The Influence of Climate Variability and Change on the Science and Practice of Restoration Ecology

Abstract

Variation in Earth’s climate system has always been a primary driver of ecosystem processes and biological evolution. In recent decades, however, the prospect of anthropogenically driven change to the climate system has become an increasingly dominant concern for scientists and conservation biologists. Understanding how ecosystems may adapt to rapid contemporary and future change benefits from our knowledge of how they have responded to natural climatic variation across prehistoric time, especially during periods when Earth system conditions and ecosystems correspond to those of the modern era (e.g., Quaternary, the past 2.5 million years). Despite the dominant and pervasive influence of both climate variability and climate change, the restoration field is still learning how to accommodate these emerging influences. In this chapter we explore the consequences of climate variability and change for the science of restoration ecology and the practice of ecological restoration.