-
Demonstrating the effectiveness of open-water wetlandscape restoration: lessons learned from South-Eastern Europe Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-27 Gabriela Ioana-Toroimac, Gianina Neculau, Cătălina Stoica, Ionuț Andrei Șandor, Dana Maria Constantin, Gabriela Adina Moroșanu
This paper evaluates the effectiveness of restoring open-water area in a wetland via a geographical framework that goes from a general perspective to a detailed view. The methodology relies on diachronic cartography, remote sensing through Landsat satellite imagery validated by in situ hydrological data (2000–2022), and details from field work. We analyzed the water surface area of Comana freshwater
-
The large-scale restoration of fire and water regimes in Everglades National Park reveal little change in plant diversity along an elevational gradient Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-27 Owen Schneider, Raelene M. Crandall, Benjamin Baiser
Quantifying the response of plant diversity to large-scale restoration is essential for measuring management success. One of the world's largest restoration efforts began in 2000 in the Everglades ecosystem in Florida, United States, through the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. In coordination with ongoing fire management, this restoration effort aims to restore natural hydrologic and fire
-
Impacts of greenhouse fertilization and planting season on survival and reproductive potential of Silene regia transplants Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-25 Eric Janssen, Janice Coons, Nancy Coutant, Bob Edgin
Restoration of rare plants is essential to maintain species diversity in natural areas. The methods used to grow and plant these rare plants for restoration impact seedling health and potentially the success of restoration attempts. We evaluated how different fertilizers and planting seasons impacted survival and reproductive potential for transplants of Silene regia. Plants were grown from seeds in
-
The business of oyster restoration: using traditional market‐based approaches to estimate the oyster restoration economy Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-25 Elliot Hall, Bryan M. DeAngelis
In the United States, restoring oyster reefs is increasingly a priority, due to a desire to return the economic, ecological, and social services the habitat can provide. This growing demand for oyster reef restoration has led to the development of an oyster reef restoration economy. This study was the first to assess it as such, by using similar approaches to private sector market studies. Here, we
-
Restoration success limited by poor long-term survival after 9 years of Acropora cervicornis outplanting in the upper Florida Keys, United States Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-21 Tiffany S. Boisvert, Rob R. Ruzicka, Stephanie A. Schopmeyer, Christopher D. Stallings
The degradation of coral reefs has resulted in the expansion of coral reef restoration projects worldwide. In the tropical western Atlantic, most restoration efforts focus on outplanting Acropora cervicornis, once a dominant reef-building branching coral, now found predominantly in spatially isolated populations. Hundreds of thousands of A. cervicornis colonies are outplanted onto degraded reefs every
-
Episodic deterioration of plant diversity in rich fens with or without in situ oil sands exploration disturbance Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-22 Richard T. Caners, Varina Crisfield, Victor J. Lieffers
Peatlands with ground surfaces near the water table may be sensitive to disturbances that reduce this distance to water. Shrubby rich fens (SRF) in northern Alberta, Canada, are restricted to the wettest landscape positions and are characterized by brown mosses and stunted trees on weakly consolidated and saturated substrates. In situ oil sands exploration (OSE) practices have established thousands
-
Inoculated biocrust cover and functions diverged over a gradient of soil textures and water availability Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-22 Kristina E. Young, Sasha C. Reed, Michael Morton, Matthew A. Bowker
Restoring biological crust (biocrust) in disturbed drylands is challenging due to the difficult environmental conditions, such as limited soil moisture, low soil nutrients, and extreme temperatures, that impede growth. Understanding how the key components of biocrust—mosses, lichens, and cyanobacteria—react to different environmental factors informs the optimal timing, locations, and species composition
-
Effect of coral‐giant clam artificial reef on coral recruitment: insights for restoration and conservation efforts Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-21 Isis Guibert, Róisín Hayden, Christine Sidobre, Gaël Lecellier, Véronique Berteaux‐Lecellier
