15 Facts About Restoration ecology

Restoration ecology is the scientific study supporting the practice of ecological restoration, which is the practice of renewing and restoring degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystems and habitats in the environment by active human interruption and action.

Restoration ecology goals reflect societal choices from among competing policy priorities, but extracting such goals is typically contentious and politically challenging.

Restoration ecology is the academic study of the process, whereas ecological restoration is the actual project or process by restoration practitioners.

The Society for Ecological Restoration ecology defines "ecological restoration" as an "intentional activity that initiates or accelerates the recovery of an ecosystem with respect to its health, integrity and sustainability".

Restoration ecology emerged as a separate field in ecology in the late twentieth century.

Traditional ecological knowledge from Indigenous Peoples demonstrates how restoration ecology is a historical field, lived out by humans for thousands of years.

Restoration ecology is used as a tool for reducing the spread of invasive plant species many ways.

Restoration ecology projects are used as a way to better understand what makes an ecological community resistant to invasion.

Restoration ecology projects have been used to understand how the diversity of the species introduced in the restoration affects invasion.

The incorporation of functional ecology has shown that more functionally diverse restorations have lower levels of invasion.

Restoration ecology ecologists have used a variety of strategies employed at different restoration sites to better understand the most successful management techniques to control invasion.

For instance, many publications in restoration ecology characterize the scope of a problem in-depth, without providing concrete solutions.

Restoration ecology is organized at the community level, which focuses on broader groups within ecosystems.

Restoration ecology focuses on plants because restoration projects typically begin by establishing plant communities.

Finally, restoration ecology has a stronger focus on soils, soil structure, fungi, and microorganisms because soils provide the foundation of functional terrestrial ecosystems.