Predicting restoration outcomes based on organizational and ecological factors

For restoration to be an effective strategy to reverse large‐scale habitat loss and land degradation, funding programs need policies that promote selection of and commitment to projects that can reasonably be expected to succeed. Programmatic project selection practices have received minimal formal evaluation, despite their importance. In this study, we considered the extent to which a program needs to consider both ecological and organizational factors during project selection in order to minimize the incidence of project failure. Our assessment of a long‐term program that funds ecological restoration efforts across Minnesota (U.S.A.), based on project records, manager surveys, and field surveys, yielded several broadly relevant insights. First, factors well understood to confer ecological resilience (level of landscape alteration and starting condition) were clearly associated with restoration outcomes, regardless of time‐since‐initiation of restoration. Second, restoration of low‐resilience ecosystems is typically a labor‐ and skill‐intensive enterprise for organizations that undertake them. Our analysis revealed four organizational limitations, in addition to insufficient funds, that hindered capacity to keep projects on‐track: lack of planning and goal‐setting, inadequate staffing, leadership change, and incomplete records. Third, to reduce risk, programs do not necessarily need to avoid challenging projects, but do need to consider whether organizations proposing restorations have adequate internal capacity to competently plan and to sustain actions for a duration sufficient to restore ecological resilience. If a restoration is degraded enough to require human intervention to recover, the outcome of a project is as likely to reflect its organizational reality as much as its ecological circumstances.     

Restoring Remote Ecosystems

Indirect effects from climate‐driven changes in ecosystems that are remote from direct human activity pose challenges for ecological restoration. Significant and often indirect impacts on alpine ecosystems, the primary ecosystem under consideration in this article, threaten historical‐reference conditions and the viability of some species. The impetus for restoration is similar to projects involving more direct and proximate impacts, but the issues are more complicated in remote ecosystems. Restoration efforts in remote ecosystems might do more harm than good, and the effort required for effective restoration might be greater than easily justified given the shortfall of resources for restoring more heavily impacted ecosystems. The long duration and integration of impacts on remote landscapes pose a distinct set of challenges to restorationists. Intervening in remote ecosystems makes them less remote by definition (they are now affected by human agency). In this article, we examine scientific, technical, and moral issues and offer an initial model for assessing the appropriateness of restoring remote landscapes.     

A conceptual framework for urban ecological restoration and rehabilitation

Urban greenspace has gained considerable attention during the last decades because of its relevance to wildlife conservation, human welfare, and climate change adaptation. Biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation worldwide require the formation of new concepts of ecological restoration and rehabilitation aimed at improving ecosystem functions, services, and biodiversity conservation in cities. Although relict sites of natural and semi-natural ecosystems can be found in urban areas, environmental conditions and species composition of most urban ecosystems are highly modified, inducing the development of novel and hybrid ecosystems. A consequence of this ecological novelty is the lack of (semi-) natural reference systems available for defining restoration targets and assessing restoration success in urban areas. This hampers the implementation of ecological restoration in cities. In consideration of these challenges, we present a new conceptual framework that provides guidance and support for urban ecological restoration and rehabilitation by formulating restoration targets for different levels of ecological novelty (i.e., historic, hybrid, and novel ecosystems). To facilitate the restoration and rehabilitation of novel urban ecosystems, we recommend using established species-rich and well-functioning urban ecosystems as reference. Such urban reference systems are likely to be present in many cities. Highlighting their value in comparison to degraded ecosystems can stimulate and guide restoration initiatives. As urban restoration approaches must consider local history and site conditions, as well as citizens’ needs, it may also be advisable to focus the restoration of strongly altered urban ecosystems on selected ecosystem functions, services and/or biodiversity values. Ecosystem restoration and rehabilitation in cities can be either relatively inexpensive or costly, but even expensive measures can pay off when they effectively improve ecosystem services such as climate change mitigation or recreation. Successful re‐shaping and re-thinking of urban greenspace by involving citizens and other stakeholders will help to make our cities more sustainable in the future.     