Coral recruitment is a vital process for the maintenance and recovery of coral reefs, particularly due to their decline from global change. While it is well established that larval settlement cues significantly influence coral recruitment, the investigation of recruitment success associated with the surrounding community mainly focuses on algae. To investigate other factors controlling this process
-
Got plants? Availability of and challenges to production of native plants for wetland restoration Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-21 Annie L. Henry, Rae Robinson, Kate Sinnott, Mark Brunson, Adrienne Ernst, Emily Tarsa, Karin M. Kettenring
As the U.N. Decade on Restoration progresses, the demand for genetically and species‐diverse native plant materials for restoration is expected to increase. However, little is known about the availability of plant materials for restoration, particularly in wetlands, which have lagged behind in restoration research. Given the crucial role wetlands play in providing ecosystem services, particularly in
-
Natural regeneration or tree planting in a tropical forest‐to‐pasture damaged area: which is more efficacious for soil ecosystem recovery? Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-21 William D. Eaton, Debra A. Hamilton, Alexander Lemenze, Patricia Soteropoulos
This study assessed whether a natural regeneration or active tree‐planting reforestation strategy better restored the C and N‐cycle processes and associated microbiota within soils after 18 years in a Premontane Wet Life zone site in Monteverde, Costa Rica, compared to adjacent old secondary forest and pasture soils (both >60 years). Our findings apply to small‐scale restoration sites (<0.5 ha plots)
-
Litter decomposition and nutrient dynamics of four macrophytes in intact, restored, and constructed freshwater marshes of Canada Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-12 Dan Dong, Pascal Badiou, Tim R. Moore, Christian von Sperber
The restoration and construction of wetlands offer opportunities to rewet soils, inhibit decomposition, and enhance nutrient retention in decomposing litters. Here, we report the decomposition rates and nutrient dynamics of macrophyte litters in intact, restored, and constructed wetlands. A 2.1-year litterbag experiment of four common freshwater macrophytes (Phalaris arundinacea, Phragmites australis
-
Cost‐effectiveness of tourism‐led coral planting at scale on the northern Great Barrier Reef Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-13 Rachael I. Scott, John Edmondson, Emma F. Camp, Taryn Agius, Phillip Coulthard, Jenny Edmondson, Katrina Edmondson, Russell Hosp, Lorna Howlett, Christine D. Roper, David J. Suggett
Stakeholder‐led coral reef restoration efforts, aimed at locally retaining or rebuilding coral populations, have rapidly grown over the last two decades. However, the cost‐effectiveness—and in turn viability—of coral restoration projects remains rarely reported. We therefore evaluated coral planting (often termed “outplanting”) cost‐effectiveness across the first 3.5 years of the Coral Nurture Program
-
Human urine does not protect acorns against predation by the wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus): a field study with video recording Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-12 Jorge Castro
Direct seeding is a revegetation method that can offer great advantages for forest restoration, but suffers the drawback of seed loss due to granivorous rodents. Thus, to make direct seeding a useful and scalable forest restoration method, we need to find ways to protect seeds against rodents. Scents produced by carnivorous or omnivorous animals that elicit a fear response on rodents are a promising
-
Continued response of Oregon oak to release treatments 20 years after initiation in western Washington, United States Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-11 Robert A. Slesak, Leslie C. Brodie, Constance A. Harrington
Fire suppression has increased competitive tree encroachment of Oregon white oak (Quercus garryanna Douglas ex Hook) ecosystems, threatening maintenance of this important species. Restoration of oak ecosystems is ideal to address this threat but not always possible, giving rise to a need for novel treatments that will allow oak to persist on an altered landscape. We tested the effect of three release
-
Evaluating different rates of activated carbon in commercially produced seed coatings in laboratory and field trials Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-11 Owen Baughman, Roxanne Rios, Cameron Duquette, Chad Boyd, Corinna Riginos, Magdalena Eshleman, Olga Kildisheva
Pre‐emergent herbicides, commonly employed for managing invasive annual plants, often fail to meet restoration targets due to the absence of remnant perennial plants, which leaves sites vulnerable to re‐invasion and hinders effective control of annual grasses. Combining an herbicide treatment with seeding is therefore desirable, but seeded plants can also be negatively impacted by pre‐emergent herbicides
