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Chloropyron maritimum subsp. maritimum; adaptive management; annuals; beak; bees; birds; canopy; case studies; conservation areas; desalination; germination; global warming; grasses; indigenous species; introduced plants; littoral zone; monitoring; parasitism; perennials; pollinators; rain; regression analysis; reproduction; roots; salt marsh plants; salt marshes; temperature; tides; upland soils; California
Abstract:
... In theory, extirpated plant species can be reintroduced and managed to restore sustainable populations. However, few reintroduced plants are known to persist for more than a few years. Our adaptive‐management case study illustrates how we restored the endangered hemiparasitic annual plant, Chloropyron maritimum subsp. maritimum (salt marsh bird's beak), to Sweetwater Marsh, San Diego Bay National ...
... Ecological restoration involves a dual uncertainty or disagreement, one connected to changes in the environment and in human expertises, and another related to changes in views of acceptability over time and underlying value disagreements. While the former often is attended to under the notion of adaptive management, the latter is less often considered. The aim of this article is to investigate ho ...
... In most drylands, biological soil crusts (biocrusts), an assemblage of lichens, bryophytes, fungi, green algae, and cyanobacteria, are critical to healthy ecosystem function. However, they are extremely sensitive to disturbance and attempts to facilitate their recovery have had variable success. In this study, we applied soil amendments designed to improve soil surface stability and accelerate bio ...
decision making; ecological function; global change; habitat connectivity; habitat conservation
Abstract:
... Scientists need to find innovative ways to communicate their findings with restoration practitioners in an era of global change. Apps are a promising bridge between restoration science and practice because they apply broad scientific concepts to specific situations. For example, habitat connectivity promotes ecological function, but practitioners lack ways to incorporate connectivity into decision ...
... Topographic diversity is an important component of environmental heterogeneity. Topographic diversity within the Upper Mississippi River floodplain has been degraded because of modifications for navigation improvement. Efforts aimed at restoring topographic diversity in the Upper Mississippi River floodplain have been extensive but have not focused on reversing the effects of forest loss and degra ...
... Restoration practitioners have a variety of practices to choose from when designing a restoration, and different strategies may address different goals. Knowledge of how to best use multiple strategies could improve restoration outcomes. Here, we examine two commonly suggested strategies in a single tallgrass prairie restoration experiment: increased forb sowing density and prairie soil inoculatio ...
carbon nitrogen ratio; detritivores; ecosystems; functional diversity; natural regeneration; soil; species richness; trees; tropical forests; vegetation structure; Brazil
Abstract:
... Restoration projects may have broad and complex ecological goals that require distinct and integrative measures for evaluating restoration development and success. However, most studies usually evaluate structural and species composition parameters, with less emphasis on ecological processes and functioning. The main objective of this study is to use an integrated approach that considers structura ...
cost effectiveness; ecological restoration; ecosystem services; geomorphology; hydrology; land use; landscapes; vegetation; wetlands; South Africa
Abstract:
... Resources for evaluating the ecological outcomes of ecosystem restoration projects are often limited, especially within government‐funded programs. In order to rapidly assess the ecological outcomes of wetland restoration, an improved approach has been developed, which was applied in the assessment of the ecological outcomes at nine restoration sites of South Africa's Working for Wetlands program. ...
Acacia cyclops; adults; genetic variation; heterozygosity; landscapes; mating systems; planting; pollinating insects; progeny; provenance; seed collecting; seedlings; seeds; shrubs; trees; South Australia; Western Australia
Abstract:
... Acacia cyclops, or Ngaamarur, is a common coastal shrub or small tree of the southwest of Western Australia and South Australia used for restoration in these landscapes and elsewhere. Knowledge of genetic diversity and mating systems of restoration populations is often lacking but can help inform likely restoration success. We compared genetic diversity and mating system parameters at three restor ...
... Gravel augmentation is often applied to rivers and streams to rehabilitate salmonid spawning and incubation habitat. However, the effect of gravel size on salmon spawning utilization and embryo survival during incubation is not well understood. We conducted an experiment on a regulated and previously mined Northern California salmonid‐bearing stream in which different sized gravel (small, medium, ...
