Transcript Ecological Complexity as the Ecology of Place: Some Boreal

Some Considerations in Planning,
Monitoring and Evaluating
Ecological Restoration
Phil Burton
University of Northern British Columbia
Terrace, B.C.
[email protected]
“Science Considerations in Functional
Restoration: A Workshop”
4-5 March 2013, Pittsburgh, PA
Remember the long
history of restoration in
forestry:
• Regulated
forestry,
development of silvicultural
systems in Europe, 1700-1900
e.g., late 1700’s work of Remy de
Perthuis in France
(courtesy of A. Batho & O. Garcia, 2006)
2
Context and Overview
• Definitions are important
– bound discussion, set expectations
– focus and “brand” your program
• Drivers and constraints
– Must be articulated, recognized
• Each restoration project is an experiment!
– Monitoring, feedback, evaluation needed in order to
learn anything, determine value-for-$
• “What gets measured gets managed.”
Peter Drucker
Context and Overview
• Clearly Identify the Drivers
– Societal goals: land use, value prioritization, balance
placed on composition, structure, function
– Objectives of intervention  direct monitoring, evaluation
– Starting conditions, degree of degradation
• Recognize the Constraints
– Dynamic nature of ecosystems
– Context in space (landscape, region) and time (history)
– Limits of $, technology, human resources, understanding
ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION:
The Society for Ecological Restoration
International definition:
1. active management to reinstate past composition,
structure, and/or processes
2. land management practices adjusted to make up for
past ecological degradation
3. intervention to shape ecosystems according to any
natural template (from the past, or found nearby)
[so take your pick … an umbrella concept, a big tent]
RESTORATION:
 denotes various kinds & degrees of repair; may include:
Remediation – reversing effects of contamination,
pollution; e.g., after oil spill
Reclamation – making land useable after industrial use;
e.g., after mining
Revegetation – establishing plant cover, for aesthetic
green-up and erosion control; e.g., of road cuts
Reforestation/Afforestation – establishment of continuous
tree cover after logging or land use conversion;
Rehabilitation – redirecting ecosystems to more useful
composition or structure; e.g., hardwood  softwood
Ecosystem Restoration – complete reconstitution of predegradation composition, structure, and function.
Appropriate Intervention =
f (degradation x resource objectives)
Mitigation
Reforestation (basic silviculture)
Afforestation
Revegetation
Reclamation
Enhancement
Remediation
Degree of Degradation
Reconstruction
Rehabilitation
How NearNatural
Future Land
Use Must
Be
Ecosystem Restoration
Species Recovery
Motives for Forest Restoration
(n=279 Restoration Ecology articles, 2000-2009;
Σ >100% because motives are usually multiple)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Promote diversity, naturalness, 52%
Habitat for wildlife, rare species, 32%
Post-agricultural, old fields, 30%
General reforest/afforestation/wood supply, 25%
Reclamation after mining, industry, 20%
Reduce fire risk, 12%
Protect aquatic/marine resources, 12%
Erosion control, 9%
(Burton & Macdonald 2011, Silva Fennica 45:843-863)
The ‘Field of Dreams’ Model:
“Build it and they will come.”
Typical Steps in Forest Restoration
1. Halt degradation
a) allow / facilitate natural processes
(disturbance, hydrology)
b) allow natural recovery (succession)
2. Remove / control exotics
3. Introduce trees
4. Supplement large dead wood (standing, fallen)
5. Introduce gaps, heterogeneity
6. Introduce understory species, consumers
Methods Used in Restoration
(n=279 Restoration Ecology articles, 2000-2009;
Σ >100% because motives are usually multiple)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Establish/evaluate trees, 71%
Establish/evaluate non-tree plants, 46%
Restore/evaluate microsites, pattern, 27%
Soil amelioration, 26%
Thin trees, weed/exotic control, 25%
Evaluate/improve propagation methods, 23%
More natural disturbance regime, 23%
Restore/evaluate size structure, 21%
(Burton & Macdonald 2011, Silva Fennica 45:843-863)
Methods Used in Restoration
(continued)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Fire, 18%
Nurse plants, successional planting, 16%
Establish structures, barriers, 13%
Control herbivory, 13%
Evaluate/restore ecosystem processes, 13%
Add/evaluate dead wood, 10%
Restore hydrology, 10%
Re-introduce rare/threatened species, 2%
The Bradshaw (1984*)
Model for Restoration
(*Landscape
Planning 11:3548.)
Ecosystem Function
(biomass & nutrient content)
Natural Ecosystem Variability:
In part a matter of definitions or focus
ecosystem
state
a. natural
range of
variability
NRV
“ boreal”
“mixedwood”
“balsam fir”
“white spruce”
“aspen”
“black spruce”
“jack pine”
Ecosystem Structure
(species & complexity)
Natural Disturbance, Recovery and Succession:
b.