-
Habitat‐setting affects biodiversity while predation determines oyster survival on experimental oyster reefs Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-11 Josee L. Hart, Ruby L. Smith, Alistair G. B. Poore, Katherine R. Erickson, Will F. Figueira, Melanie J. Bishop, Wayne A. O'Connor, Paul E. Gribben
Foundation species are being restored into inherently variable landscapes with multiple, interspersed habitats. However, understanding of the influence of different neighbouring habitats on community assembly and the survival of restored species is limited, despite their significant potential to affect restoration outcomes. We tested how habitat‐setting (being next to seagrass, seagrass and mangroves
-
Review and assessment of smartphone apps for forest restoration monitoring Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-08 Daniella Schweizer, Rebecca J. Cole, Leland K. Werden, Gerald Quirós Cedeño, David Rodriguez, Kassandra Navarro, Jose Marcel Esquivel, Simeon Max, Fidel E. Chiriboga, Rakan A. Zahawi, Karen D. Holl, Thomas W. Crowther
With increased interest in forest restoration comes an urgent need to provide accurate, scalable, and cost‐effective monitoring tools. The ubiquity of smartphones has led to a surge in monitoring apps. We reviewed and assessed monitoring apps found through web searches and conversations with practitioners. We identified 42 apps that (1) automatically monitor indicators or (2) facilitate data entry
-
Reconnecting a stream channel to its floodplain: implications for benthic diatoms and macroinvertebrate trophic structure Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-06 Patrick M. Edwards, Nicole C. Popp, Yangdong Pan, Christine L. Weilhoefer, Aspen B. Peterman, Lauren A. Mork, Matthew F. Johnson, Clark R. Morgan, Megan Colley, Colin R. Thorne, Brian N. Popp
Streams systems draining upland landscapes provide valuable ecosystem services, but they are vulnerable to incision and channelization caused by anthropogenic disturbance. Restoring a degraded stream to its pre‐disturbance condition by reconnecting the channel to its historical floodplain aims to recover lost hydro‐morphological processes and functions. Seeking evidence to indicate whether that aim
-
Stranded seaweeds (Gongolaria barbata): an opportunity for macroalgal forest restoration Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-05 Giuliana Marletta, Domenico Sacco, Roberto Danovaro, Silvia Bianchelli
Macroalgal forests play a crucial ecological role, providing important ecosystem services, but are also among the most vulnerable marine habitats. In the Mediterranean Sea, the forests of Cystoseira sensu lato (s.l.) are undergoing a drastic decline due to the presence of multiple stressors, and among these species, Gongolaria barbata is one of the most threatened. Despite the various attempts to restore
-
-
Ecological restoration and artificial intelligence: whose values inform a project? Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-04 Samuel T. Woodrich, Timothy Pape
Significant attention has been given to how artificial intelligence (AI) can be utilized by society and in scientific fields in recent years. This article explores how AI tools utilized in various fields have been and can be applied to ecological restoration projects, their affiliated benefits and drawbacks, and what those tools depend on. While restoration efforts can benefit from such tools, individual
-
Season of burn has minimal effect on groundlayer community structure and composition in an Appalachian mixed‐oak forest Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-03-04 Tara L. Keyser, Cathryn H. Greenberg
The groundlayer flora has a disproportionate influence on ecosystem function and contributes to the biodiversity in temperate Quercus forests of eastern North America. Historically open understory conditions perpetuated, in part by fire, have become closed and homogenized by long‐term fire exclusion, likely impacting the groundlayer community. We explored the effects of burn season (unburned = CON
-
Creating landscape‐appropriate habitat restoration strategies: success of a novel nesting habitat design for imperiled freshwater turtles Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-02-27 Chantel E. Markle, Danielle T. Hudson, Hope C. A. Freeman, James M. Waddington
Turtle nesting habitat can be created as a restoration strategy to increase habitat availability or provide suitable habitat away from threats. Traditional nest habitat restoration consists of creating nesting mounds using a mix of sand and gravel. However, nesting mounds do not resemble natural turtle nesting habitat in a rock barren landscape where turtles nest in crevices and cracks in the bedrock