Evaluating Restoration Success on Lyell Island, British Columbia Using Oblique Videogrammetry

In degraded ecosystems where the impact on wildlife and the destruction of natural systems is high, restoration becomes a critical component of recovery. Monitoring restoration activities plays a key role in determining end points for restoration and assessing effectiveness. Appropriate monitoring of major systems, particularly in assessing vegetation reestablishment and slope stabilization, requires a long‐term commitment to annual assessment of change and improvement over time. However, intrinsic factors built into government or public management systems, such as budgeting and staffing limitations, limit the ability for long‐term monitoring of critical restoration projects. In the research reported in this article, we devised and assessed a new remote method for assessing restoration success and tested it on restoration and monitoring requirements in Lyell Island, British Columbia. We developed a system (the oblique data fusion system [ODFS]) to extract spatial information from oblique aerial video imagery. The ODFS enables low‐cost change detection and database updates at a range of operational scales. System tests show an absolute spatial accuracy on the order of ±2.1 m. The evaluation, based on digitized historical data, ground surveys, and the ODFS‐derived data, indicates that the landslide rate (new area/year) tapered off following treatment; after 5 years it had been reduced by a factor of 3 relative to the background rate. The recovery is deemed sufficient to initiate secondary restoration tasks. The evaluation demonstrates the accuracy and utility of the ODFS for long‐term monitoring of landscape restoration efforts, particularly in remote areas. In conclusion, this new innovative method shows considerable promise for park managers.     

Acting effectively for biodiversity: a strategic framework for environmental non-governmental organisations

Environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) are major operators of conservation initiatives both in the political sphere and in the field. The context within which they operate can change rapidly and dramatically. As a result, they need to plan new strategies, and do so by taking up the challenges of strategic design like any institutionalised organization. However, the specific characteristics and situations of ENGOs call for new, relevant approaches to strategic analysis and design. Based on successive cycles of case studies and conceptual work drawing on the biodiversity and strategic management literatures, the present paper proposes a new framework to articulate four fundamental dimensions of ENGOs’ strategy: the choice of goals in terms of ecological priorities; the choice of how to act and press for change; the development of capacity (i.e. organization, internal governance and resources); and finally, a strategy to manage an often ambivalent mix of competition and cooperation with other ENGOs. The value of the framework is illustrated here by a case study of the French NGO ‘Humanité et Biodiversité’ (mankind and biodiversity), with dramatic changes in strategy to match and major strategic organizational challenges to be identified and resolved.     

Integrating trait‐based empirical and modeling research to improve ecological restoration

A global ecological restoration agenda has led to ambitious programs in environmental policy to mitigate declines in biodiversity and ecosystem services. Current restoration programs can incompletely return desired ecosystem service levels, while resilience of restored ecosystems to future threats is unknown. It is therefore essential to advance understanding and better utilize knowledge from ecological literature in restoration approaches. We identified an incomplete linkage between global change ecology, ecosystem function research, and restoration ecology. This gap impedes a full understanding of the interactive effects of changing environmental factors on the long‐term provision of ecosystem functions and a quantification of trade‐offs and synergies among multiple services. Approaches that account for the effects of multiple changing factors on the composition of plant traits and their direct and indirect impact on the provision of ecosystem functions and services can close this gap. However, studies on this multilayered relationship are currently missing. We therefore propose an integrated restoration agenda complementing trait‐based empirical studies with simulation modeling. We introduce an ongoing case study to demonstrate how this framework could allow systematic assessment of the impacts of interacting environmental factors on long‐term service provisioning. Our proposed agenda will benefit restoration programs by suggesting plant species compositions with specific traits that maximize the supply of multiple ecosystem services in the long term. Once the suggested compositions have been implemented in actual restoration projects, these assemblages should be monitored to assess whether they are resilient as well as to improve model parameterization. Additionally, the integration of empirical and simulation modeling research can improve global outcomes by raising the awareness of which restoration goals can be achieved, due to the quantification of trade‐offs and synergies among ecosystem services under a wide range of environmental conditions.     

