restoration, reclamation, & reintroduction biol 4160
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Restoration, Reclamation, & Reintroduction
BIOL 4160
Presentation Info
• Symposium-style 10-12 minute presentation with 3 min Q&A afterward
• Focus is on your review paper, with (suggested) increased emphasis on global patterns
• Marking scheme posted on website• Showcase all your hard work on your
independent paper!
Seminars
March 22 – Undergrad March 29 – TRU ClosedApril 5 – Build Native Plant Garden
*permission has been granted to dig outside!
Approaches
• Re-creation or restoration of habitat• Ex situ conservation in zoos, aquaria,
seed banks, cryobanks, etc.• Captive breeding for reintroduction
All measures of last resort
Ecological restoration: practice of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed- Building habitat for endangered
species- Restore a dwindling community type- Revitalize ecosystem services- Reestablish site topography,
hydrology, and soils
Restoration ecology
Can trace its roots to Japan in 800 A.D. – 1600 A.D.
- Loss of forest had led to erosion, lowland flooding, low crop yields
- Leaders urged citizens to plant tree seedlings, eventually leading to nationwide forest restoration and management
Diamond 2005
Different damage, different intervention
Mining Operation
Bare rock, toxic levels of heavy metals
Logging
Still have mature trees and a rich seed bank on productive soil
Remediation: active removal of pollutants from the environment
Bioremediation: Use of plants and bacteria to accumulate heavy metals and toxins to restore soil health
Remediation: sulfur dioxide
Mordor?
Smelting Operations
Remediation: sulfur dioxide
Vast area of mixed coniferous-broadleaf forest destroyed by sulfur dioxide emissions from a smelting facility nearby
Emissions killed vegetation, lowered soil pH, and altered soil composition
1) Applied ground limestone
Elevate soil pH
Birch, aspen, and willow re-established
2) Manually planted conifers
Eventual establishment of conifers
Replanting is generally effective, but what should we
be planting?
What to plant?
• Fast-growing invasives?o Pollution tolerant, good soil stabilizers,
fast restoration
• Native plant speciesoRestore original community
• Seeds derived from local plant communitieso Local adaptation
Fitness (survival x flower production) negatively related to genetic distance between source and resident populations
Fitness (survival x size) decreased with both genetic and environmental distance
Recovery through eradication
Leach’s Storm Petrel - extirpated
Tufted Puffin –one site
Fork-tailed storm petrel–extirpated
Rhinocerous auklet–extirpated
Cassin’s auklet–extirpated
Ancient murrelet –massive decline
Rat eradication
1) Planning and environmental review2) Lucy Island pilot project3) Main eradication campaign in 19954) Follow-up and monitoring
Placement of bait stations across the island
Effects on non-target species
• Loss of ravens through secondary poisoning
• Loss of ravens through primary poisoning
• Brodifacoum residue detected in crows, song sparrows, bald eagles, but no population declines
Effects on rats
• Rats took a total of 14,500 baits• Baits placed out in July 1995, by
August 1995 no rats caught in snap traps, only activity seen near camps
• Few cases of rats found in 1995, but by summer 1996, no evidence of rats.
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