-
On the fence: reevaluating the use of temporary amphibian exclusion fencing Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-02-27 John Gould, Chad T. Beranek, Alex Callen
Temporary exclusion fencing is used around development and remediation sites to protect amphibians. However, by focusing so closely on mitigating potential for harm to individuals, managers may not see the “forest for the trees” and inadvertently cause more harm than good for the populations they are trying to protect. Land developments are necessary, and managers need to be capable of selecting the
-
Enhancing ecological complexity in soft‐bottom coastal ecosystems: the impact of introducing hard substrates Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-02-26 Sterre Witte, Jon Dickson, Oscar Franken, Sander Holthuijsen, Laura L. Govers, Han Olff, Tjisse van der Heide
Coastal ecosystems globally face pressures, with natural coastal habitats being replaced by engineered structures. While hard structures for navigation‐purposes and coastal defense can negatively impact native communities, they can also be applied in ecological restoration as artificial reefs. This way substrates may facilitate establishment of biogenic (shellfish) reefs and provide habitat heterogeneity
-
Evaluating performance of three types of carbon seed coatings on seedling development Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-02-20 Cameron Duquette, Roxanne Rios, Owen Baughman, Olga Kildisheva, Matt Cahill, Chad Boyd
Sagebrush Steppe native plant restoration faces many hurdles to success, including extreme temperature and precipitation variability and non-native plant invasions. Multi-year preemergent herbicides are an option for annual grass control, but also prevent germination of native seeded species. Seed enhancement technologies have been recently developed and tested to shield native seeds from herbicide
-
Seeding and transplanting native forbs on reclamation sites in Alberta, Canada Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-02-20 Catherine E. Arychuk, Amalesh Dhar, Sarah R. Wilkinson, M. Anne Naeth
A growing number of industrial disturbances are reclaimed with native grass species, although use of many native forbs in reclamation is limited due to low availability, high expense, poor germination, and lack of information on how to successfully establish them. Therefore, a study was conducted to assess the performance (establishment, growth, and survival) of native forbs (10 species by seeding
-
The relative effects of artificial shrubs on animal community assembly Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-02-19 Mario Zuliani, Nargol Ghazian, Suzanne MacDonald, Christopher J. Lortie
Facilitative associations between the foundational shrub species Ephedra californica and local vertebrate species can drive positive interactions within desert ecosystems that influence diversity and assembly processes. These foundational shrubs can contribute to the structural heterogeneity of ecosystems for plants and animals including variation in temperature profiles, refuge from predation, and
-
Identifying the best method for restoring dung beetle biodiversity and function in the early stages of rainforest restoration Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-02-11 Rosa Menéndez, Geoff B. Monteith, Penny van Oosterzee, Noel D. Preece
With less than half of the world's tropical forests remaining, ecological restoration is urgently needed to halt biodiversity loss. However, the efficacy of different active reforestation methods remains largely untested particularly with respect to the recovery of fauna during the early years of restoration. Here, we present the results of a long-term restoration project in the Australian Wet Tropics
-
Assessing the potential impact of retaining native off-site tree species in woodland restoration Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-02-07 John L. Willis, Don C. Bragg, Jeffery B. Cannon, Kamal J. K. Gandhi, Kathryn R. Kidd, Adam D. Polinko, Joshua J. Puhlick, Daniel Saenz, Mary Anne Sayer, Christopher M. Schalk, Andrew B. Self, Courtney M. Siegert, J. Morgan Varner
Reestablishing appropriate tree species is an important step in converting off-site monocultures into woodlands. Species conversion is often necessary, as off-site exotic species rarely function like woodland species. However, when off-site tree species are native, and functionally redundant to woodland species, conversion may be unnecessary. To explore this possibility in the southeastern United States
-
Testing strategies to enhance transplant success under stressful conditions at a tidal marsh restoration project Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-02-07 Rachel Pausch