Where is the Evidence for Assessing Evidence‐Based Restoration? Comments on Ntshotsho et al. (2010)

In their article “Assessing the evidence base for restoration in South Africa,” Ntshotsho et al. attempt to determine whether restoration in South Africa is evidence based by reporting on 10 projects' baseline data collection, goal setting, and monitoring. However, their contribution suffers from two major constraints. First, they confuse assessing the evidence base with assessing whether restoration is evidence based. Truly, assessing the evidence base would entail a systematic review of the quantity and quality of information available as well as the conclusions supported, perhaps in a meta‐analytical framework. Determining if restoration is evidence based would require a survey of project managers to evaluate if they take decisions based on scientific information. Second, Ntshotsho et al. do not clearly distinguish successfully achieving restoration project goals from successfully restoring ecosystems. They largely focus on projects' socioeconomic goals without emphasizing that these goals are, by definition, secondary to ecological goals in determining restoration success. Thus, Ntshotsho et al. provide neither a sound assessment of the evidence base for restoration nor whether restoration is evidence based. To evaluate and encourage evidence‐based restoration in South Africa, we recommend a simple assessment of the basis on which restoration managers make decisions, identification of factors precluding evidence‐based decision‐making, and development of platforms to evaluate the data collected in restoration programs to generate an evidence base from which to make defendable decisions.     

Assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of rangeland restoration in Namaqualand,South Africa

South Africa’s Succulent Karoo is home to unmatched numbers of dryland plant species. Unfortunately, decades of overstocking these rangelands with small livestock and historical ploughing for fodder have led to extensive degradation. Some areas are severely degraded, negatively affecting both agricultural livestock productivity and ecosystem health. Land degradation reduces land use options and leaves land users, and the ecosystems on which they depend, more vulnerable to environmental and economic stressors. Ecological restoration is promoted as an effective and cost-efficient option for building the resilience of local and regional ecosystems. However, dryland restoration confronts many environmental challenges that have limited its success to date. Here, we present the results of a local-scale participatory restoration trial and an assessment of the costs of regional-scale ecological restoration in the Nama Khoi area in Namaqualand, South Africa. In combination, these analyses are useful for identifying opportunities and barriers for the improved efficiency and effectiveness of dryland restoration. In Namaqualand, we find that ecological restoration is difficult and expensive. The expected impacts of climate change will only exacerbate these challenges. However, we argue that a holistic suite of land management actions that include sound management, the prevention of further degradation, and prudent investments in restoration even where costs are high is likely to be the only real option for sustaining land-based livelihoods in this region over the longer term.     

Riparian Ecosystems in the 21st Century: Hotspots for Climate Change Adaptation?

Riparian ecosystems in the 21st century are likely to play a critical role in determining the vulnerability of natural and human systems to climate change, and in influencing the capacity of these systems to adapt. Some authors have suggested that riparian ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts due to their high levels of exposure and sensitivity to climatic stimuli, and their history of degradation. Others have highlighted the probable resilience of riparian ecosystems to climate change as a result of their evolution under high levels of climatic and environmental variability. We synthesize current knowledge of the vulnerability of riparian ecosystems to climate change by assessing the potential exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity of their key components and processes, as well as ecosystem functions, goods and services, to projected global climatic changes. We review key pathways for ecological and human adaptation for the maintenance, restoration and enhancement of riparian ecosystem functions, goods and services and present emerging principles for planned adaptation. Our synthesis suggests that, in the absence of adaptation, riparian ecosystems are likely to be highly vulnerable to climate change impacts. However, given the critical role of riparian ecosystem functions in landscapes, as well as the strong links between riparian ecosystems and human well-being, considerable means, motives and opportunities for strategically planned adaptation to climate change also exist. The need for planned adaptation of and for riparian ecosystems is likely to be strengthened as the importance of many riparian ecosystem functions, goods and services will grow under a changing climate. Consequently, riparian ecosystems are likely to become adaptation ‘hotspots’ as the century unfolds.     

