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Chapter 13

RESTORATION

ECOLOGY

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OUTLINE

• HELPING NATURE HEAL

ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION

• NATURE IS RESILIENT

• RESTORING FORESTS

• RESTORING PRAIRIES

• RESTORING WETLANDS AND STREAMS

EVERGLADES

CHESAPEAKE BAY

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RESTORATION ECOLOGY

• Applies ecological principles to restoring

disturbed areas.

5 basic elements:

1. Removing the cause of the disturbance

2. Controlling invasive species

3. Replanting with native vegetation

4. Reintroduction of native fauna

5. Ongoing monitoring – before, during, after

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RESTORATION ECOLOGY

• Restoration to an original pristine condition is

rarely possible.

Often the best option is to choose an

alternative condition with desirable

characteristics.

Sometimes an entirely new use for the site is

the best alternative.

• Nature is resilient – simply protecting an area

may allow for natural succession to take place,

if severe degradation has not occurred.

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• RESTORATION –

bringing an area

back to its former

condition (restore)

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• REHABILITATION - repairing ecosystem

function but not to original condition

May be similar to the original community or

an entirely different community

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• REINTRODUCTION - transplanting organisms

from an external source to a site where they

have been previously reduced/eliminated

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• REALLOCATION – to use an area to create a

new and different kind of community

• RE-CREATION – building a new community on

a site too degraded for restoration

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• RECLAMATION - employs stronger, more

extreme techniques to clean up severe pollution

or create a newly functioning ecosystem on a

seriously degraded site

ie: returning a mined area to its natural state

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In building a housing project in Minnesota, the developer destroyed

a complex native wetland containing rare orchids. The “mitigation”,

shown here, is just a hole filled with rainwater. It quickly became

re-vegetated with invasive species.

• MITIGATION - compensation for destroying a

site by purchasing or building one of more or

less equal ecological value somewhere else

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• REMEDIATION - using chemical, physical, or

biological methods to remove pollution while

causing as little disruption as possible

Phytoremediation – uses plants to remove

contaminants from soils

Bioremediation – uses microbes to remove

contaminants

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DECIDING ON RECOVERY GOALS

• Recovery is linked to succession, but the first

stages of succession are random and

ecosystems do not behave as tightly

coordinated entities.

• Aims of restoration are often driven by human

values of beauty or utility rather than science.

• There may be more than one historic state to

which the area could be restored.

• Should we attempt to restore what used to be or

create a community compatible with future

conditions?

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EARLY CONSERVATIONISTS

• Gifford Pinchot - First head of the U.S. Forest

Service. Pioneer in resource management.

Utilitarianism.

• Aldo Leopold - pioneer in restoration ecology

... Health is the capacity of the land for self-

renewal. Conservation is our effort to

understand and preserve this capacity....

• Theodore Roosevelt – 1903 established Pelican

Island, FL as the first National Bird Sanctuary.

He created 50 more in his term.

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NATURE IS RESILIENT

• Sometimes stopping the damage is all that is necessary and Nature can rebuild.

• Example: Forests in Vermont

By 1840, early settlers had cleared the land and sheep farming dominated. Only 20% of forest remained.

Today 80% of the land is forested. Much of the forest resembles old growth forest and moose, bear and bobcats have become reestablished.

Vermont law requires consulting a professional forester and developing a plan before cutting forested areas.

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NATIVE SPECIES MAY NEED

HELP TO REESTABLISH

• Re-establishing Bermuda’s national bird, the Bermuda Cahow.

• Bird was thought to be extinct due to human hunting and predation by hogs, cats, rats.

• In 1951, 18 nesting pairs were discovered.

• Protection program begun on Nonsuch Island, which involved removing invasive species, reintroducing native vegetation, creating nesting burrows, and protecting against predators.

• By 2002, there were 200 birds.

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RESTORING FORESTS HAS BENEFITS

• Logging companies reforest cut areas.

Creates a monoculture that does not have the complexity of natural forest

But does provide ground cover, habitat for some species, and sustainable lumber

• Largest reforestation ever undertaken is now taking place in China.

A billion people have planted 50 billion trees over past 30 years to hold back encroaching desert and reduce dust. Success is uncertain.

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TREES IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE

• Reforestation projects with a variety of native

species produce the best conditions for

recovery

• Trees/Forests:

Improve air quality and provide shade.

