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Restoration Ecology

Restoration Ecology. Burning South Prairie – April 2013. What are we trying to do in our ecological restorations?.

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Restoration Ecology

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  1. Restoration Ecology Burning South Prairie – April 2013

  2. What are we trying to do in our ecological restorations? • “Ecological restoration is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed.” (Society for Ecological Restoration Science and Policy Working Group 2002)

  3. Another definition Ecological Restoration- the full or partial replacement of biological populations and/or their habitats that have been extinguished or diminished. Ideally the restoration will return normal ecosystem function to an area and hopefully the project will also have social or economic value to humans Restoration Ecology is the study of restoration; ER is the process of restoration

  4. A (Very) Brief History of Ecological Restoration

  5. Early examples of ecological restoration • 1300s – forest restoration Nurnberger Reichswald • 1660 – John Evelyn – restoration of English landscape • Late 1700s, early 1800s – restoration of Italian and French mountain forests • 1859 – restoration of the Thames River, London • 1878 – restoration of the Back Bay Fens, Boston • Early 1900s – restoration of rangeland in American West • 1936 – Restoration of Curtis Prairie – U. of Wisconsin Arboretum

  6. Restoration of Italian mountain forests

  7. Italian mountain restoration techniques

  8. The Man Who Planted Trees

  9. Environmental Restoration in the American West

  10. Restoration in London – after the Great Stink of 1858

  11. Response to the Great Stink – Improve Drainage and Restore Streams

  12. Improved Drainage Following The Great Stink

  13. Improving sewage flow in London – an on-going project – Jan. 2011 proposal

  14. Restoration in Boston - 1879

  15. Back Bay Fens Today

  16. Restoration in the Midwest Nachusa Grasslands

  17. Aldo Leopold planting at the Shack - 1936

  18. CCC crewman planting Curtis Prairie - 1936

  19. CCC crew watering Curtis Prairie – late 1930’s

  20. Curtis Prairie – planted 1936-40 Greene Prairie – planted 1943-52 University of Wisconsin Arboretum

  21. The Founders of Green Oaks – Henry Green, George Ward, Alvah Green, and Paul Shepard - 1955

  22. Green Oaks prior to prairie restoration – South Prairie

  23. Early prairie establishment at Green Oaks – late 50’s

  24. Pete Schramm burning the Prairie – 1980’s

  25. Green Oaks from the Air

  26. 100 sites monitored for long-term studies of restoration success

  27. Plan for Green Network, Chicago Area

  28. Restoration Projects Can Be Highly Variable

  29. A more complex and typical restoration project

  30. Salt marsh restoration plan in Rhode Island

  31. Salt marsh restoration plan in Rhode Island

  32. Phragmites and Spartina

  33. Mine Reclamation – the most difficult restoration project

  34. Mine reclamation in progress

  35. Mitigation • Mitigation is the alleviation of some process • Compensatory Mitigation is related to restoration - mitigation is sometimes required when a group wants to develop a wild area such as a wetland and thus destroy the wetland

  36. Controversies about Mitigation • Often the success rate for mitigation projects is fairly low • Many ecologists fear that if mitigation is seen to be successful we will allow many development projects to proceed with the assumption we can easily recreate nature - however there is some question as to how well we can actually restore what is lost or destroyed

  37. Mitigation with Woodrow Wilson Bridge Construction

  38. Restoration of Louisiana salt marsh- post BP oil spill mitigation

  39. Mitigation of ANWR?

  40. 1967 Torrey Canyon Oil spill

  41. 1989 – Exxon Valdez oil spill

  42. 1989 – Exxon Valdez oil spill

  43. Exxon Valdez oil spill clean efforts

  44. Tony Bradshaw

  45. Flavors of Reclamation • Reclamation is the general process of repairing damaged ecosystems • Restoration - here we attempt to put back exactly what existed in the ecosystem prior to the disturbance • Rehabilitation - here we attempt to put back most of what existed in the ecosystem prior to the disturbance, but we don't try to put everything back • Replacement - no attempt is made to restore what was lost - here we replace the original ecosystem with another one • Recovery or neglect - here we allow nature to takes it course - depend upon natural processes of seed dispersal and germination to start plants, natural dispersal of animals to repopulate the area • Enhancement - activity designed to improve the ecosystem, even if the change is fairly minimal

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