Tidal marsh restoration is becoming an increasingly common tool to plan for future sea level rise. Subsided marshes' elevation can be restored through sediment additions, which may necessitate the reestablishment of vegetation. Understanding key actions to increase vegetation cover at areas that remain persistently bare following elevation restoration is a critical component of a project's long-term
-
Propagating eelgrass (Zostera marina) from cuttings in land–sea combination systems: a novel method to improve the sustainability of seagrass restoration Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-02-05 Yan-Hao Zhang, Xiang Zhao, Zhong Tu, Wen-Jie Yan, Qi Zhao, Pei-Dong Zhang
The combination of a land-based system and natural habitat can propagate donor plants from cuttings for use in seagrass restoration projects; however, the appropriate period for land-based cultivation is unclear. Eelgrass (Zostera marina) cuttings were cultivated under different combinations of land-based (0, 3, 6, 9, and 12 weeks) and natural habitat cultivation for 12 weeks. We measured survivorship
-
Invasive alien plant brush piles reduce invasive seedling growth and increase animal abundance Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-02-04 Evette Mestetsky, Donya Moghtader, Nicholas Pilaud, Demian A. Willette
Management of alien invasive species is an essential action necessary to help reverse biodiversity loss. Here, we measure the effectiveness of brush piles constructed from invasive alien plant material to suppress the growth of invasive plant seedlings. We found invasive seedling recruitment was fully suppressed in brush pile plots compared to control plots due to suboptimal growth light and temperature
-
Beaver dam analogs did not improve beaver translocation outcomes in a desert river Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-02-01 Christine Sandbach, Julie K. Young, Mary Conner, Emma Hansen, Phaedra Budy
Stream restoration programs employ beaver-related restoration techniques, including beaver translocations and installation of beaver dam analogs (BDA), to create complex in-stream habitat. We investigated whether BDA installations improved the probability of translocated beavers surviving and colonizing a section of a degraded desert river. We translocated beavers fitted with tracking devices to the
-
Low-cost tools for large-scale seed scarification: efficiency in two species from South American arid lands Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-31 Daniel R. Pérez, Pablo E. Basaez, Maria E. Rodríguez Araujo, Leonilda J. Lagos, Damián F. Campos
The use of native plants for arid land restoration requires the application of pre-germination treatments to alleviate seed dormancy mechanisms. As it is known, scarification allows several valuable species to overcome the primary forms of dormancy. However, supplying large quantities of scarified seeds at a low cost represents a significant challenge. In this context, our objective was to evaluate
-
Ecological restoration and water-related ecosystem services, one step ahead: a reply to Dib et al. (2023) Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-29 Giselda Durigan, Eliane A. Honda
Water-related ecosystem services are the most expected benefits from ecological restoration worldwide, because they directly improve the quality of life of human populations around and downstream the restored areas. However, the poor comprehension of how the vegetation drives the hydrological processes has resulted in some major ecological disasters. Dib et al. (2023) tried to “shed light on the complex
-
Using fire, planting, and topsoil translocation for restoration in South African Fynbos: assessing the success and cost-effectiveness of various restoration treatments Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-28 Landi Retief, Mlungele M. Nsikani, Sjirk Geerts
The successful restoration of endangered habitat types at a low cost is of vital importance. We tested how successful and cost-effective six combinations of restoration treatments were in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa. Treatments were applied to an area that was primarily covered invasive alien grasses. Treatments that tested combinations of burning, direct sowing of seed, and planting
-
Inoculation with rhizospheric microorganisms in tropical dry forests restoration increased microbial diversity but had no effect on seedling growth Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-28 Mónica P. Castillo-Bautista, Paula A. Rugeles-Silva, Inge Armbrecht
The diversity of soil microbial organisms is rarely considered in restoration scenarios, even though this diversity is an important component of the ecological complexity that we aim to understand. Plant growth promoting microorganisms can positively affect plants by providing nutrients regularly, producing phytohormones to stimulate root growth and development, and modifying the rhizosphere environment
-
