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Once there were brook trout in the streams in the mountains. You could see them standing in the amber current where the white edges of their fins wimpled softly in the flow. They smelled of moss in your hand. Polished and muscular and torsional. On their backs were vermiculate patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming. Maps and mazes. Of a thing which could not be put back. Not be made right again. In the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery. From “The Road” (2006) by Cormac McCarthy Winner of the Pulitzer Prize
Why Ecological Restoration? Thesis: Functioning ecological systems are necessary for the flourishing of human societies.
The landscape of eastern North America has been almost completely transformed.
1853- is still pretty late!! Most of Ohio was giant forest when Chris C arrived. 1853-1883 most of Ohio was cut…wetlands were drained. 1979- forest is crowded down ‘round Athens. The rest is soybean/corn.
The landscape of eastern North America has been almost completely transformed. • Indeed, there is virtually no square centimeter on Earth that has not been in some way influenced by anthropogenic processes, in many cases these exceed the ecological and evolutionary “boundaries” of these systems, leaving them in shambles. • If we accept the argument that ecological systems are essential to the flourishing of human societies, then we would logically find this level of disrepair unacceptable. • Even the most conservative approach would seek a an “ecological bulwark” of functioning ecosystems in an ever-changing world. • With most systems in disrepair how to proceed?
To some extent, the job of Science, is to address (the addressable) perils facing humanity. • The science of ecology has sub-divided into several disciplinary approaches to dealing with the “crisis.” • Conservation Biology . As a discipline is focused on who is left, and how do we preserve them. But in practice , this field has also focused on re-introductions, particularly of predators and/or endangered species. • Restoration Ecology. The scientific study of restoring ecosystems . Focused on answering questions in ecology, developing theory to inform science, and theory in the field. • Ecological Restoration. The practice of restoring ecosystems. Field based…outcomes are ecological not necessarily scientific. • Reconciliation Ecology. A new idea. Holds that we will never succeed in preserving wild lands sufficient to preserve the systems we should be preserving- so what we really need is to figure out how to incorporate wildlands into human dominated landscapes.
In this class, we will focus along this spectrum…from -general ecological theory -to the science of restoration -to the practice of restoration.
Ecological restoration is the practice of returning a system to some historical state, presumably one that is ecologically superior in important ways. • Ecological systems are dynamic..not static, they change through time…so how do we know where to restore to? • Ecological restoration recognizes this… So instead of focusing on specific current states and future outcomes, we imagine an envelope of variability. The system is changing…sometimes rapidly… we want to change the trajectory…sometimes radically. We force the system back within some natural envelope of variability
