Ecological Restoration : Old Fort Bayou Tract Near Ocean Springs, Mississippi, U.S.A.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Ecological restoration, when implemented effectively and sustainably, contributes to protecting biodiversity; improving human health and wellbeing; increasing food and water security; delivering goods, services, and economic prosperity; and supporting climate change mitigation, resilience, and adaptation. It is a solutions-based approach that engages communities, scientists, policymakers, and land managers to repair ecological damage and rebuild a healthier relationship between people and the rest of nature. When combined with conservation and sustainable use, ecological restoration is the link needed to move local, regional, and global environmental conditions from a state of continued degradation, to one of net positive improvement. The second edition of the International Principles and Standards for the Practice of Ecological Restoration (the Standards) presents a robust framework for restoration projects to achieve intended goals, while addressing challenges including effective design and implementation, accounting for complex ecosystem dynamics (especially in the context of climate change), and navigating trade-offs associated with land management priorities and decisions. The Standards establish eight principles that underpin ecological restoration. Principles 1 and 2 articulate important foundations that guide ecological restoration: effectively engaging a wide range of stakeholders, and fully utilizing available scientific, traditional, and local knowledge, respectively. Principles 3 and 4 summarize the central approach to ecological restoration, by highlighting ecologically appropriate reference ecosystems as the target of restoration and clarifying the imperative for restoration activities to support ecosystem recovery processes. Principle 5 underscores the use of measurable indicators to assess progress toward restoration objectives. Principle 6 lays out the mandate for ecological restoration to seek the highest attainable recovery. Tools are provided to identify the levels of recovery aspired to and to track progress. Principle 7 highlights the importance of restoration at large spatial scales for cumulative gains. Finally, ecological restoration is one of several approaches that address damage to ecosystems and Principle 8 clarifies its relationships to allied approaches on a “Restorative Continuum”. The Standards highlight the role of ecological restoration in connecting social, community, productivity, and sustainability goals. The Standards also provide recommended performance measures for restorative activities for industries, communities, and governments to consider. In addition, the Standards enhance the list of practices and actions that guide practitioners in planning, implementation, and monitoring activities. The leading practices and guidance include discussion on appropriate approaches to site assessment and identification of reference ecosystems, different restoration approaches including natural regeneration, consideration of genetic diversity under climate change, and the role of ecological restoration in global restoration initiatives. This edition also includes an expanded glossary of restoration terminology. SER and its international partners produced the Standards for adoption by communities, industries, governments, educators, and land managers to improve ecological restoration practice across all sectors and in all ecosystems, terrestrial and aquatic. The Standards support development of ecological restoration plans, contracts, consent conditions, and monitoring and auditing criteria. Generic in nature, the Standards framework can be adapted to particular ecosystems, biomes, or landscapes; individual countries; or traditional cultures. The Standards are aspirational and provide tools that are intended to improve outcomes, promote best practices, and deliver net global environmental and social benefits. As the world enters the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030), the Standards provide a blueprint for ensuring ecological restoration achieves its full potential in delivering social and environmental equity and, ultimately, economic benefits and outcomes.

