Restoration ecology

Restoration ecology is the science of assisting the recovery of degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystems. It uses ecological knowledge to guide interventions and assess recovery.

Ecological succession: The process by which the species composition and structure of an ecological community change over time. Succession describes how communities may develop after restoration removes barriers to natural recovery.
Reforestation: The re-establishment of forest cover through natural regrowth or tree planting. Forest recovery can involve planting, protecting natural regeneration, or combining both approaches.
Ecosystem: A community of organisms interacting with one another and with the physical environment. Restoration addresses the connected living and nonliving components that make up an ecosystem.
Ecological rehabilitation: The repair of ecosystem functions or productivity without necessarily restoring the ecosystem’s full composition or structure. Rehabilitation may improve a damaged site while pursuing less than full ecological restoration.
Restoration success: The degree to which an ecological restoration project meets its stated ecological and social goals over time. Success criteria determine which changes count as recovery and how long outcomes must persist.
Reference ecosystem: An ecosystem model used to define desired conditions and evaluate restoration progress. Reference conditions help set goals without assuming every site can return to an exact historical state.
Wetland restoration: The repair of wetland hydrology, soils, and biological communities to recover wetland functions. Restoring water flow and levels is often central to recovering wetland processes.
Ecological disturbance: An event that disrupts an ecosystem’s structure or function and changes resource availability. Understanding the disturbance helps identify what recovery must repair or accommodate.
Ecological mitigation: Actions that avoid, minimize, or compensate for environmental harm caused by development or other activities. Mitigation addresses impacts, but compensation elsewhere does not necessarily restore the damaged ecosystem.
Climate change adaptation: Adjustments that reduce harm from current or expected effects of climate change. Changing climates can make historical reference conditions unattainable and reshape feasible restoration targets.

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