Biodiversity in Functional Restoration Joan L. Walker Southern Research Station Clemson, SC

(UNEP 2010)

Definitions Biodiversity ◦Variability among living organisms from all sources and the ecological complexes of which they are part; includes diversity within species, communities, landscapes Functional Restoration ◦Restoration focused on restoring ecological services that satisfy human needs or values  Supporting (nutrient cycling, primary production)  Provisioning (timber, fish, food crops)  Regulating (climate, water supply, soil quality)  Cultural (aesthetic values) (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005)

Meta-analysis: Restoration, biodiversity, ecological services Benayas et al. analyzed results of 89 studies with multiple measures of biodiversity and ecosystem services Findings: ◦Restoration increased provision of biodiversity and ecosystem services by 44 and 25% ◦Both remained lower in restored versus reference systems

Ecosystem services responses to restoration for different biomes Restored sites exceeded degraded sites But restored sites were inferior to reference sites Biggest response tropical terrestrial systems

Restored biodiversity correlated with ecological services delivery Beneyas et al 2009

Where is this talk going???? Biodiversity, the focal objective ◦A conceptual model (Brudvig 2011) ◦Less studied aspects of restoration Biodiversity in other functional restorations ◦Some thoughts Dry upland seed Nearby dry upland site Recipe for success … Not really this simple!

A conceptual model Brudvig 2011

Factors and approaches Regional species pool ◦Sets bounds on levels and composition Site-level factors ◦Filters that facilitate or impede membership ◦Make a site suitable for target community ◦Efforts dictated by degradation ◦Approaches: Wide array of methods applied Replace, remove topsoil Channel reconstruction Canopy manipulations Restore disturbance regime Species additions (focal, interacting) Control invasive spp (many methods)

Factors (continued) Landscape factors ◦Conceptual relationships considered ◦Site size limits potential ◦Patches influenced by matrix, connectivity ◦Approaches: corridor or stepping stone restoration Historical contingency ◦Timing and pre-restoration legacies (alternative stable states, novel ecosystems, assembly rules, threshold models) ◦Approaches: manipulate timing, but understand other factors (disturbance history at site and landscape scales)

Emphasis on terrestrial systems, plants confirmed

Regional Species Pool RESTORATION Landscape factors 4 Landscape composition 7 Connectivity to remnant 5 Patch size & geometry Site Level factors 34 Abiotic conditions 19 Habitat structure 70 Biotic conditions 17 Disturbance regime Historical contingency 4 Land-use legacies 0.5 Species arrival 0 Historical landscape effects 0 Year effects Site Level Biodiversity 88 Species 11 Functional 0.5 Genetic 97% 0.5% 6% 4%11% 78% 4% 10%

Regional Species Pool RESTORATION Landscape factors 4 Landscape composition 7 Connectivity to remnant 5 Patch size & geometry Site Level factors 34 Abiotic conditions 19 Habitat structure 70 Biotic conditions 17 Disturbance regime Historical contingency 4 Land-use legacies 0.5 Species arrival 0 Historical landscape effects 0 Year effects Site Level Biodiversity 88 Species 11 Functional 0.5 Genetic 97% 0.5% 6% 4%11% 78% 4% 10%

More landscape and historical contingency research? Large experiments needed; some variables cannot be manipulated (meta-analyses) Focus on what kinds of situations is landscape effect likely to be more or as important as site factors. Similarly, consider the most likely conditions for effects of ‘time factors’ and investigate significance there first.

Regional Species Pool RESTORATION Landscape factors 4 Landscape composition 7 Connectivity to remnant 5 Patch size & geometry Site Level factors 34 Abiotic conditions 19 Habitat structure 70 Biotic conditions 17 Disturbance regime Historical contingency 4 Land-use legacies 0.5 Species arrival 0 Historical landscape effects 0 Year effects Site Level Biodiversity 88 Species 11 Functional 0.5 Genetic 97% 0.5% 6% 4%11% 78% 4% 10%

Less studied aspects of biodiversity restoration Does plant community diversity predict other levels of diversity (e.g. consumers, soil microbes)? Does species restored species diversity relate to functional group diversity, genetic diversity? ◦Trait based approach may provide an avenue to develop general predictive models of biodiversity restoration… Multi-species interactions

Less studied aspects of biodiversity restoration Things that are hard to see and measure ◦Belowground processes, interactions Things that take special expertise, equipment ◦Assessing, evaluating genetic diversity and significance Things that involve more than 2 or more species or trophic levels Things you learn from really big experiments ◦Significance of restoration factors in contrasting site types, or across ecosystems

A really big experiment - sites US Environmental Protection Agency Level III ecoregions map indicating the location of target Department of Defense installation and National Forests. Stand & Landscape Level Studies  4 Focal landscapes  3 Ecoregions  Range of latitude & longitude Regional Level Study  18 landscapes  4 Ecoregions  Expanded geographic range

Some of my personal favorites Significance of within species variation on herbaceous community restoration ◦Need for suitable seed transfer zones to protect genetic diversity and support successful projects ◦Better understanding of how within species diversity affects community development (inter- and intra-specific interactions, rhizosphere conditions, e.g.) Ecology of seed production (weather, fire, pathogens-interactions, e.g.) Seedling establishment – frequency, significance in natural systems Value of functional surrogates, significance of redundancy in functional groups

Biodiversity and the restoration of other ecosystem services Benayas et al 2009

Some thoughts on biodiversity and restoration of other ecosystm services KEY QUESTION: What do you want the plant community (biodiversity) to do? Are there species or combinations of species that do it better? Shift from taxa based diversity to functional group (guild) based diversity

Some thoughts on biodiversity and restoration of other ecosystm services Advantages to solving problems with multiple species when you can ◦Hedge bets for success ◦Receive unknown benefits Consider opportunities to increase biodiversity in follow-up actions Relationships of ecosystem services to biodiversity are not well- understood; incorporate monitoring and installations that can shed light on the subject

Questions?

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