Holzel, N. (corresponding author, nhoelzel@uni-muenster.de): Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Munster, Robert-Koch-Str. 28, 48149, Munster, Germany Buisson, E. (elise.buisson@univ-avignon.fr) & Dutoit, T. (thierry.dutoit@univ-avignon.fr): Institut Mediterraneen d’Ecologie et de Paleoecologie (UMR CNRS/IRD), IUT, Universite d’Avignon et des Pays de Vaucluse, site Agroparc BP 61207, 84 911, Avignon Cedex 09, France

Studies summarizing stream restoration projects in the US are outdated and omit the majority of restoration projects in Florida. To address this gap, we compiled stream restoration data from diverse sources to create a Florida Stream Restoration Database (FSRD, available at http://www.watershedecology.org/databases.html) containing information on project type, location, completion date, and costs. The FSRD contains 178 projects categorized by restoration type, including riparian management (23%), stream reclamation (19%), flow modification (13%), bank stabilization (12%), channel reconfiguration (11%), in-stream habitat improvements (11%), floodplain reconnection (6%), invasive species removal (4%), and dam removal (1%). Projects were spatially clustered into three geographic regions, providing insight on the diversity of initiatives, needs, and funding sources of land management agencies and private landowners that motivated restoration efforts. Projects in the Florida panhandle emphasized in-stream habitat restoration, while peninsular projects were dominated by flow modification, and projects in the west central region focused on stream reclamation to mitigate surface mining practices and water quality and habitat improvements in tidal streams. Results suggest that Florida is spending much more on stream restoration than previously documented. Between 1979 and 2015, the mean and median stream restoration project costs in Florida were $15.4 million and $180 000, respectively, indicating a strongly skewed distribution because of the large Kissimmee River restoration project in central Florida. This work highlights the need for, and utility of, statewide and national restoration databases to improve restoration tracking. This need will become increasingly critical as more stringent water quality and habitat mitigation rules are implemented across the country. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has initiated a major ecological restoration project along the Illinois River to restore one of the largest levee and drainage districts that has been drained and farmed since 1924. The Thompson Lake Drainage and Levee District, located just upstream of the junction of the Spoon River with the Illinois River, was formed in the early 1920s by draining and leveeing a large floodplain area that included Thompson and Flag Lakes and diverse aquatic and terrestrial habitats that supported a wide variety of fish and wildlife. The restoration area known as the Emiquon is one of the largest floodplain restoration projects in the United States. The goal of the restoration effort is to restore ecological processes and habitats that could sustain the native aquatic and terrestrial species once found in the region prior to disturbance of the area. One of the key elements in the restoration effort is the proper understanding of the hydrology, hydraulics, and sediment transport processes in the Illinois River near the Emiquon area from a historical perspective, under existing conditions, and also for different management scenarios. Prior to making changes in the management of the area, TNC wisely initiated scientific investigations and analyses to guide the restoration effort. As part of this effort, the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) has collected hydrologic data and developed hydrologic and hydraulic models to assess existing conditions and evaluate different management alternatives that could be used during the restoration. This paper summarizes the results of those investigations.

SummaryThe Nature Conservancy (TNC) was founded by ecologists as a United States land trust to purchase parcels of habitat for the purpose of scientific study. It has evolved into a global organization working in 35 countries ‘to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends’. TNC is now the world's largest conservation non‐governmental organization (NGO), an early adopter of advances in ecological theory and a producer of new science as a result of practising conservation.The Nature Conservancy's initial scientific innovation was the use of distributional data for rare species and ecological communities to systematically target lands for conservation. This innovation later evolved into a more rigorous approach known as ‘Conservation by Design’ that contained elements of systematic conservation planning, strategic planning and monitoring and evaluation.The next scientific transition at TNC was a move to landscape‐scale projects, motivated by ideas from landscape ecology. Because the scale at which land could be set aside in areas untouched by humans fell far short of the spatial scale demanded by conservation, TNC became involved with best management practices for forestry, grazing, agriculture, hydropower and other land uses.A third scientific innovation at TNC came with the pursuit of multiobjective planning that accounts for economic and resource needs in the same plans that seek to protect biodiversity.The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment prompted TNC to become increasingly concerned with ecosystem services and the material risk to people posed by ecosystem deterioration.Finally, because conservation depends heavily upon negotiation, TNC has recently recruited social scientists, economists and communication experts. One aspect still missing, however, is a solid scientific understanding of thresholds that should be averted.Synthesis and applications. Over its 60‐plus year history, scientific advances have informed The Nature Conservancy (TNC)'s actions and strategies, and in turn the evolving practice of conservation has altered the type of science sought by TNC in order to maximize its conservation effectiveness.

The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management

Many types of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) deal with tourism-related issues, either directly or indirectly. The connection between The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the tourism economy in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, USA, though indirect, is important both from the standpoint of the community and the organization. TNC's main objective is the preservation of biodiversity. Their primary tool is the protection of habitat from development by land acquisition. The growth of the tourism economy in the Steamboat Springs area is driving the land use changes that threaten the biodiversity that TNC aims to protect. TNC's limited focus on either acquiring land or conservation easements does not offer many opportunities for directly opposing tourism growth; in addition, the organization does not oppose economic growth per se. However, TNC's presence in the Steamboat Springs area offers residents some additional opportunities for coping with some of tourism's undesirable effects.In this paper, development of tourism in Steamboat and its role in shaping Steamboat's economy and culture will be outlined first. Drawing on tourism literature, a comparison of some of the negative effects tourism has had in Steamboat with negative effects experienced by other tourist-dominated areas will be done. Then a brief review of theoretical perspectives will be undertaken to suggest how NGOs such as TNC might mediate tourism-related problems, using examples from TNC's activities in Steamboat to illustrate.