Global spread of hypoxia in freshwater ecosystems during the last three centuries is caused by rising local human pressure

The spread of hypoxia is a threat to aquatic ecosystem functions and services as well as to biodiversity. However, sparse long‐term monitoring of lake ecosystems has prevented reconstruction of global hypoxia dynamics while inhibiting investigations into its causes and assessing the resilience capacity of these systems. This study compiles the onset and duration of hypoxia recorded in sediments of 365 lakes worldwide since AD 1700, showing that lacustrine hypoxia started spreading before AD 1900, 70 years prior to hypoxia in coastal zones. This study also shows that the increase of human activities and nutrient release is leading to hypoxia onset. No correlations were found with changes in precipitation or temperature. There is no evidence for a post‐1980s return to well‐oxygenated lacustrine conditions in industrialized countries despite the implementation of restoration programs. The apparent establishment of stable hypoxic conditions prior to AD 1900 highlights the challenges of a growing nutrient demand, accompanied by increasing global nutrient emissions of our industrialized societies, and climate change.     

Looking to the future: key points for sustainable management of northern Great Plains grasslands

The grasslands of the northern Great Plains (NGP) region of North America are considered endangered ecosystems and priority conservation areas yet have great ecological and economic importance. Grasslands in the NGP are no longer self‐regulating adaptive systems. The challenges to these grasslands are widespread and serious (e.g. climate change, invasive species, fragmentation, altered disturbance regimes, and anthropogenic chemical loads). Because the challenges facing the region are dynamic, complex, and persistent, a paradigm shift in how we approach restoration and management of the grasslands in the NGP is imperative. The goal of this article is to highlight four key points for land managers and restoration practitioners to consider when planning management or restoration actions. First, we discuss the appropriateness of using historical fidelity as a restoration or management target because of changing climate, widespread pervasiveness of invasive species, the high level of fragmentation, and altered disturbance regimes. Second, we highlight ecosystem resilience and long‐term population persistence as alternative targets. Third, because the NGP is so heavily impacted with anthropogenic chemical loading, we discuss the risks of ecological traps and extinction debt. Finally, we highlight the importance of using adaptive management and having patience during restoration and management. Consideration of these four points will help management and restoration of grasslands move toward a more successful and sustainable future. Although we specifically focus on the NGP of North America, these same issues and considerations apply to grasslands and many other ecosystems globally.     

典型脆弱生态区生态技术评价方法及应用专题导读

全球经济发展和日益增强的人类活动给业已脆弱的生态系统带来了巨大挑战,寻求尊重自然规律、环境友好的生态治理与恢复技术成为实现联合国可持续发展目标的重要组成部分。近年来,国内外科学家和生态治理机构研发出了一系列技术体系和技术模式,对脆弱生态区退化生态系统展开了全面的治理和恢复。然而,缺乏对这些治理技术的评价和优选方法的研发和应用在很大程度上限制了优良技术的筛选和推广应用,造成了资金和人力的浪费和损失。针对这些问题,科技部在2016年启动了国家重点研发计划项目"生态技术评价方法、指标体系与全球生态治理技术评价",其中重要的任务之一是对生态技术进行梳理、评价和优选。本文旨在对已有的评价方法和指标体系的研究进展进行系统梳理,对生态技术的特征、生态技术评价的基本步骤和原则、生态技术的三阶段评估方法等进行了界定和深入分析,对本专题收录的14篇学术文章所涵盖的评价方法和模型研发、案例应用等进行了介绍,以期为筛选优良技术、提高生态技术应用效果、促进优良技术的输出和引进提供参考。     

Restoration for multiple use

Management of restored ecosystems for multiple use is a modern necessity given a growing human population and dwindling supplies of ecosystem goods and services. Multiple use management refers to managing resources simultaneously for sustainable output of many goods and services. Within any restoration, thoughtful planning and early stakeholder engagement can help harmonize seemingly competing multiple uses. Although the field of ecological restoration is young and there are few long‐term lessons to draw from, we can infer from ecological theory that maximization of native biodiversity can impart resilience in the restored ecosystem and can buffer against the stress of multiple use management. Restoration for multiple use should be accompanied with an acknowledgment that humility is required and monitoring is needed to keep the restored ecosystem on an acceptable trajectory. The field of ecological restoration was founded upon the notion that ecosystems would be restored for ethical reasons, but modern realities have necessitated a more utilitarian approach to restoration that requires restoring ecosystems for multiple uses. This reality represents a grand challenge for the next generation of restoration ecologists.     

