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Ecological Restoration, Remediation, and Reconciliation. By: Victoria Rodriguez Rella Firat Claudia Rodriguez . Ecological Restoration. It is when we try to restore a habitat or ecosystem to its previous state. We often do not know how the area looked before it was damaged.
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Ecological Restoration, Remediation, and Reconciliation. By:Victoria Rodriguez Rella Firat Claudia Rodriguez
Ecological Restoration • It is when we try to restore a habitat or ecosystem to its previous state. • We often do not know how the area looked before it was damaged. • There might have been changes in climate, soil, and species composition which make it difficult to restore an area to its earlier state.
Confusion ? • Ecological restoration is often confused with ecological rehabilitation which is the attempt to turn a degraded ecosystem back into functional or useful ecosystems without trying to restore it to its original condition.
Ecological Remediation. Remediation is the clean up of chemical contaminants from a site by physical or chemical methods, to protect human health and as a first step towards redevelopment of a site for human use.
An example of ecological remediation is : an abandoned and polluted industrial plant (a brownfield), can be cleaned up and then made into various things such as office buildings, apartments, a sports field, or a park.
Reconciliation • What is Reconciliation? • Reconciliation Ecology Involves finding new ways to share the places we dominate with other species. http://winwinecology.com
To put things in effect • Some creative ideas: • Placing some monoculture yards in neighborhoods using plant species adapted to local climates. • This makes the neighborhood more biologically diverse and interesting • Keeps down insects pests • Requires less use of noisy polluting lawnmowers • In Berlin, Germany people planted gardens on many large roof tops. • These roofs can be designed to support a variety of species by varying the depth and type of soil and their exposure to the sun.
Case Study “Protecting the Bluebirds” • Bad news: • Bluebird pop’ declining in the eastern United States • Two reasons • These birds only live is tree holes of a certain size, dead or dying trees are great. Timber companies cut the trees off for house companies • Other aggressive birds take over the Bluebirds nest and food need for them during the winter • Good news: • People designed nest boxes for the Bluebirds
5 things you MUST know about ecological restoration, remediation & reconciliation : 1- Remediation is the cleanup of chemical contaminants on a site so humans can use the land. 2- We need to learn how to share the spaces we dominate with other species. 3- Reconciliation helps endangered animals survive. 4- Habitat loss is the leading cause for both, species extinction and ecosystem service decline. 5- The restored ecosystem will not recover its former state, since some constraints and conditions may cause it to develop along an altered trajectory.
Restoration Picture References • http://www.reforestteak.com/assets/images/content/nwetphoto2.jpg • http://www.placedesigngroup.com/projects/7/89/d0.jpg • http://www.ser.org/ • http://newsletter.herrerainc.com/restoring-ecosystems/