After 3 years of extreme drought, California's vast Central Valley is so dry that millions of migrating birds have lost stopover points where they rest and feed. This region supports 30% of the shorebirds (such as plovers and sandpipers) and 60% of the waterfowl (including ducks and geese) that use the Pacific Flyway, but The Nature Conservancy (TNC) estimates that about 85% of the Valley's wetlands are dry. “We thought, ‘What can we do?’”, recalls Mark Reynolds, who leads TNC's Migratory Birds Initiative (San Francisco, CA). “We hit on the idea of paying rice farmers to create temporary habitat.” Instead of paying a flat rate, TNC invites farmers to submit bids. “This market-based approach stretches our conservation dollars and gives farmers the opportunity to be compensated for their true costs”, he explains. To decide when and where to fund these “pop-up” wetlands, TNC uses bird-tracking data from eBird, a citizen-science program run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (Ithaca, NY). Designed for shorebirds, these temporary wetlands also benefit cranes, ibises, and other avifauna. TNC piloted pop-up wetlands during last spring's northward migration, focusing on shorebirds because existing wetlands primarily serve waterfowl. Ducks and geese prefer water deeper than 15 cm while shorebirds need shallower wetlands. Altogether, the program created over 4000 ha of shallow temporary habitat. “The shorebird response was extraordinary”, Reynolds says. “Their density was 20 times higher on pop-up habitats than on neighboring fields.” One pop-up wetland had 20 000 dunlins (Calidris alpina), representing one-fifth of California's entire population of these small wading birds at the time. The program picked up again during the shorebirds' fall migration back south, when the need for stopover habitat was intensified by exceptionally large bird populations caused by prime conditions in their northern breeding grounds, according to a US Fish and Wildlife Service survey. TNC is optimizing its pop-up wetland program in collaboration with Point Blue Conservation Science (Petaluma, CA), which collected data on field conditions and habitat use at about 100 sites. “We're assessing how we allocated our resources and how shorebirds responded”, Reynolds says. “We hope to find the ‘sweet spot’ for the Flyway and for farming so both can flourish in California.” A US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decision that clears the way for a new wave of genetically modified (GM) crops has triggered lawsuits from environmental groups. Last month, the EPA approved the use of Dow AgroSciences' Enlist Duo – a combination of two existing herbicides: 2,4-D and glyphosate – in six states. The decision enables Dow to begin marketing a novel line of GM crops that are resistant to both herbicides. Another dual-herbicide crop system, from Monsanto, still awaits regulatory approval. The new products are intended to counter the increasing problem of glyphosate-resistant “superweeds”. Earlier GM crops were typically engineered to tolerate glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup, so that farmers could more easily kill weeds by spraying fields with this product. Such herbicide-tolerant GM crops now account for roughly 90% of all US corn, cotton, and soybean acreage. But as the planting of glyphosate-tolerant crops has expanded, so has the abundance of glyphosate-resistant weeds, which according to an industry survey affected 24.8 million ha of US farmland by 2012. As farmers switch to the latest dual-herbicide GM crops, the total usage of 2,4-D is expected to increase sharply. Environmental groups are suing the EPA, claiming the agency has inadequately recognized the potential impacts of this decision on human health, endangered species, and the environment. “We don't think the EPA did a good enough job of considering the epidemiology, the impact on surrounding vegetation and crops, and weed resistance management”, says Doug Gurian-Sherman, director of sustainable agriculture and senior scientist at the Center for Food Safety (Washington, DC). The EPA insists that Enlist Duo is safe, and notes several steps that Dow has taken to reduce risks, including the introduction of a less volatile 2,4-D formulation, intended to reduce the likelihood that the herbicide will spread from fields to neighboring areas. Matt Liebman, a crop scientist at Iowa State University (Ames, IA), believes that the increasing use of the new dual herbicides on GM crops will accelerate evolution of weeds that are resistant to multiple herbicides. He points to previous research documenting weeds that already display such resistance, including to synthetic auxins like 2,4-D. “The more a given control method is used, the more rapidly resistance will evolve”, he warns. “We are about to make more herbicides as heavily used as glyphosate, and they will promote resistance in the same way.” In late October, the government of The Netherlands announced that it is working to completely phase out microplastics from Dutch cosmetics, and will soon propose a ban on microbeads in cosmetics throughout the European Union. Dutch State Secretary for the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, Wilma