The role of trust in restoration success: public engagement and temporal and spatial scale in a complex social‐ecological system

The social dimensions of river restoration are not well understood especially in the context of large‐scale restoration projects embedded in a complex social‐ecological system. This study used in‐depth interviews with diverse stakeholders to examine perceptions of restoration success on the Clark Fork River Superfund project in Western Montana. Trust emerged as critical to restoration success and was influenced by public engagement, and by spatial and temporal scale. At this large scale, multiple relationships between agencies, NGOs, businesses, landowners, and other stakeholders meant that building trust was a complicated endeavor. The large spatial scale and long time frame made public engagement challenging, and landowners in particular were critical of the project, expressing mistrust in both agencies and the project as a whole. However, projects focused on smaller spatial scales, such as particular stream reaches, appeared to inspire more effective collaboration. Relationships between organizations were important at this large scale, but inter‐organizational conflict affected trust across the project. Further, because trust requires accepting vulnerability, recognizing the differential vulnerability that particular groups and communities experience, based on the risks and benefits they accrue relative to the project, is important.     

基于自然的解决方案在北方防沙带生态屏障建设中的应用

基于自然的解决方案(NbS)通过自然资源高效利用和适应性生态系统管理应对多样化挑战,是国际上普遍认可的生态恢复前沿理念,我国的国家生态屏障建设从本质上是中国特色的NbS,具有系统性、综合性和多尺度特征。NbS的对象、主体、目标以及方案等方面与生态屏障的建设思路上高度契合,相关准则能够为生态屏障建设提供全面的理论思路和实践框架。以北方防沙带生态屏障带为例,从北方防沙带的生态问题入手,深入剖析了NbS与探讨了北方防沙带生态屏障之间的耦合关系,从“格局-过程-尺度”机理、“服务-价值-福祉”路径和“保护-修复-管理”体系角度对NbS实施准则和北方防沙带生态屏障进行了阐述;并结合基于自然解决方案的北方防沙带案例分析,总结了NbS在北方防沙带生态屏障建设中的未来发展趋势和面临的挑战。     

When is restoration not?: Incorporating landscape-scale processes to restore self-sustaining ecosystems in coastal wetland restoration

With increasing restoration initiatives for coastal wetlands, the question of ‘What are we restoring to?’ becomes more pressing. The goal of this paper is to explore restoration concepts, examples, and challenges from the Pacific and Gulf coasts. One of the fundamental concepts explored is change over time – either in the controlling processes or the restoration structure – and how such changes can be meshed with the goals of various restoration efforts. We subsequently review the concepts of ecosystem trajectories, alternative restoration approaches, and the ideal attributes of functional self-sustaining restoration in the context of realities of restoration planning, design, and implementation. These realities include the dynamics of the ecosystems being restored, very real constraints that are imposed by the contemporary physical and human landscape, and the need to plan for the long term development of restoration sites recognizing that both project performance and expectations may change over time.     

A triage framework for managing novel,hybrid, and designed marine ecosystems

The novel ecosystem (NE) concept has been discussed in terrestrial restoration ecology over the last 15 years but has not yet found much traction in the marine context. Against a background of unprecedented environmental change, managers of natural marine resources have portfolios full of altered systems for which restoration to a previous historical baseline may be impractical for ecological, social, or financial reasons. In these cases, the NE concept is useful for weighing options and emphasizes the risk of doing nothing by forcing questions regarding the value of novelty and how it can best be managed in the marine realm. Here, we explore how the concept fits marine ecosystems. We propose a scheme regarding how the NE concept could be used as a triage framework for use in marine environments within the context of a decision framework that explicitly considers changed ecosystems and whether restoration is the best or only option. We propose a conceptual diagram to show where marine NEs fit in the continuum of unaltered to shifted marine ecosystems. Overall, we suggest that the NE concept is of interest to marine ecologists and resource managers because it introduces a new vocabulary for considering marine systems that have been changed through human actions but have not shifted to an alternate stable state. Although it remains to be seen whether the concept of marine NEs leads to better conservation and restoration decisions, we posit that the concept may help inform management decisions in an era of unprecedented global marine change.     