Local site conditions, not landscape context, influence restored plant communities within urban contexts Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-25 Emily E. Conway, Lars A. Brudvig
Restoration outcomes are variable, which impairs our ability to plan projects, meet goals, and predict restoration outcomes. Understanding the drivers of this variation is an important research need, especially within urban ecosystems, which support altered abiotic and biotic conditions and face higher rates of loss and degradation than non-urban areas. Despite the importance of urban areas for restoration
-
Demography with drones: detecting growth and survival of shrubs with unoccupied aerial systems Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-25 Peter J. Olsoy, Andrii Zaiats, Donna M. Delparte, Matthew J. Germino, Bryce A. Richardson, Anna V. Roser, Jennifer S. Forbey, Megan E. Cattau, T. Trevor Caughlin
Large-scale disturbances, such as megafires, motivate restoration at equally large extents. Measuring the survival and growth of individual plants plays a key role in current efforts to monitor restoration success. However, the scale of modern restoration (e.g., >10,000 ha) challenges measurements of demographic rates with field data. In this study, we demonstrate how unoccupied aerial system (UAS)
-
Fertilization during mineland rehabilitation may shift competitive outcomes toward invasive species Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-24 Arianne F. de Castro, Daniela Boanares, Priscila S. de Medeiros Sarmento, Cecílio F. Caldeira, Thaísa S. Michelan, Silvio J. Ramos, Markus Gastauer
Managing invasive species is essential for achieving mineland rehabilitation goals and ensuring the long-term provision of critical ecosystem services while preventing new dispersion sources to neighboring areas. Traditional techniques include chemical and manual weeding, but frequent reinvasion limits their long-term success. Therefore, additional integrated tools, such as stimulating natural competitors
-
Revegetated riparian areas are dominated by weeds, and lack structural diversity and natural recruitment: lessons for restoration practice Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-24 Eliza Foley-Congdon, Sacha Jellinek, Yung E. Chee, Joe Greet
Riparian areas can be highly biodiverse and provide critical ecosystem services. However, they are frequently subject to anthropogenic impacts such as land clearing, agricultural use, and urban development. Restoration of riparian areas via revegetation commonly improves the health of waterways and surrounding areas, but vegetation outcomes are rarely assessed. Our study compared 10 to 14-year-old
-
Overcoming ecological feedbacks in seagrass restoration Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-24 Richard K. F. Unsworth, Benjamin L. H. Jones, Lucy Coals, Evie Furness, Isabella Inman, Samuel C. Rees, Ally J. Evans
Overcoming ecological feedbacks is a major limiting factor reducing the success of many seagrass restoration projects. Negative feedbacks occur when biotic or abiotic conditions of a site are changed sufficiently after the loss of seagrass to prevent its recovery, even after the original stressors are remediated. While negative feedbacks in seagrass restoration are common, there remain limited studies
-
Selective method for invasive plant removal enhances restoration Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-22 Kristin M. Hinkson, Julienne E. NeSmith, Christina Alba, Michael Durham, Jason Ferrell, S. Luke Flory
Effective and sustainable restoration of habitats invaded by non-native plant species requires both invader removal and recovery of native species. However, efficacy of removal methods and native species responses commonly depend on site conditions, spatial scale, and time, indicating invader removal and restoration approaches must consider environmental context. To better understand how selectivity
-
Shoreline restoration including armor removal and log placement affect ecosystem recovery through time Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-18 Simone Des Roches, Kerry L. Accola, Hannah S. Faulkner, Jason R. Morgan, Bianca S. Perla, Maria Metler, Megan N. Dethier, Jason D. Toft
The impacts of individual restoration activities, such as the total area covered and specific actions taken, can be difficult to measure because they are typically not performed randomly or independently. In Puget Sound, Washington, United States, removal of hard armor is a primary shoreline restoration measure. The length of armor removed from a beach and additional restoration actions implemented
-
Restoration of boreal wetlands increases bat activity Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-16 Ville Vasko, Simon P. Gaultier, Anna Blomberg, Thomas M. Lilley, Kai Norrdahl, Jon E. Brommer