Mansveld, made the following statement in a letter to Dutch Parliament on October 28: “All members of the Netherlands Cosmetics Association that use micro-beads in cosmetics either have ceased to do so or are in the process of ending their use. This means that in time there will be no more microbeads in scrub, toothpaste, soap, and bath and shower gel. For 80% of the companies, many of which are multinational, this will be realized by 2017. The effect on the Dutch market is substantial, with impacts stretching over a far larger market due to the international nature of the cosmetics industry.” The action comes in direct response to the “Beat the Microbead” campaign, which was launched in August 2012 by the Plastic Soup Foundation (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) and The North Sea Foundation (Utrecht, The Netherlands). Maria Westerbos, founder and director of the former organization, says: “In recent years, the industry has been adding more and more plastic to products. Wastewater treatment plants are not designed to filter out microbeads, so they end up in the ocean and contribute to the ‘plastic soup’. We are very happy that The Netherlands is the first country in the world to aim for a ban on microplastics, both on a national and a European level. We are pushing for a worldwide ban; we need to fight this ‘Trojan horse’ in households all over the world.” Westerbos adds that there are currently 59 nongovernmental organizations from 29 countries supporting and raising awareness for the Beat the Microbead campaign, a number that increases daily. Central to the campaign is a smartphone app that allows consumers to scan barcodes on products to determine whether they contain microbeads. The app is available in several countries, including the US, and consumers are playing a key role in helping to build the product database. The environmental footprint of beef grabbed headlines recently with news that this meat requires 11 times more water per calorie of food produced than pork or chicken. However, research indicates that meat-lovers can use their purchasing power to make a big difference in the amount of water used in livestock production (Food Policy 2014; doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2014.06.007). “By 2050, food demand is predicted to outpace water availability in most regions of the world”, explains Robin White, an economist with the National Animal Nutrition Program (Blacksburg, VA) and lead author of the study. Beef production is a big consumer of water, and top-down regulatory policies are often suggested to improve sustainability. But White wondered whether consumer preference for eco-labeled beef could drive water-conserving technologies such as better pasture management in beef production. White and her coauthor combed through 61 studies – looking at over 34 000 consumers – that quantified how much more shoppers would pay for beef with a smaller environmental footprint. Results showed that about 60–80% of North American consumers would be willing to pay 10% more for beef raised sustainably, half would pay 15% more, and very few would pay 30% more. “We then allowed the cost of producing beef to incrementally increase and assessed the types of on-farm management that could be employed to reduce water required per unit of beef in three regions of the US”, she says. Beef producers cut water use when consumers pay more. White found the biggest reductions in water use in those regions occurred when the premium for eco-labeled beef was set at 10% above the price for conventionally raised beef. At the farm level, this translated to a US$0.17 increase in the cost of raising a kilogram of beef and a 9% cut in water use. Although the water savings seem small, on a national scale this would save 289–490 billion liters of water per year, enough to supply the needs of 3.5 million people. “If we are to use this consumer-based incentive approach, the key component is getting more people to buy in, helping more producers afford to reduce water use”, she concludes. “White did a meta-analysis, which is the real strength of this study”, says Michael Tlusty, director of Ocean Sustainability Science at the New England Aquarium (Boston, MA). He points out that government regulations typically set a low bar for sustainability whereas voluntary market incentives such as eco-labels can drive food producers to aim for more ambitious conservation goals. Top predators such as lions have been lost in many ecosystems, but a new study shows that their prey may retain their fear for generations after the threat is gone (Behav Ecol 2014; doi:10.1093/beheco/aru180). This factor is crucial to the success of predator reintroduction efforts, since accumulating evidence indicates that predators affect their prey not only through direct mortality but also by causing behavioral changes. Predators from wolves to dragonflies can influence their respective prey – where they forage, how much they eat, and how alert they have to be – and these changes then have rippling effects through their ecosystems. Such behavioral responses help shape ecosystems, and as lead author Fredrik Dalerum (University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa) explains, “predator