Natural Analogues of Degraded Ecosystems Enhance Conservation and Reconstruction in Extreme Environments

Richardson, P.J., J.T. Lundholm and D.W. Larson. 2010. Natural
Analogues of Degraded Ecosystems Enhance Conservation and
Reconstruction in Extreme Environments. Ecological Applications.
20(3): 728-740.

Summary: This paper examines the novel-ecosystems approach through
experimental manipulation of highly degraded limestone quarry systems.
The authors acknowledge that in severely altered or damaged systems,
rehabilitation to a particular historic state may be impossible or
inappropriate. Instead, they argue that creating novel ecosystems
modeled on analogous high-stress local communities (“degraded-state
analogues”) or ecosystems of regional conservation concern is more
appropriate, feasible, and may be able to serve the role of other
traditional high-stress environments that often contain high levels of
rare and/or endemic species.
This paper provides a glimpse into the practicality of creating a
novel, diverse, high-value ecosystems in areas that may not be
amenable to “traditional restoration methods.” It could benefit from
data collection over a longer time-period in order to gain a clearer
picture of species interactions and successional processes.
Nonetheless, I think that the utilization non-traditional reference
systems that contain abiotic conditions (ecological filters) similar
to target sites and the incorporation restoration goals (e.g.
inclusion of species of conservation concern) begins the process of
assessing the feasibility of novel-ecosystem theory. By assessing the
barriers community assembly (dispersal limitation or micro-habitat
limitations), this study is able to incorporate tests of ecological
theory into restoration practice.