Restoration Ecology

1. Restoration Ecology Burning South Prairie – April 2003

2. A definition Restoration ecology - the full or partial replacement of biological populations and/or their habitats that have been extinguished or diminished; ideally the restoration will return normal ecosystem function to an area and hopefully the project will also have social or economic value to humans

3. A (Very) Brief History of Ecological Restoration

5. The Man Who Planted Trees

6. Environmental Restoration in the American West

7. Restoration in London – after the Great Stink of 1858

8. Response to the Great Stink – Improve Drainage and Restore Streams

9. Improved Drainage Following The Great Stink

10. Restoration in Boston - 1879

11. Back Bay Fens Today

12. Restoration in the Midwest Nachusa Grasslands

13. Aldo Leopold planting at the Shack - 1936

14. CCC crewman planting Curtis Prairie - 1936

15. CCC crew watering Curtis Prairie – late 1930’s

16. University of Wisconsin Arboretum

17. The Founders of Green Oaks – Henry Green, George Ward, Alvah Green, and Paul Shepard - 1955

18. Green Oaks prior to prairie restoration – South Prairie

19. Early prairie establishment at Green Oaks – late 50’s

20. Pete Schramm burning the Prairie – 1980’s

21. Green Oaks from the Air

23. Restoration Projects Can Be Highly Variable

25. 1996 – Montana Wolf Reintroduction Protest

27. Yellowstone Wolf Pack Locations

28. Yellowstone Wolf Prey

29. A more complex and typical restoration project

30. Restoration of a Garbage Dump – Fresh Kills, Staten Island, NY

31. Fresh Kills

32. Fresh Kills Restoration

33. Mine Reclamation – the most difficult restoration project

34. Mine reclamation in progress

35. Mitigation • Mitigation is the alleviation of some process • Mitigation is related to restoration - mitigation is sometimes required when a group wants to develop a wild area such as a wetland and thus destroy the wetland

36. Controversies about Mitigation • Often the success rate for mitigation projects is fairly low • Many ecologists fear that if mitigation is seen to be successful we will allow many development projects to proceed with the assumption we can easily recreate nature - however there is some question as to how well we can actually restore what is lost or destroyed

37. Salt marsh restoration plan in Rhode Island

38. Mitigation of ANWR?

39. 1967 Torrey Canyon Oil spill

41. 1989 – Exxon Valdez oil spill

42. Exxon Valdez oil spill clean efforts

43. Tony Bradshaw

45. Flavors of Reclamation • Reclamation is the general process of repairing damaged ecosystems • Restoration - here we attempt to put back exactly what existed in the ecosystem prior to the disturbance • Rehabilitation - here we attempt to put back most of what existed in the ecosystem prior to the disturbance, but we don't try to put everything back • Replacement - no attempt is made to restore what was lost - here we replace the original ecosystem with another one • Recovery or neglect - here we allow nature to takes it course - depend upon natural processes of seed dispersal and germination to start plants, natural dispersal of animals to repopulate the area • Enhancement - activity designed to improve the ecosystem, even if the change is fairly minimal

46. Walnut Creek NWR – now named Neil Smith NWR

47. Neil Smith National Wildlife Refuge

49. Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie

50. Nachusa Grasslands