recognition is the first step to exhibiting those kinds of responses”. Common warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus) still fear lions, even where these predators have been absent for generations. To this end, Dalerum and his colleague examined the ability of three species – common warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus), impala (Aepyceros melampus), and blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) – in two parks to recognize their lion predators by sound. Lions have been locally extinct from the area, likely since the early 20th century, but were reintroduced in one of the two parks in 1998. This difference between parks allowed researchers to examine whether the so-called “naïve” animals that have not encountered lions for generations still respond behaviorally to audio recordings of lion calls (for example, by running away or spending more time being vigilant) to the same extent as those that regularly encounter their feline predator. They also played recordings of wolf calls and “neutral” sounds, to make sure the animals were responding specifically to the calls of their own predator. The scientists found that the naïve animals responded just as strongly to lion calls as did experienced animals; if anything, “the difference was actually that there was a more radical behavioral response in the naïve animals”, Dalerum states. This analysis demonstrates the potential for prey to recognize and respond to long-absent predators if the latter are reintroduced to areas within their historical ranges, an important step for restoration given predators' wide-reaching roles in ecosystems. Apparently the fear of predators, burnt into the genome, doesn't easily fade. Many arid countries, particularly in the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa, have such limited water resources that they must import the bulk of their food. To increase food production without increasing water use, researchers are experimenting with next-generation greenhouses that are able to reuse and recycle as much as 90% of water added. A research project, funded by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), is getting underway to test the feasibility of this approach in the United Arab Emirates. Speaking in October at the Water for Food conference (Seattle, WA), Pasquale Steduto – the FAO representative in the Near East and North Africa (Cairo, Egypt) – explained that the project will determine whether these greenhouses could prove viable in the Middle East. The key to efficient water use in a closed greenhouse is figuring out how to cheaply condense water vapor in the air back to usable droplets, an energy-intensive process. “By keeping a greenhouse closed, we can condense, and therefore reuse, the water vapor generated by the plant itself”, says Steduto. European Union-funded research supported the early development of prototype greenhouses, such as one built in Spain in 2003, which demonstrated that passive cooling, relying on cooler nighttime temperatures, could dehumidify the air. However, pulling the most moisture out of the air required an expensive heat exchanger. Building engineer Martin Buchholz at the Technical University of Berlin (Germany) found that simply adding a desiccant – the common salt magnesium chloride – to the greenhouse could inexpensively dry and cool the air to achieve 90% less water use. “Cutting water consumption by as much as an order of magnitude is an enormous amount”, comments Steduto. Preliminary evidence suggests that the crops grown in greenhouses can achieve 2–3 times the yield per liter of water used in traditional field-cropping systems, simply because greenhouses are able to trap higher levels of growth-promoting carbon dioxide, according to Buchholz. Such high yields will be necessary to offset the investment costs required to recycle water. At least in the near term, these greenhouses may make sense only in wealthy, water-limited countries. The United Arab Emirates greenhouse should be functional by spring 2015, and Steduto anticipates other experimental units being tried in Saudi Arabia or Oman. “Not only could greenhouses provide the nutritional value of vegetables or fruits, they could even offer an opportunity to grow feed for livestock, which could reduce the need to import meat”, Steduto points out. In December 1984, several thousand people were killed after being exposed to toxic gas – methyl isocyanate (MIC) – that leaked from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India. Although the facility closed down shortly after the disaster, 15 years' worth of improperly disposed hazardous waste from the plant's operation have resulted in lingering environmental contamination. Besides producing MIC, the plant was licensed to manufacture phosgene, monomethylamine, and carbaryl. Traces of these products and intermediary chemicals have been detected in soil and groundwater samples collected onsite and in surrounding areas during field surveys conducted in the past two decades. Yet removal, decontamination, and environmental remediation efforts at Bhopal remain entangled in continuing legal procedures and are hampered by a lack of scientific consensus. “As