Acaulospora; Glomus; beneficial microorganisms; community structure; dry season; forest restoration; hyphae; montane forests; mycorrhizal fungi; planting; saplings; soil; soil erosion; species richness; spores; vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizae; Argentina
Abstract:
... Soil erosion affects extensive areas worldwide and must be urgently reduced promoting plant cover and beneficial microorganisms associated with plants, including arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). In mountain environments, plant cover is difficult to enhance due to harsh conditions during the dry season and steep slopes. Our objective was to evaluate the percentage of the soil surface covered by ...
... This study examined invertebrate floral visitor responses to floral richness, floral abundance, and distance between floral patches within a newly planted pollinator restoration habitat in an arid ecosystem in central Arizona, United States. We created a pollinator habitat experiment consisting of a large central garden (11‐m diameter) surrounded by concentric rings of smaller habitat patches (1‐m ...
bulk density; lead; organic carbon; radionuclides; salt marshes; sediments; Puget Sound; Washington (state)
Abstract:
... Few comparisons exist between vertical accretion (VA) and carbon accumulation rates (CARs) in restored versus historic (i.e. reference) marshes. Here, we compare these processes in a formerly diked, sparsely vegetated, restored salt marsh (Six Gill Slough, SG), whose surface is subsided relative to the tidal frame, to an adjacent, relatively pristine, historic salt marsh (Animal Slough, AS). Six s ...
... The arrangement of plants within revegetated sites is rarely considered an important characteristic of these communities. However, in natural systems, plant spatial arrangements can influence a range of ecological processes, including pollination and seed set. Pollinators tend to preferentially visit larger and/or more closely spaced populations, with plants in these populations generally receivin ...
Acropora; adults; clones; corals; genetic variation; larvae; population density; spawning
Abstract:
... We are developing techniques to restore coral populations by enhancing larval supply using “artificial spawning hotspots” that aggregate conspecific adult corals. However, no data were available regarding how natural larval supply from wild coral populations is influenced by fertilization rate and how this is in turn affected by local population density and genetic diversity. Therefore, we assesse ...
agricultural land; biodiversity; ecological restoration; ecological value; ecosystems; groundwater; land productivity; national surveys; outreach; threatened species; willingness to pay
Abstract:
... Public preferences for ecological restoration can be revealed through environmental valuation studies that aim to measure willingness to pay. However, respondents' environmental views will often influence the conclusions drawn from such studies. We conducted a national survey of perceptions of the benefits and perverse outcomes arising from ecological restoration using a dichotomous choice payment ...
Cupressus lusitanica; Pinus elliottii; Pinus patula; biodiversity; conifers; ecological function; ferns and fern allies; highlands; indigenous species; land restoration; long term effects; mining; pastures; plantations; secondary forests; soil ecology; trees; understory; vegetation cover; Andes region; Colombia
Abstract:
... Plantations of exotic fast‐growing tree species have been widely used for maintaining or restoring ecosystem functions. Despite this, in tropical countries with high biodiversity, these plantations have been the subject of heated debate. We evaluated the long‐term effect of coniferous tree plantations (Cupressus lusitanica, Pinus patula, Pinus elliottii) on the ecological rehabilitation of the And ...
... Change is a fundamental component of contemporary restoration ecology. The environment, the research, and the ideas in this discipline are rapidly evolving and changing. The California Society for Ecological Restoration annual meeting was an inclusive, diverse meeting that significantly advanced new thinking in the field and provided an exemplar of the value of scientific discourse at meetings. Th ...
... Pollinators are key agents for ecosystems and humankind concerning biodiversity, agriculture, climate change adaptation, and all other ecosystem services. Particularly in industrialized countries pollinator diversity is in decline. The bulk of research is on entomological or plant‐pollinator network related topics, but the broad range of impacts of pollinator loss on coupled human and natural syst ...
Cypripedium japonicum; chlorophyll; flowering; habitat conservation; humidity; leaf morphology; leaves; monitoring; population viability; soil; understory; vegetation; viability; South Korea
Abstract:
... To assess the effectiveness of conservation‐based transplantation of the endangered orchid (Cypripedium japonicum), we compared the morphology, physiology, stem‐count change, and population viability of natural versus transplanted populations undergoing habitat management (repeated removal of competing understory vegetation) between 2009 and 2015 in South Korea. The restored site had lower transmi ...