Growth-impeding soil properties such as toxicity, and acidic, saline and sodic conditions will require treatment to ensure natural plant re-establishment is feasible or replanting areas is successful. Seeding and relocating native plants are feasible options to accelerate natural plant succession that merit further development in the southern Namib.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 2003
Principles for Restoring Invasive Plant-Infested Rangeland
Abstract:It is becoming increasingly clear that prescriptions for rangeland weed control are not sustainable because they treat the symptoms of weeds rather than their cause. Future restoration of invasive plant-infested rangeland must be based on ecological principles and concepts that provide for predictable outcomes. The processes controlling plant community dynamics can be modified to allow predictable successional trajectories. Successional management can lead to biomass optimization models for grazing management, spread vector analysis, and using resource availability to direct weedy plant communities toward those that are desired. Our challenge is to develop ecological principles on which management can be based.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 2003
Rehabilitation of Industrial Cutaway Atlantic Blanket Bog in County Mayo, North-West Ireland
Abstract:Even though Sphagnum mosses are not easy plants to manipulate on artificial substrates or in nonnatural environments, it is possible to revegetate large expanses of cutover peatland at a relatively low cost (in the range of US $900–1400 per hectare). Only long term monitoring of the current restoration projects will confirm if it is possible to restore the ecological functions of the cutover peatland to bring it back to a peat-accumulating ecosystem. Fen restoration of peat fields used for agriculture has been mostly studied in central Europe but much research is needed to develop sound restoration procedures for cutover peatlands and learn how to grow true mosses. Sphagnum farming (cultivation in nurseries) is promising and research in that area should be promoted.Not only would it be useful for supplying plant material for reintroduction in countries with low supply, but it could prove a useful source of biomass to ameliorate growing substrates.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 2003
Restoration of Damaged Land Areas: Using Nucleation to Improve Successional Processes
Abstract:The restoration of damaged areas is a basic activity for conservation in situ by rebuilding biological communities and linking vegetation fragments. The nucleation has shown to be a successional principle in natural colonization of new areas. Therefore, it represents a basic technique for human activities aiming at contributing to the re-establishment of the communities. This paper discusses ways of implementing basic nucleation techniques on damaged areas, which provide high diversity in order to promote the establishment using the least artificial energy entrance. The following have been considered as nucleation techniques: soil transportation, direct seeding and hydro-seeding, artificial perches, brushwood transportation, high diversity islands and seeds collection bearing in mind the maintenance of genetic variability. The nucleation will become a usual technique when the legislation becomes clearer concerning environmental restoration and when the basic successional principles are considered as an important issue during the formation of human resources.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 2003
Restoration of Landscape Function: Reserves or Active Management?
Abstract:A 20-year programme of research suggests that old-growth forests are ecologically unique and highly valued by people, that naturally young forests with legacies from old forests sustain many, if not all, the higher organisms associated with old growth, but that many managed forests are impoverished in species. Thus, restoring landscape function entails restoring function to managed stands. Managing processes of forest development, not just providing selected structures, is necessary to restore function and biodiversity. Systems of reserves and riparian corridors that do not take into account ecological restoration of managed forests and degraded streams may be self-fulfilling prophecies of forest fragmentation and landscape dysfunction. Intentional management can reduce the need for wide riparian buffers, produce landscapes dominated by late-seral stages that are hospitable to wildlife associated with old- growth forests, provide a sustained yield of forest products and contribute to economic, social and environmental sustainability.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 2003
Restoration Scaling in the Marine Environment
Abstract:Restoration ecology and conservation biology share the broad goal of managing human impacts on natural resources and ecosystems. Although seminal books on the 2 disciplines appeared almost simultaneously, subsequent conceptual growth in conservation biology has exceeded that of restoration ecology. Consequently, technical restoration activity in both terrestrial and marine environments has progressed faster than the fundamental conceptual support for it. A major goal of this Theme Section is to expose to wide review the conceptual bases for various types of restoration projects so as to stimulate further growth of the ecological theory required to advance and improve restoration practices.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 2003
Restoring Arthropod Communities in Coastal Sage Scrub
Abstract:Coastal sage scrub in California and northern Baja California has been severely affected by urban expansion and is, in places, badly in need of restoration. We measured arthropod abundance and diversity on one of its primary components, the native shrub Artemisia californica (Asteraceae; California sage), to evaluate whether arthropod communities had become reestablished after a restoration attempt. We suggest that small-scale restoration attempts can be successful at restoring basic elements of surrounding biodiversity. They do create a different community, however, both taxonomically and functionally, and are at least initially less able to support rare species.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 2003
Restoring Riparian Corridors with Fire: Effects on Soil and Vegetation
Abstract:In many riparian corridors of the semi-arid west, stream incision has resulted in lowered water tables, basin big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata var. tridentata Nutt.) encroachment and the loss of the dominant herbaceous vegetation. To determine the potential for restoring basin big sagebrush-dominated riparian corridors to greater herbaceous cover, a fall prescribed burn on sites with relatively shallow (-153 to -267 cm) and deep (-268 to > -300 cm) water tables was conducted. The results indicate that burning alone is an appropriate restoration treatment for shallow water table sites because of minimal C and N loss and increased available nutrients for regrowth of understory herbaceous species. Deep water table sites require a burning prescription that minimizes fire severity because of higher potential C and N loss, and reseeding due to a lack of perennial understory herbaceous species and more xeric conditions.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 2003
Restoring tropical diversity: Beating the time tax on species loss
Abstract:Planting disperser-limited trees that establish in open ground may bypass 30–70 years of species attrition in isolated remnants by attracting
animals that encourage normal processes of seed dispersal into and out of the fragments.