many as 17 studies by government research laboratories and action groups have shown the presence of toxic chemicals in [samples]…some at locations as far as 3.5 km from the plant and at depths greater than 30 m”, according to Satinath Sarangi of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action (Bhopal). Over the years, personnel from various federal agencies tasked with exploring the site have discovered several pits where solid and liquid waste – apparently generated during normal production processes – was routinely dumped, thus contaminating the soil with aldicarb, carbaryl, α-naphthol, hexa-chlorocyclohexane isomers, dichloro-benzene, and mercury. Elsewhere on the premises, abandoned buildings containing stockpiles of chemicals and finished products represent additional sources of hazardous substances that have already or may soon pollute the nearby environment. In 2010, a report commissioned by India's Ministry of Environment and Forests estimated the volume of contaminated soil at Bhopal to be approximately 1.1 million metric tons. Furthermore, three nearby evaporation ponds that received supposedly “treated” wastewater from the factory also contribute to the pollution. “Overall, insufficient information exists to clearly identify all the contamination sources feeding the contamination spread. However, where sources can be assumed with reasonable confidence, these should be isolated to reduce groundwater-related impacts until adequate investigations are completed and remediation implemented”, concludes Paul Futter, a New Zealand-based environmental chemist who recently conducted a review of contamination-related studies. Futter believes that future investigations should be based on sound conceptual models of potential contamination pathways. “It's a historic opportunity to develop a realistic course of action”, asserts Chandra Bhushan, deputy director general of the Centre for Science and Environment (New Delhi, India). In the West Antarctic Peninsula, researchers are investigating the plight of diminishing populations of the Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) to determine what factors contribute to their survival. Adélie penguin chicks are particularly sensitive to changes in their environment, and their survival has serious implications for future breeding populations. “The West Antarctic Peninsula is one of the most rapidly warming areas in the world, and in this region, the Adélie penguin population has dramatically declined since the 1970s”, says Megan Cimino (University of Delaware, Lewes, DE), lead author of a paper that specifically examines the variability in penguin chick weight as it relates to different environmental variables (Mar Ecol-Prog Ser 2014; doi:10.3354/meps10928). Cimino and her colleagues found that Adélie chick weight can serve as an indicator of the overall health of a penguin colony. They examined many environmental factors that could drive patterns of chick fledging weight. “Local weather was the main driver of chick weights, which was surprising because we expected – the main food – to have a larger explains weather patterns affect Adélie chick weight in several important years of and were likely had to more to because they don't have Cimino can also affect the by the of which could the to be at for for or could to the with to feed Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) chicks in the West Antarctic to back to to more data on the and their a of including small and The researchers will to how ocean influence the of and which shape penguin “As conditions are – and – this study implications of what may to this of in the into “the the they from of other to of Yet it was not until recently that both and are in an of 2014; and don't have the same when to on their and both may to the for out of and – all can be by an The new study in that need to by with of her own explains Michael (University of to make she must use the of from an is to the the are in these would with their own to their to be through new have these to help their for more. and coauthor and during and their The were from two from between and from different were as genetically as the species of both with the first they explains when they out they had made a they to reduce their rate, to have should they then find a But the need that if are to be and have a way of getting the last out of their less times were much says the their sure those “This a new of how order can as a between says (University of East the in how government are may have a effect on the environment. In the was assessed primarily through product This on the line affected often at the of environmental to in the past years, its increasing has to the environmental and more than half of the in are being required to use environmental to the of The were because they were or development Instead of relying on the will be based on in habitat and is the first step of the impacts that the previous has had on government decision we to and environmental and this in the to the is still a explains a from who to remain to previous success in control and designed we to develop in this area, since this and with less environmental cost than such as it be able to improve as much as to based on environmental The of in is the first to the new into – including of air and wastewater treatment – was to environmental conditions in one of the in where the is his of Environmental collected in – the his – will be used as a for with from to how conditions have during the time in