Wetlands are important habitats for insectivorous bats, as the presence of water promotes insect abundance and provides drinking water for wildlife, and therefore could promote bat conservation. Research on bats and wetlands has mainly focused on constructed wetlands, and with a geographical emphasis on eastern United States and central Europe, whereas relatively little is known about the effects of
-
Assessing above and belowground recovery from ammonium sulfate addition and wildfire in a lowland heath: mycorrhizal fungi as potential indicators Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-18 Jill Kowal, Raquel Pino-Bodas, Elena Arrigoni, Guillaume Delhaye, Laura M. Suz, Jeffrey G. Duckett, Martin I. Bidartondo, Silvia Pressel
Atmospheric pollution containing soil-nitrifying ammonium sulfate ((NH₄)₂SO₄) affects semi-natural ecosystems worldwide. Long-term additions of (NH₄)₂SO₄ to nitrogen (N)-limited habitats, including heathlands, increase climate stress affecting recovery from wildfires. Although heathland vegetation largely depends on ericoid mycorrhizal fungi (ErM) to access soil N, we lack detailed understanding of
-
Priority effects and competitive exclusion by C4 grasses on longleaf pine savanna restoration sites Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-14 Johanna E. Freeman, Lauren B. Trotta
On grassland and savanna restoration sites, planted native C4 grasses can competitively exclude other co-introduced plant functional groups, with negative implications for ecosystem functioning and restoration success. Previous studies have suggested that C4 grass competitive exclusion does not occur in longleaf pine savannas of the North American Coastal Plain; however these studies were primarily
-
Propagating the stony coral Echinopora horrida: evaluating the effects of rearing environment and transplant orientation Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-14 Shu Qin Sam, Chin Soon Lionel Ng, Yuichi Preslie Kikuzawa, Tai Chong Toh, Loke Ming Chou
The “coral gardening” approach has been effective in facilitating the recovery of degraded reefs but methodological variations can influence survivorship and growth of the coral material. In addition, the disproportionate use of certain corals, such as acroporids and pocilloporids, has contributed to a general lack of information on growth patterns and restoration strategies for species that are less
-
Aerial exposure and critical temperatures limit the survival of restored intertidal mussels Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-14 Emilee D. Benjamin, Trevyn A. Toone, Jenny R. Hillman, Sean J. Handley, Andrew Jeffs
Site selection is one of the biggest challenges affecting coastal restoration success, and can be particularly difficult in the intertidal zone, where species are often living close to their physiological thermal limits. Climate change is causing atmospheric and marine heat waves, with the summer of 2023 having the highest ever recorded global average temperatures. This changing climate, along with
-
Exploring the impact of spatial patterns on restoration efforts: promoting self-facilitating feedback mechanisms with an innovative biodegradable seed mussel collector Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-16 Lisanne A. van den Bogaart, Jacob J. Capelle, Jildou Schotanus, Tjeerd J. Bouma
Transplantations of organisms in aquatic ecosystems play an important role in ecological restoration and commercial practices. However, success rates of these transplantations, especially when ecosystem engineers are involved, are often low. To enhance transplantation success, the promotion of self-facilitation between transplants that mitigate environmental stressors is crucial. Besides, spatial patterns
-
Silviculture treatments hasten seedling growth on seismic disturbances in boreal treed fens Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-16 Colette A. Shellian, Julia Linke, Gregory J. McDermid, Michael Cody, Scott E. Nielsen
Seismic lines in western Canada's boreal region are linear disturbances that affect the habitat of threatened woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou). To hasten the return of forest cover and ultimately to restore caribou habitat, restoration managers use silviculture treatments in wet areas that involve the mechanical mounding of seismic lines to create artificial hummocks. Tree planting then
-
Direct topsoil transfer to already planted reforestation sites increases native plant understory and not ruderals Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-16 Jonas Hamberg, Derek T. Robinson, Andrew J. Trant, Paul J. Richardson, Stephen D. Murphy
Forests restored passively or by tree planting can take many decades to be recolonized by native forest understory plant species, if at all. Our study tested (1) the ability of forest topsoil transfer to accelerate the recovery of native forest plant communities in post-agricultural reforestation sites after tree-planting and without previous topsoil removal and (2) the effect of adding combinations