Development of criteria for selection of persistent, reasonably rapidly growing,
animal-dispersed species that are mixed with planted or naturally arriving pioneers will
be an important component of enrichment planting.
Publication Date: 2003
Seaweed Establishment and Restoration on the Coastal Structure
Abstract:In recent years, natural seaweed beds in Japan have been depleted; at the same time artificial seaweed beds have been created in order to restore ecosystem functions of coastal waters. Vigorous efforts are being made to recover and re-establish endangered seaweed beds in Japan. Fishermen have been transplanting kelp and seedlings using a spore-bag technique for many years. Regenerated seaweed beds are being developed on artificial structures at both the prefectural and national levels. Furthermore, the concept has been extended to include the creation of “marine farms” using sea walls, coastal defenses and structures as breakwaters. The recent construction of artificial Island and underwater “mounds” have also increased seaweed bed productivity and associated fishery resources.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 2003
Selecting Framework Tree Species for Restoring Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests in Northern Thailand based on Field Performance
Abstract:Framework tree species are indigenous forest tree species, planted to complement and accelerate natural regeneration of forest ecosystems and encourage biodiversity recovery, on degraded sites. In this paper we test the extent to which 37 native forest tree species might act as framework tree species to accelerate recovery of evergreen, seasonal forest in a degraded upper watershed in Doi Suthep-Pui National Park in northern Thailand.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 2003
Simulated Indigenous Management: A New Model for Ecological Restoration in National Parks
Abstract:If land managers, ecologists, and archaeologists understand the intricacies and mechanics of how and why native people shaped ecosystems, this will enrich their inventory of management methods, and they will be in a better position to make informed, historically based decisions.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 2003
Soil Carbon Addition Controls Weeds and Facilitates Prairie Restoration
Abstract:Soil nitrogen enrichment and consequent vigorous weed growth are thought to hinder the restoration of tallgrass prairie. Adding carbon to the soil may facilitate prairie restoration by inducing immobilization of plant-available nitrogen. Early attempts to use this method, however, have had mixed results. Success of C addition depends on three conditions: weeds must suppress prairie species in the absence of C addition, weeds must be nitrophilic relative to prairie species, and C addition must result in a large enough decrease in N to alter the balance of competition among weeds and prairie species.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 2003
Soil Microbial Community, Fertility, Vegetation and Diversity as Targets in the Restoration Management of a Meadow Grassland
Abstract:The enhancement of biodiversity in meadow grassland is a long-term (> 10-year) secondary succession, most rapidly achieved in the absence of mineral fertilizer by cutting for hay in mid- July and autumn grazing with cattle. The sowing of key functional species, i.e. legumes and Rhinanthus minor, was important in facilitating the staged colonization of other sown species.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 2003
Soil Seed Banks and the Potential Restoration of Forested Wetlands after Farming
Abstract:Both restoration ecologists and managers of nature conservation areas need to be cognisant of seed bank and dispersal characteristics of species to effectively restore and manage forested wetlands. In the case of baldcypress swamps, critical components of the vegetation are not maintained in seed banks, which may make these floodplain wetlands difficult to restore via natural recolonization. Ultimately, the successful restoration of abandoned farm fields to forested wetlands may depend on the re-engineering of flood pulsing across landscapes to reconnect dispersal pathways.
Resource Type:Peer-reviewed ArticlePublication Date: 2003
A Practical Guide to the Restoration and Management of Lowland Heathland
Abstract:This guide is a key source of detailed information on techniques for restoring, maintaining and monitoring lowland heathland habitats, a landscape that has been in decline for decades, with many vulnerable species. It covers the full range of management issues affecting dry heath, wet heath, mire and associated grassland and open water habitats in Britain.
Resource Type:BookPublication Date: 2003
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning: Synthesis and Perspectives
Abstract:The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning has emerged as one of the most exciting and dynamic areas in contemporary ecology. Increasing domination of ecosystems by humans is steadily transforming them into depauperate systems. How will this loss of biodiversity affect the functioning and stability of natural and managed ecosystems? This volume provides the first comprehensive and balanced coverage of recent empirical and theoretical research on this question. It reviews the evidence, provides bases for the resolution of the debate that has divided scientists on these issues, and offers perspectives on how current knowledge can be extended to other ecosystems, other organisms and other spatial and temporal scales. It cuts across the traditional division between community ecology and ecosystem ecology, and announces a new ecological synthesis in which the dynamics of biological diversity and the biogeochemical functioning of the earth system are merged.
Resource Type:BookPublication Date: 2003
Code of Practices for the Introduction of Biological and Landscape Diversity Considerations into the Transport Sector
Abstract:The Code of Practice for the Introduction of Biological and Landscape Diversity Considerations into the Transport Sector provides a practical instrument that will help national governments and others involved in the linear transport sector to consider and implement measures relating to the maintenance and enhancement of biological and landscape diversity. The Code sets a political and social framework and proposes policy options for the development of new, and the maintenance of existing linear transport systems in relation to biological and landscape diversity. By building on examples, the Code has developed a series of Practice Pointers.
Resource Type:BookPublication Date: 2003