Supplementary material from "Restoration and repair of Earth's damaged ecosystems"
Posted on 2018-02-16 - 12:05
Given that few ecosystems on the Earth have been unaffected by humans, restoring them holds great promise for stemming the biodiversity crisis and ensuring ecosystem services are provided to humanity. Nonetheless, few studies have documented the recovery of ecosystems globally or the rates at which ecosystems recover. Even fewer have addressed the added benefit of actively restoring ecosystems versus allowing them to recover without human intervention following the cessation of a disturbance. Our meta-analysis of 400 studies worldwide that document recovery from large-scale disturbances, such as oil spills, agriculture and logging, suggests that though ecosystems are progressing towards recovery following disturbances, they rarely recover completely. This result reinforces conservation of intact ecosystems as a key strategy for protecting biodiversity. Recovery rates slowed down with time since the disturbance ended, suggesting that the final stages of recovery are the most challenging to achieve. Active restoration did not result in faster or more complete recovery than simply ending the disturbances ecosystems face. Our results on the added benefit of restoration must be interpreted cautiously, because few studies directly compared different restoration actions in the same location after the same disturbance. The lack of consistent value added of active restoration following disturbance suggests that passive recovery should be considered as a first option; if recovery is slow, then active restoration actions should be better tailored to overcome specific obstacles to recovery and achieve restoration goals. We call for a more strategic investment of limited restoration resources into innovative collaborative efforts between scientists, local communities and practitioners to develop restoration techniques that are ecologically, economically and socially viable.
CITE THIS COLLECTION
DataCiteDataCite
3 Biotech3 Biotech
3D Printing in Medicine3D Printing in Medicine
3D Research3D Research
3D-Printed Materials and Systems3D-Printed Materials and Systems
4OR4OR
AAPG BulletinAAPG Bulletin
AAPS OpenAAPS Open
AAPS PharmSciTechAAPS PharmSciTech
Abhandlungen aus dem Mathematischen Seminar der Universität HamburgAbhandlungen aus dem Mathematischen Seminar der Universität Hamburg
ABI Technik (German)ABI Technik (German)
Academic MedicineAcademic Medicine
Academic PediatricsAcademic Pediatrics
Academic PsychiatryAcademic Psychiatry
Academic QuestionsAcademic Questions
Academy of Management DiscoveriesAcademy of Management Discoveries
Academy of Management JournalAcademy of Management Journal
Academy of Management Learning and EducationAcademy of Management Learning and Education
Academy of Management PerspectivesAcademy of Management Perspectives
Academy of Management ProceedingsAcademy of Management Proceedings
Academy of Management ReviewAcademy of Management Review
P. Jones, Holly; C. Jones, Peter; B. Barbier, Edward; Blackburn, Ryan C.; Rey Benayas, Jose M.; D. Holl, Karen; et al. (2018). Supplementary material from "Restoration and repair of Earth's damaged ecosystems". The Royal Society. Collection. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4007626.v1