Prevent desertification,

Sequester CO2,

Decrease erosion

Improve quality of surface and ground water

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FIRE IS ESSENTIAL FOR SAVANNA

• Periodic fires and grazing by native wildlife are

essential to savannas & prairies.

• Fire suppression has led to invasive species

and additional fuel for more damaging fires

• Agricultural conversion as well as hunting,

trapping of native animals contributes to the

degradation

• Restoration requires prescribed burns

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• An OAK SAVANNA is a forest with scattered

open grown trees where the canopy covers 10%

to 50% of the area and the ground has grasses

and flowering plants. Most common tree is the

fire-adapted bur oak. Was common in Mid-west.

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SOMME PRAIRIE GROVE RESTORATION

• Somme Prairie Grove in Illinois. Land purchased

in 1920’s, began restoration in 1970’s.

Prescribed burns, Invasive plants removed

Native seeds were spread

Transect monitoring over 6 years

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SOMME PRAIRIE GROVE RESTORATION

• Graph shows the results of the monitoring of

the restoration. Native species are increasing.

• NARI stands for Natural Area Rating Index and

it measures the frequency of native species

associated with a high quality community.

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Recognizing the Role of Fire

• Land managers now recognize the role of fire in

maintaining/restoring many forest types.

Examples:

- Superior National Forest in Minnesota has

started a program of prescribed fires.

- Sequoia National Park – giant sequoias live

for thousands of years, thick bark protects

against fires. Dense undergrowth can

damage sequoias, smaller trees can carry

fire upward to their crowns

• Fuel removal and prescribed burns are regular

management tools.

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RESTORING PRAIRIES

• Before European settlement, the eastern edge of the Great Plains was covered by tallgrass prairie, with grasses reaching a height of 2 m (6 ft).

Less than 2% remains

• The middle of the Great Plains contained a mixed prairie of bunch and sod-forming grasses.

• The western edge of the Great Plains, with less rainfall, was covered with shortgrass prairie containing bunch grasses 30 cm (1 ft) in height.

• These prairies were all maintained by grazing and by fires.

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FIRE IS ALSO CRUCIAL TO PRAIRIE

RESTORATION

• In 1934, Aldo Leopold began to re-create tallgrass prairie on an abandoned farm in Madison, Wisconsin (now the Curtis Prairie).

Discovered that fire was essential. Kills weeds and removes soil nitrogen, which gives low-nitrogen native species an advantage.

• Nature Conservancy has tallgrass prairie northwest of Tulsa, Oklahoma

1/3 of each pasture burned per year

Bison re-introduced early 1990’s ~ 2500 bison now live there – recreating natural ecosystem

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SHORTGRASS PRAIRIE PRESERVED

• The middle of the Great Plains has been fertile

cropland due to irrigation by water from the

Ogallala aquifer. This water is being depleted

and it may be impossible to continue our

current mode of farming there.

• Human population is leaving these areas.

• Some believe the best use of

the land is to return it to

BUFFALO COMMONS, allowing

buffalo to graze freely,

again returning the land

to a native ecosystem.

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SHORTGRASS PRAIRIE PRESERVED

• Opposing methods to saving shortgrass prairie in Montana

Nature Conservancy bought the Matador ranch, but permits ranchers to use the land in exchange for agreements to protect prairie dogs, control weeds, and allow fire.

American Prairie Foundation is buying land, pulling out fences, eliminating buildings and returning the land to wilderness. Plans to restore elk, bison, wolves and grizzly bears.

- Ranchers are concerned about the idea of reintroducing predators.

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BISON HELP MAINTAIN PRAIRIE

• Move in dense herds eating everything

including weeds (cattle do not do this)

• Trampling and intense eating provide an

opening for pioneer species.

• Buffalo “chips” fertilize the soil.

• After grazing, they move on and do not return

for several years.

• They are adapted to prairie conditions and their

meat can be marketed. (very lean – low in fat)

• Buffalo do not require shelter as cattle do

• Buffalo do not require large amount of water

• BISON ARE A _________________ SPECIES.

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WETLAND’S ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

HYDROLOGIC CYCLE – recharge groundwater, purify surface water

Tremendous BIOMASS

Serve as NURSERIES for marine species

Food and HABITAT for a variety of species

Coastal wetlands ABSORB STORM SURGE

• Wetlands occupy less than 5% of land, but 1/3 of endangered species spend at least part of their life cycle there.

