Restoring forests: What constitutes success in the twenty-first century?

Abstract

Forest loss and degradation is occurring at high rates but humankind is experiencing historical momentum that favors forest restoration. Approaches to restoration may follow various paradigms depending on stakeholder objectives, regional climate, or the degree of site degradation. The vast amount of land requiring restoration implies the need for spatial prioritization of restoration efforts according to cost-benefit analyses that include ecological risks. To design resistant and resilient ecosystems that can adapt to emerging circumstances, an adaptive management approach is needed. Global change, in particular, imparts a high degree of uncertainty about the future ecological and societal conditions of forest ecosystems to be restored, as well as their desired goods and services. We must also reconsider the suite of species incorporated into restoration with the aim of & Douglass F. Jacobs

Nutrient loaded seedlings reduce the need for field fertilization and vegetation management on boreal forest reclamation sites

“…In reclaimed mine areas, resource managers have the unique ability to manipulate factors as variable as seedling stock attributes, fertilization regime, and soil capping material type to facilitate tree seedling establishment and plant community development, thereby influencing the future trajectories of reclaimed forest ecosystems (Macdonald et al 2012;Jacobs et al 2015). Oil sands mining in northern Alberta has disturbed approximately 84,395 ha of land between 1967 and 2012 and successfully reclaiming mined areas remains a priority with environmental regulations requiring the reclamation of land to ''equivalent land capability'' after mining operations cease (Alberta Government 1999).…”

Forest restoration by burning and gap cutting of voluntary set-asides yield distinct immediate effects on saproxylic beetles

“…Instead, to achieve conservation goals, we need methods for restoration of hitherto managed forest, as well as for active management of forest reserves. Thus, today ecological restoration is recognized as a global priority and restoration efforts have increased exponentially (Jacobs et al 2015;Sayer et al 2004;Stanturf 2015).…”

Improving Identification of Areas for Ecological Restoration for Conservation by Integrating USLE and MCDA in a GIS-Environment: A Pilot Study in a Priority Region Northern Mexico

“…There is an increasing interest in preventing, mitigating and reversing damage to ecosystems [4,5]. So, a number of approaches to prioritize sites requiring actions for conservation/restoration based on different considerations are reported i.e., carbon stock [6][7][8][9][10], sediment retention [11][12][13][14] and biodiversity [15][16][17]. In this sense, some approaches have been developed to prioritize areas for restoration focusing on protecting those places that are special, mainly due to a benefit they are providing.…”