Assisting recovery can be as simple as removing an invasive species or reintroducing a lost species or a lost function like fire ; or as complex as altering landforms, planting vegetation, changing the hydrology, and reintroducing wildlife. The goal of ecological restoration is to return a degraded ecosystem to its historic trajectory , not its historic condition. The ecosystem may not necessarily recover to its former state since contemporary ecological realities, including global climate change, may cause it to develop along an altered trajectory, just as these same realities may have changed the trajectory of nearby undisturbed ecosystems.
History plays an important role in restoration, but contemporary conditions must also be taken into consideration. Ecological restoration aims to re-establish a self-organizing ecosystem on a trajectory to reach full recovery. Some countries have already invested in restoration as part of their strategies to bounce back from coronavirus disease while others are turning to restoration to help them adapt to a climate that is already changing.
The world loses enough forest every three seconds to cover a football pitch and over the last century over half of our wetlands have been destroyed. Share Via. By hindustantimes.
All you need to know The loss of ecosystem deprives the world of carbon sinks, like forests and peatlands, at a time humanity can least afford it. Topics world environment day. Get our Daily News Capsule Subscribe.
Thank you for subscribing to our Daily News Capsule newsletter. Whatsapp Twitter Facebook Linkedin. India has an ambitious target of restoring 26 million hectares of degraded lands by Reaching this target will require certain key enablers to be in place.
First, achieving this scale will need a large number of well-trained restoration practitioners. Restoration ecology has a rather low presence in academic curriculum in India at present and this needs attention. We will also require separate mechanisms to train field-level personnel who will be handling implementation and monitoring of programmes.
Second, we have to make sure that projects adhere to the core principles of restoration. The international standards can help in this regard, with suitable adaptation for Indian conditions. Last, a typical restoration project lasts well over five-six years, and calls for sustained funding and focus. These enablers will make the difference between successful restoration and otherwise. The author is a certified ecological restoration practitioner and managing trustee of Junglescapes, a grassroots NGO working on restoration of forest habitats in South India.
He is a member of the Board of the Society for Ecological Restoration. We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name. Other stressors such as invasive alien species and climate change also impact many ecosystems.
This is often represented by a nearby undisturbed reference site. However, sometimes an historical target may no longer be appropriate under current or projected climatic or biotic conditions. For example, future climates may not support certain species, and some species may have already gone extinct in an area.
Under these circumstances practitioners may decide to create an ecosystem that did not exist historically at the project site, but which corresponds to current or projected future conditions.
Sometimes, restoration efforts are designed to maintain a desirable human-derived state, such as montane meadows or Scottish moors. Bell, S. Linking restoration and landscape ecology. Restoration Ecology 5 , — Bradshaw, A. Restoration: the acid test for ecology. Jordan, W. Falk, D. Foundations of Restoration Ecology. Washington, DC: Island Press, Hobbs, R. Restoration ecology: Repairing the Earth's ecosystems in the new millennium. Restoration Ecology 9, — Towards a conceptual framework for restoration ecology.
Restoration Ecology 4, — Novel ecosystems: theoretical and management aspects of the new ecological world order. Global Ecology and Biogeography 15, 1—7 Holl, K. Tropical montane forest restoration in Costa Rica: overcoming barriers to dispersal and establishment. Restoration Ecology 8, — Lamb, D.
Large-scale ecological restoration of degraded tropical forest lands: the potential role of timber plantations. Restoration Ecology 6, — McKay, J. Restoration Ecology 13, — Michener, W. Quantitatively evaluating restoration experiments: research design, statistical analysis, and data management considerations. Restoration Ecology 5, 93— Montalvo, A. Restoration biology: a population biology perspective.
Restoration Ecology 5, — Osborne, L. Riparian vegetated buffer strips in water-quality restoration and stream management. Freshwater Biology 29, — Palmer, M. Standards for ecologically successful river restoration. Journal of Applied Ecology 42, — Temperton, V. Assembly Rules and Restoration Ecology. Van Andel, J. Restoration Ecology. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, Young, T. Restoration ecology and conservation biology.
0コメント