Board Rooms and Jail Cells- Assessing NGO Approaches to Private Environmental Governance

Land‐use planners have long understood the need for consolidated planning across political boundaries. Collaborative interaction between adjacent land managers predates the U.S. Constitution; however, tools necessary to support federal missions and natural resource conservation requirements across public‐private land mosaics are increasingly ineffective.The nation's modern regulatory system and resource‐constrained climate increasingly confounds this cooperation. This article describes and analyses a new tool that has been proven effective in joint land management. The tool is a cooperative agreement (CA) that was signed in 1995 by Fort Bragg, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and the U.S. Army Environmental Center (AEC). The CA enables the cost‐sharing of the acquisition of conservation encumbrances in the vicinity of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Conservation encumbrances are defined as fee simple land purchases by TNC or the purchase of perpetuity deed restrictions by TNC. All acquisitions are done with willing sellers and based upon fair market values of the acquired assets. All acquisitions have provisions for low‐impact soldier access to the conserved lands. This article details the development and amendments of the CA and specifies benefits to all parties.Ultimate ownership, land‐use plans, and long‐term management responsibilities will be discussed. This article assesses lessons learned in a long‐term effort at collaborative land management at which the Army's training mission was (and is) in jeopardy. Also, a mechanism to assess return on investment at other installations that are considering this approach is offered. While most bioregional planning is by nature highly crafted to meet specific local requirements, lessons learned from this project are instructive. In this case, both encroachment by incompatible development in the vicinity of a military installation and training restrictions due to environmental compliance are being reduced. Under limited circumstances, this tool can provide long‐term security of military missions and declining natural resources. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Changing spatial patterns of conservation investment by a major land trust

Concepts, Challenges, and Emerging Themes of Restoration Ecology

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 基于生态监管的生态保护修复工程实施成效评估指标体系 DOI: 10.5846/stxb202201260248 作者: 作者单位: 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 国家重点研发计划项目（2020YFC1806305） Ecological supervision oriented evaluation indicator system for performance assessment of ecological protection and restoration project implementation Author: Affiliation: Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:生态监管是保障生态保护修复工程有效实施的重要途径，生态保护修复监督评估是我国当前维护生态环境安全的迫切需求和生态监管开展的有力抓手。在对国内外已有生态保护修复成效评估相关理论方法进行分析的基础上，围绕生态保护修复工程实施目标，结合生态监管要求，统筹考虑"山水林田湖草生命共同体"理念、生态保护修复工程类型、指标可操作性和兼容性等因素，综合运用频度分析法、专家咨询法和层次分析法等方法，提出了生态保护修复工程实施成效评估指标体系，构建了包括生态环境成效和工程管理成效的指标体系。其中，生态环境成效指标由共性指标和个性指标组成，共性指标包括生态系统格局、生态系统功能、生态干扰等方面的具体指标，个性指标包括森林保护修复工程、草原保护修复工程、湿地保护修复工程、矿山修复工程、防沙治沙工程、石漠化治理工程、水土流失治理工程、地质灾害治理工程、流域综合治理工程等不同工程类型的具体指标。工程管理成效指标主要包括工程绩效、工程实施及公众满意等方面的具体指标。在对各项指标评估的基础上，通过综合评估计算对生态保护修复工程实施成效进行评估。基于生态系统格局指数、生态系统功能指数、生态干扰指数、工程管理成效指数及不同工程类型的个性指标指数，得到生态保护修复工程实施成效综合指数，在此基础上，对生态保护修复工程实施成效进行分级，包括不合格、一般、良好和优秀4个等级，反映生态保护修复工程实施成效状况。研究可为生态监管要求下的生态保护修复工程实施成效评估提供指导方法和重要参考。 Abstract:Surveillance, monitoring and management are important measures to maintain the ecological benefits from the ecological protection and restoration projects. Evaluation on these projects is needed to protect the eco-environmental safety and an effective measure for the ecological management. Based on the investigation on the domestic and abroad studies on the methodology, the indicator selection and the application, this study proposes an index system to evaluate the ecological effects of the ecological protection and restoration projects, focusing on the implementation goals of the ecological protection and restoration projects as well as ecological supervision objectives. Taking the concept of "a living community of mountains, waters, forests, farmlands, lakes, and grasslands", the types of ecological protection and restoration projects, the operability and compatibility of indicators, and other factors into comprehensive consideration, the index system that includes the ecological and environmental achievements as well as the project management performances is established using the methods of frequency analysis, expert consultation and analytic hierarchy process. Among them, the ecological and environmental achievements indicators are composed of common and individual indicators. Common indicators include specific indicators of ecosystem pattern, ecosystem function, and ecological interference. Individual indicators include specific indicators