Criteria for Recognizing, Organizing, and Planing Ecological Restoration

摘要: When faced with these constraints, it is tempting to dismiss eco-restoration as quixotic and instead try to “put it back the way it formerly functioned”. In other words, the species composition and community structure are less important than function.“Function” is shorthand for a suite of ecological functions, such as primary productivity, nutrient cycling, and food chain support. However, the principle meaning of “function” in this context, at least for most people, is the suite of ecological goods and services provided by intact, ecologically healthy ecosystems and that are of direct benefit for people. Examples of ecosystem goods are foods, timber, fiber, forage, thatch, fuelwood, and medicinals. Examples of ecosystem services are the provision of clean air and water; retention of flood waters; control of erosion; renewal of topsoil; enhancement of habitat for wildlife and rare species; sequestration of carbon, pollutants, and excess nutrients; pollination of crops; biological control of crop pests; and the fulfillment of human cultural needs of a spiritual, aesthetic, intellectual and recreation nature. People value ecosystems because they provide these goods and services. The repair of ecosystem function is generally called rehabilitation rather than restoration. Rehabilitation poses its own, inherent disadvantages. One is that most rehabilitation programs are intended to resolve a particular problem, such as the recovery of grazing land or the provision of wildlife habitat. Site preparation and planting that are designed for one purpose generally provide only one appreciable service. In addition, ecosystems that are rehabilitated for a single purpose are readily …