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RESTORING WETLANDS AND STREAMS

• 1950’s - 1970s, US government gave incentives to drain and destroy wetlands. Many were then used for agriculture and development.

½ million acres lost per year.

• CLEAN WATER ACT (1972) began protecting

streams and wetlands from pollution discharge.

1977 – courts included filling-in of wetlands

• FARM BILL (1985) blocked agricultural

subsidies to farmers who damaged wetlands.

• Many states now have a “no net loss” policy

and wetlands are coming back.

• Have been small gains in last 20 years to

restoring wetlands. ~700,000 ha

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RESTORING THE EVERGLADES, FLA

• Ditching, draining and diverting water started a

century ago for agriculture and to reduce

flooding of coastal cities. Rivers were

straightened to shunt water to the sea.

• Draining the Everglades resulted in water shortages in the dry season.

• Everglades National Park has lost 90% of its wading birds. Its ecosystem may be collapsing.

• Plans in 2000 included removal of levees, restoring natural flow of rivers, and saving water in underground aquifers for later use (while still controlling flooding). Nothing has been done yet.

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PLANS FOR THE EVERGLADES

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DRAINAGE CANAL (L) & KISSIMMEE RIVER (R)

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CHESAPEAKE BAY RESTORATION

• The map shows

Chesapeake Bay,

America’s largest and

richest estuary.

• Some 2,700 species

spend all or part of their

lives in or near the bay.

• It suffers from pollution

and degraded water

quality.

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CHESAPEAKE BAY RESTORATION

• Important species of fish and shellfish have declined dramatically.

• The oyster harvest is 1% of historic levels.

Damage is due to

- overfishing

- sewage discharge

- silt from erosion

- heavy metals and toxic chemicals

- heat from industry (thermal pollution)

- pesticides, herbicides

- fertilizers and other “run-off”

- oil spills

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CHESAPEAKE BAY

• Seafood is contaminated with pathogens.

• Fertilizer from agricultural runoff causes growth of phytoplankton in the bay. As these organisms die and decompose, they use up all the oxygen in the bottom layers of the bay.

This creates dead zones where very few organisms can survive. __________________

• EELGRASS, a keystone species, was smothered by sediment. It served as a nursery for marine animals.

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CHESAPEAKE BAY

• Fifteen million people live in the watershed.

• 66 major industrial facilities discharge into the

bay along with 420,000 septic (sewer) systems.

• Thousands of farms, yards, etc. discharge

nutrients and sediment.

• The Chesapeake Bay Commission has been

working for 25 years to restore the bay.

There has been some progress, but it is

minimal and the bay is still threatened.

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WETLANDS

• Prairie potholes in Great Plains re-created

• Passage of the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp

Act (Duck Stamp Act) in 1934. Money from

hunting used to acquire wetland habitat.

• Wetland mitigation is required when

development destroys a natural wetland, but it

often does not replace native species and

ecological functions.

• Artificial wetlands can be used to treat sewage

and collect storm runoff.

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Prairie Potholes were often drained/filled in by

farmers. Restoration of these seasonal wetlands

is important to migratory water fowl .

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STREAMS NEED REBUILDING

• Streams threatened by pollution, toxins,

invasive organisms, erosion, etc.

• 44% of streams suffer degradation, mostly due

to sedimentation and excess nutrients.

• Streams have been turned into cement

channels and buried underground in urban

areas. Little resemblance to natural state.

Rebuilding involves returning to a natural

stream bed. Difficult or impossible to do in

some situations.

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STREAMS NEED REBUILDING

• Can reduce sediment entering streams by

providing ground cover

• Can redirect water with

earth-moving equipment

barriers to deflect current

• Can provide fish habitat with logs, roots,

artificial “lunkers”

• Can stabilize banks by having slope of no more

than 45 degrees

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POLLUTED SITES CAN BE REMEDIATED

• Some plants can selectively eliminate toxins from soil.

• If the area is small, contaminated dirt can be hauled away and clean soil brought in.

• Bacteria can remove toxins from water if they are provided with oxygen and nutrients. “Bioremediation”

• Decontaminated urban fields (“brown fields”) can become valuable real estate.

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RECLAMATION OF DEGRADED SITES

ie: Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act

requires mine operators to restore the shape of

the land to its original contour & re-vegetate it.

The Berkely

Mine Pit in

Butte, Montana

will never be

fully reclaimed.

Groundwater

filled the mine

pit and has a pH

of 2.5.