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Keep ecological restoration open and flexible

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 2, page 580 (2018)Cite this article

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To the Editor — The stakes are high as investment commitments to ecological restoration intensify1. The ‘international standards’ published by the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER)2 and the adoption of a narrow definition of restoration by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)3 are indications that restoration is moving away from the open and flexible approach that we believe is needed to address responsible intervention in times of rapid change.

Restoration science originated in the idea that ecosystems could be returned to a defined pre-disturbance condition. This served as a proxy for improving biodiversity, structural attributes and functional traits, as well as for eliminating degradation. Now, three types of change are forcing restoration as a science and practice to reassess appropriate interventions in ecosystems. First, rapid environmental, ecological and cultural changes — ranging from climate change, to species invasions, to the rise of ecosystem-services valuation — are shifting the scope of traditional restoration. Second, innovation at the intersection of ecology, design and engineering is producing new types of ecosystem, such as green infrastructure, agroecosystems and naturalized landscapes. Third, investment in restoration has increased dramatically through major international agreements and conventions.

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References

  1. Ding, H. et al. Roots of Prosperity (World Resources Institute, Washington, DC, 2017).

  2. McDonald, T., Gann, G., Jonson, J. & Dixon, K. International Standards for the Practice of Ecological Restoration – Including Principles and Key Concepts (SER, Washington DC, 2016).

  3. Cowie, A. L. et al. Environ. Sci. Policy 79, 25–35 (2017).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, V8P 5C2, Canada

    Eric S. Higgs

  2. Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Eric S. Higgs

  3. Cranfield Soil and Agrifood Institute, Cranfield University, Cranfield, MK43 0AL, UK

    Jim A. Harris

  4. Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

    Tina Heger

  5. School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia

    Richard J. Hobbs

  6. School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Stephen D. Murphy

  7. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA

    Katharine N. Suding

Authors
  1. Eric S. Higgs
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  2. Jim A. Harris
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  3. Tina Heger
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  4. Richard J. Hobbs
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  5. Stephen D. Murphy
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  6. Katharine N. Suding
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eric S. Higgs.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Higgs, E.S., Harris, J.A., Heger, T. et al. Keep ecological restoration open and flexible. Nat Ecol Evol 2, 580 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0483-9

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