of different project types, such as forest protection and restoration projects, grassland protection and restoration projects, wetland protection and restoration projects, mine restoration projects, sand control projects, rock desertification management projects, soil erosion management projects, geological disaster management projects, and comprehensive watershed treatment projects. The indicators of project management performances mainly include specific indicators of project performance, project implementation, and public satisfaction. The values of assessment indicators focus on the change rates of their values to the background values, reflecting the relevant changes arising from the implementation of ecological protection and restoration projects. Based on the assessment of each indicator, the implementation performances of ecological protection and restoration projects is evaluated through comprehensive calculation. According to the ecosystem pattern index, ecosystem function index, ecological disturbance index, project management effectiveness index, and individual indexes of different project types, a comprehensive index of ecological protection and restoration project implementation performances is obtained. On this basis, the implementation performances of ecological protection and restoration projects is graded into four levels:unqualified, average, good, and excellent, indicating the status of implementation performances of ecological protection and restoration projects. This study can provide a guiding method and important reference for assessing the implementation performances of ecological protection and restoration projects in accordance with the ecological supervision requirements. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

A restauração ecológica no Brasil se intensificou nas últimas décadas, passando por uma série de transformações conceituais e de paradigmas. No princípio, a restauração era conduzida para restabelecer serviços ecossistêmicos e a riqueza e a origem das espécies utilizadas não era questionada. Atualmente, plantios em alta diversidade e somente com o uso de espécies nativas são recomendados. Com o objetivo de verificar se o número de espécies nativas e exóticas utilizadas na restauração de matas ciliares tem se modificado ao longo do tempo, analisamos 44 projetos implantados de 1957 a 2008, localizados no estado de São Paulo, em região anteriormente ocupada por Floresta Estacional Semidecidual (FES). Em cada local efetuamos o levantamento das árvores plantadas em área total de 1.000 m², subdividida em parcelas aleatoriamente distribuídas. Classificamos como exóticas todas as espécies que não ocorrem naturalmente em região de FES. O número total de espécies amostradas por local variou de 12 a 58 e registramos espécies exóticas em todos os plantios estudados. Verificamos que a riqueza de espécies plantadas aumentou, passando de 25 espécies, em média, nas décadas de 1970, 1980 e 1990, para 33 espécies entre 2000 e 2008. Porém, o aumento no número de espécies nativas foi acompanhado pelo aumento no número de espécies exóticas, que vinha decrescendo até a década de 1990. Normas voltadas à restauração parecem ter sido bem sucedidas em aumentar a diversidade dos plantios, porém espécies exóticas ainda continuam sendo utilizadas nos projetos de restauração. Para promover plantios mais adequados aos objetivos da restauração ecológica, que primem por espécies nativas, ações como a maior fiscalização na produção das mudas fornecidas pelos viveiros e treinamento adequado dos profissionais ligados à restauração ecológica se tornam necessárias.

Genetic variation in populations, both natural and restored, is usually considered crucial for response to short‐term environmental stresses and for long‐term evolutionary change. To have the best chance of successful long‐term survival, restored populations should reflect the extant variation found in remnants, but restored sites may suffer from genetic bottlenecks as a result of founder effects. Kankakee Sands is a large‐scale restoration being conducted by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in northwestern Indiana. Our goal was to test for loss of genetic variation in restored plant populations by comparing them with TNC’s seed source nursery and with local remnant populations that were the source of nursery seed and of the first few restored sites. Allozyme analysis ofBaptisia leucantha,Asclepias incarnata,Coreopsis tripteris, andZizia aureashowed low levels of allozyme diversity within all species and reductions in polymorphism, alleles per locus, and expected heterozygosity between remnants and restorations for all species exceptA. incarnata. Almost all lost alleles were rare; restored populations contained almost 90% of alleles at polymorphic loci that occurred in remnants at frequencies greater than 1%. Allele frequencies for most loci did not differ between remnants and restored sites. Most species showed significant allele frequency differentiation among remnant populations and among restored sites. Our results indicate that seed collection techniques used at Kankakee Sands captured the great majority of allozyme variation present in seed source remnant populations.