Overview of Restoration Ecology ENV Sept 2009 This ppt will be posted to my website as it is not in the book! Google me or use direct link from syllabus

Overview  Restoration defined Need, purpose Need, purpose Reference conditions and treatments Reference conditions and treatments  Examples Arid land restoration Arid land restoration Agroforestry Agroforestry

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment  60% of ecosystem services being used unsustainably  progress in decreasing poverty linked to healthy environment  warning signs clear – and suggest a need for restoration

Restoration Ecology defined  ecological restoration/restoration ecology  assist ecosystem recovery  brief history of restoration ecology  interdisciplinary, gray areas

What restoration does  intentional human management that initiates or accelerates trajectory  trajectory is key  partly based on reference conditions

Related activities  rehabilitation  reclamation  mitigation  creation  ecological engineering  may or may not qualify as restoration, in whole or in part

Wetlands Park area, Las Vegas Wash east

SER definition of ER: “The process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed.” It is an intentional activity that initiates or accelerates the recovery of an ecosystem. Broad, encompassing definition 9 basic criteria of restored ecosystems

From NPS, GC NP Colorado River – flooding Reestablish flooding regime = partly reestablishing trajectory

9 attributes of restored ecosystems (1) Species composition resembles reference ecosystem (2) Indigenous species as much as possible (3) Key functional groups present (e.g., nitrogen fixers)

Restored Cultural Ecosystems Restoration and rehabilitation of species-rich grasslands – Restoration Ecology 6:94-101

Midwestern USA oak savannas – another cultural ecosystem Photo by TNC

Reference conditions/range of variability Concepts underpin ER Reference conditions – attributes of target ecosystem Only a guide – linked to historical range of variability

UPPER LIMIT LOWER LIMIT Modified from: Morgan, P., G.H. Aplet, J.B. Haufler, H.C. Humphries, M.M. Moore, and W.D. Wilson Historical range of variability: a useful tool for evaluating ecosystem change. Journal of Sustainable Forestry 2: Range of Variability Concept

Case study of reference conditions/HRV concepts – ponderosa pine example Reference conditions = ~ 1875 forests – low- density forests + frequent fire Compare current conditions to reference conditions, and identify sources of degradation “Forest restoration” in this case does not = planting trees – rather, removing trees to return to within range of variability Major restoration tmts = thinning + reestablishment of frequent fire

U of A tree ring lab

Forest change at Walker Lake, Coconino National Forest, AZ

Before restoration 4 years after restoration

Reference point Fire Goodsprings, 3 December 2006

Historical Photographs Examples: New Mexico State University University Collections – Jornada Experimental Range – U.S. Forest Service Southwestern Region –

Historical Descriptions Early Euro-American settler journals U.S. Army expeditions U.S. Govt. geological reconnaissance Early botanists

U.S. Army Lieutenant A.W. Whipple – March 3, …”We reached, at the point of the mountain, Pai-Ute Creek, a finely flowing stream of water. Finding good grass also, we encamped. March 5, 1854 – “Passing over the prairie, nearly seven miles west, we arrived at a spring of water oozing from a rocky ravine.” …”The hill-sides and ravines are covered with excellent grass..”

Paul Martin, University of Arizona, next to Pleistocene (<11,000 ybp ) midden.

Agropyron spicatum bluebunch wheatgrass Artemisia tridentata big sagebrush Plant Phytoliths

War Zones and Game Sinks in Lewis and Clark’s West – Conservation Biology 13:36-45.

Types of Disturbances in the Mojave Desert (and other deserts) Linear features (e.g., powerlines, roads) Fire Off-road vehicles Hydrological damage (e.g., Owen’s Lake) Abandoned agricultural lands Air pollution Grazing Cactus poaching/mesquite harvest, and so on

Photo courtesy of Jessica Spencer

Cave Creek Park  28 species seeding

3 mo post- seeding 6 mo post- seeding 2 yr post- seeding unseeded

2005 Fires in Clark County BLM photos

Donovan Craig, UNLV, Lake Mead nursery Identifying candidate species for reveg.

 Reveg. species must: (1) establish, (2) compete with exotic annual grasses  Four community types: early forb, early shrub, grass, late shrub  Each of 12 species also grown individually  Bromus/Schismus to be added

Comparing species performance, seeding vs. planting effectiveness