Intro to Restoration Ecology

1. Intro to Restoration Ecology ENSC 201 – Spring 2008

2. Why do we need restoration? • 53 % of wetlands lost nationwide • > 35 % of wetlands lost in Vermont • 50-70% loss of brackish intertidal mudflats, shores, and coastal plains • 90 % loss of aquatic vegetation in the Chesapeake Bay • 70 % loss of riparian forests nationwide • 90 % loss of old-growth forests nationwide • 99.5 % loss of old-growth forests in the eastern U.S. • 97 % loss of pine-oak-heathland in the Lake Champlain Basin • 90 % loss of short and tall-grass prairie ecosystems nationwide • 90 % of shrub-steppe ecosystems degraded by livestock grazing nationwide Source: Noss et al (1995)

3. http://www.millenniumassessment.org//en/index.aspx

6. How do we prioritize areas for restoration? • Need • Ecological value • What is the relative importance of different sites for ecosystem functioning? • Examples: • Riparian areas • Headwaters • Estuaries • Unstable uplands • Wetland complexes • Rare communities • Critical habitats for particular species • Degree of degradation? • Degree of threat  more applicable for identifying areas in need of protection or conservation • Opportunity

9. How does restoration fit into an overall conservation or sustainability strategy? The Functional Landscape Approach

10. But what about entire ecosystems that have been severely degrade? Answer: We need an ecosystem-level restoration approach

11. Restoration as The Acid Test of Ecology: Do we understand how ecosystems work well enough to reconstruct them?

12. It helps to have a conceptual model of the system

13. Ecosystem-Level Restoration • Focus on ecological processes • Examples: • Soil productivity • Natural disturbance dynamics • Hydrology • Ecological succession!

14. Tiered Restoration Ecosystem restoration: “Bringing back an entire system or the dynamics of that system” Large-scale Coordinated restoration of critical areas as per an overall ecosystem management plan Site-specific restoration, remediation, mitigation, etc. Small-scale

16. Atlantic Rainforest Restoration • The Atlantic rainforest once covered 400,000 square miles • Only 7% remains • 450 tree species per hectare • 2.7% of world’s plant species just in what is left • Testing innovative funding mechanisms  U.S. companies paying for carbon sequestration • How do we restore it?

17. Carbon Revenue • Estimates of potential carbon credit values range from $4 to $60 (or even $110) per ton of C. • European market currently trading for $8 to $20 per metric ton. • Future value could increase substantially as international carbon markets develop.

18. Chicago Climate Exchange • “Voluntary ‘Cap and Trade’ greenhouse gas emission reduction and trading system.” • One Mg Carbon trading for about $5 • Membership from the forest products industry includes: • Abitibi-Consolidated • Aracruz Celulose S.A. • Cenibra Nipo Brasiliera S.A. • International Paper • Klabin S.A. • MeadWestvaco Corp. • Stora Enso North America • Suzano Papel E Celulose SA • Temple-Inland Inc

19. Figure from Ingerson. 2007.

21. Forest Cover Trends in New England Since European Settlement

22. Differences Between Pre-Settlement and Current Forests in VT and NH Forest Composition Species:Abundance: Chestnut Elm Beech Sugar Maple Hemlock White Pine Red Spruce White Birch Cottonwood Pin Cherry Red Maple Communities:Abundance: Old-Growth Forest of All Types Floodplain Silver Maple and Sugar Maple Rich Lowland Oak/Basswood/Ash Forested Wetlands Native Grasslands and Shrublands Functionally Extirpated Sources: Cogbill (2000); McLachlan et al. (2000); Fuller et al. 1998;Foster 1992; Siccama (1971)

28. Prescribed Fire

30. Restoration as Experimentation What are the elements of experimental design?

35. FACTORIAL EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

40. Seedling Mortality

41. Effectiveness of Tubes