15
Extreme Disturbance Can Lead to
Degradation and Alternative Ecosystem States:
c.
16
Restoration in the Context of Disturbance,
Degradation, & the Natural Range of Variability:
d.
(Burton 2005, pp. 308-322 in Forestry Handbook for B.C., UBC)
17
Ecosystem Management Under a Changing
Climate: Identify “Win-Win” and “No Regrets” Options
leave…
target for
protection &
management
restore
Cold/Wet
Facilitated migration of tree species
and genotypes is recommended by
forest geneticists and silviculturists.
ESSFdk2
Warm/Dry
Suitable provenances for
current and future climate
= a “no regrets” option
Migrated
procurement zone
for ESSFdk2
Maritime
(courtesy of Greg
O’Neill, B.C. Ministry
of Forests & Range)
Continental
• Curtail
access to
Value of Road
sensitive
areas;
Deactivation in
• Reduce habitat
Forest
fragmentation,
Landscape
edge effects;
Restoration:
• Reduce mortality
• Reduce due to vehicles,
hunters,
sediment generation;
poachers
• Return land cover to
natural vegetation/habitat
20
Restoration of forest landscapes may require
adjustment of age-class distributions to more
closely mimic a natural disturbance regime.
(from Seymour & Hunter 1999,
Ch. 2 in “Maintaining Biodiversity in Forest Ecosystems” edited by M.L. Hunter.)
Should we restore after pine beetle?
(Photo by Jeff Burrows, B.C. MoFR)
To Correct Age Class Structure,
Retain Natural Stand Structures,
Restore Natural Processes…
Photo by
Stan Harvey,
B.C. MoFR
FIRES (surface, crown & mixed) are needed,
and would logically be the primary tool of restoration.
Always consider, “Can intervention
make matters worse?”
Hypocrates: “First, do no harm.”
“Passive” or
“Active”
Restoration?
(Prach & Hobbs 2008
Restoration Ecology 16(3):
363-366.)
Some Generalizations
• Restoration occurs along a continuum
– improved naturalness in processes, composition,
structures, management practices
• Biological legacies are the key to both
recovery and resilience
– protect or re-introduce them
• Understand ”the ecology of place”:
history, landscape context, human pressures &
expectations; uniqueness!
• Some common compositions, structures,
patterns are desirable under past, present,
and future scenarios.
Some Simple Guidelines…
• Be clear about objectives;
• Evaluate conditions and options on a site by
site basis;
• If it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it;
• Match actions to site-specific conditions and
land use objectives;
• Don’t do the same thing everywhere, allow
and facilitate broad variability;
• Monitor and measure indicators of progress
relative to objectives.
naturalness
(freedom from human footprint)
Goals, Indicators & Their Arenas
CLIMATE
CHANGE
2
ECOLOGICAL 4
INTEGRITY 1
3
1. Ecosystem
Management
2. Adaptive
Ecosystems
3. Adaptive
Forestry
4. ?Resilient
Forest
Ecosystem
Management
SFM
sustainability (of producing goods, services)
Example: Greater Everglades Ecosystem
Doren et al. 2009 Ecol.Indic. 9S-2-16
Example: Greater Everglades Ecosystem
Doren et al. 2009 Ecol.Indic. 9S-2-16
Example: Greater Everglades Ecosystem
Doren et al. 2009 Ecol.Indic. 9S-2-16
Example:
Greater
Everglades
Ecosystem
Doren et al. 2009
Ecol.Indic. 9S-2-16
E.g.: Microbial Biomarkers in mine reclamation
Mummey et al. 2002 Appl.Soil Ecol. 21:251-259
Step by Step:
1. Set context:
•
site condition, history of degradation, landscape
situation, influences, pressures
2. State goals, purpose of restoration
•
•
land use, values, balance
identify desired and acceptable targets
(potentially from NRV, reference ecosystems)
Steps (continued)
3. Select indicators
• linked to values, easy to measure, responsive to
treatments, facilitating comparisons of space,
time & other programs
• see Dan Dey’s list of attributes (yesterday) …
but just chose 6-8 of them
4. Record interventions (place, time, type,
intensity… details)
• keep and monitor untreated controls
• well-labeled photographic records, data files
Steps (continued)
5. Measure implementation & indicators
• starting conditions
• treatments implemented as prescribed?
• treatments effective in affecting indicators?
6. Evaluate indicators and their trends
• attributable to treatments, not succession,
climate change?
• compare with desired & acceptable targets, visà-vis comparable stages in trajectory (not
necessarily final desired state)
• trend? rate?
Steps (continued)
7. Interpret results to devise recommendations
•
•
•
•
identify gaps, maintenance needs,
interventions to redo, redirect
methods or approaches to avoid or prefer
research needed
Thank-you