-
Cost-effectiveness of management strategies in a nucleation experiment in a tropical dry forest Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-14 Laura Toro, Francisco Torres-Romero, Sandra M. Salinas, Andrés Avella-Munoz, Susan Galatowish, Silvia Secchi, Jennifer S. Powers
Cost-effective, large-scale strategies are needed to restore degraded ecosystems worldwide. Applied nucleation is one technique that can accelerate succession in tropical forests. However, the effectiveness of irrigation and fertilization in the context of large-scale applied nucleation in tropical dry forests (TDFs) has not yet been tested. To this end, we established a large-scale experiment in southwestern
-
Successful reintroduction of species: improving on windows of opportunity for biodiversity repair Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-14 Ann-Kathrin Tielke, Matthijs Vos
To overcome resistance of degraded ecological communities to restorative interventions, we need to understand windows of opportunity—limited time frames when species reintroduction attempts are still successful. More specifically, we need to understand what makes these windows close, as this may enable us to stretch or reopen them. We investigated this using models of simple food web modules. We show
-
Lower diversity of forbs in prairie restoration alters pollinator communities but not structural characteristics of plant–pollinator networks Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-08 Emma Hoskins, Ellen A. R. Welti, Rebecca Brown
Reestablishment of native plant communities is often the primary focus of ecological restoration. This is especially true for prairie restoration, which often struggles to establish diverse forb communities. An often-overlooked component in plant reestablishment is pollinators, with 85% of forbs requiring pollination for seed reproduction. A deeper understanding of the relationship between plant and
-
Secondary forest buffers the effects of fragmentation on aerial insectivorous bat species following 30 years of passive forest restoration Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-09 Sarah Rowley, Adrià López-Baucells, Ricardo Rocha, Paulo E. D. Bobrowiec, Christoph F. J. Meyer
Passive forest restoration can buffer the effects of habitat loss on biodiversity. We acoustically surveyed aerial insectivorous bats in a whole-ecosystem fragmentation experiment in the Brazilian Amazon over a 2-year period, across 33 sites, comprising continuous old-growth forest, remnant fragments, and regenerating secondary forest matrix. We analyzed the activity of 10 species/sonotypes to investigate
-
Transfer seeds, hay, or soil blocks? The importance of the completeness of biological inputs to address dispersal and establishment limitations during the restoration of plant assemblages in floodplain grasslands Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-09 Myriam Garrouj, Didier Alard, Jennifer Dudit, Marie-Lise Benot
This study investigated different techniques of grassland restoration to overcome dispersal or establishment limitation, which are key processes influencing early-successional plant community assembly. A fully randomized in situ experiment was set up in a former arable land in a floodplain along the Garonne river (south-western France) to test for the effect of (1) the type and completeness of the
-
Evaluating long-term introduction success of the Florida scrub endemic Crotalaria avonensis (Fabaceae) using a decade of demographic data Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-08 Aaron S. David, Andrea M. Naccarato, Stacy A. Smith, Cheryl L. Peterson, Valerie C. Pence, Sarah J.H. Crate, Stephanie M. Koontz, Haley E. Dole, Eric S. Menges
Introductions are a critical tool in the recovery of many imperiled species, yet adequate evaluation and development of best practices has lagged. Importantly, long-term post-introduction data are typically lacking, as well as suitable comparisons to wild populations to provide a baseline against which to assess performance. Here, we report on three experimental introductions of Crotalaria avonensis
-
Restoration promotes ecological functioning through greater complementarity Restor Ecol (IF 3.2) Pub Date : 2024-01-07 Ashley J. Rummell, Hayden P. Borland, Jackson J. Hazell, Jesse D. Mosman, Christopher J. Henderson, Javier X. Leon, Ben L. Gilby, Andrew D. Olds
Restoration projects are increasingly widespread and many promote habitat succession and the diversity and abundance of faunal communities. These positive effects on biodiversity and abundance may extend to enhancing the ecological functioning and resilience of previously degraded ecosystems, but this is rarely quantified. This study surveyed a 200-ha restoring coastal wetland and three control wetlands