景感生态学在流域生态系统保护与修复实践中的应用——以大凌河流域北票段为例

生态系统保护与修复已成为我国生态文明建设的一项核心内容,自2016年以来,在全国24个省（自治区、直辖市）已开展了25个山水林田湖草生态保护修复工程试点工程。以大凌河流域北票段为研究区,探讨了景感生态学理论在山水林田湖草生态系统保护与修复实践中的应用。基于景感生态学理论,构建大凌河流域北票段生态系统保护与修复综合治理框架,以保持、改善和提升生态系统服务,实现可持续发展为目标,构建了"一中心、二重点、五要素、六工程"的生态系统保护与修复景感空间体系,并基于此将大凌河流域北票段生态系统保护与修复分为5个重要治理区域,形成"一带四区"的生态安全格局,提出了应用景感生态学理论,构建区域居民的共同行为规范,引导并实现人类对自然生态系统的有利影响,进一步提升生态系统保护与修复效果的对策建议。通过大凌河流域北票段的分析案例,以景感营造的理念开展区域生态系统保护与修复顶层设计,为促进区域可持续发展提供思路和途径。     

Developing a vision for improved monitoring and reporting of riparian restoration projects

Representatives from agencies involved in natural resource management in the Murray‐Darling Basin gathered for a workshop in November 2010 to develop a vision for improved monitoring and reporting of riparian restoration projects. The resounding message from this workshop was that the effectiveness of riparian restoration depends on having sound, documented and agreed evidence on the ecological responses to restoration efforts. Improving our capacity to manage and restore riparian ecosystems is constrained by (i) a lack of ecological evidence on the effects of restoration efforts, and (ii) short‐termism in commitment to restoration efforts, in funding of monitoring and in expected time spans for ecosystem recovery. Restoration at the effective spatial scope will invariably require a long‐term commitment by researchers, funding agencies, management agencies and landholders. To address the knowledge gaps that constrain riparian restoration in the Basin, participants endorsed four major fields for future research: the importance of landscape context to restoration outcomes; spatio‐temporal scaling of restoration outcomes; functional effects of restoration efforts; and developing informative and effective indicators of restoration. To improve the monitoring and restoration of riparian zones throughout the Basin, participants advocated an integrated approach: a hierarchical adaptive management framework that incorporates long‐term ecological research.     

“山水林田湖草沙生命共同体”耦合框架、模型与展望

“山水林田湖草沙生命共同体”系统保护与修复是我国生态文明建设的重要内容。明确生命共同体的耦合机制,是科学地进行生态保护和修复工作的关键。针对当前生命共同体耦合机制不清、理论和方法不健全的问题,从耦合的视角出发,在小流域尺度上单一生态系统内部生态要素的耦合、流域尺度上不同生态系统之间的耦合、区域尺度上人与自然的耦合三个方面进行整合,在此基础上探讨了多尺度山水林田湖草沙耦合理论,提出了一般性的山水林田湖草沙耦合理论框架。梳理并比较了当前主要的生态系统模型、景观模型、统计学模型以及复合生态系统的多模型耦合方法,综合提出了一个适用于"山水林田湖草沙生命共同体"耦合研究方法。对进一步完善山水林田湖草沙一体化保护修复提出了建议,包括：一是构建多源信息数据库,推进定量化耦合机制研究;二是开展全生命周期监测与评估,探索适应性治理路径;三是强化多元主体参与,完善协同保护机制。