Three Principal Rs 1

Three Principal Rs of Restoration Ecology

Joe Denton

Ecology 217 Professor Vidra September 12, 2012

Three Principal Rs 2 Abstract This paper will explore the three Rs of ecological restoration: remediation, rehabilitation, and restoration. Each exploration will be prefaced by a technical definition and personal commentary on the ecological term. The paper will then provide analysis, comparison, and diverse, real-world examples of ecological remediation, rehabilitation, and restoration. Remediation, rehabilitation, and restoration

Remediation
Ecological remediation is defined as the improving [of] an existing ecosystem or creating a new one with the aim of replacing another that has deteriorated or been destroyed1. Remediation has a different goal than both rehabilitation and restoration in that it often has more of an aesthetic appeal. For example, if housing construction were to cause severe erosion that destroyed a rolling stream and small pond, a larger retention pond with a concrete foundation might be put in its place. This, in essence, would be remediation and could appear to restore the abiotic components of the miniature destroyed ecosystem. However, the biotic components, such as fish, algae, microorganisms, and other vegetation, may never fully return to the site. Remediation is less concerned with the historic biological composure of an ecosystem than rehabilitation and restoration. It also offers less overall ecological benefit. LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Indiana innovatively utilized ecological rehabilitation in covering a landfill with fill dirt and then laying seed. This type of remediation transformed a completely devastated ecosystem into a completely new

Three Principal Rs 3 landscape of grasses, thick shrubberies, and budding trees2. While biologically the area is probably not as diverse as it was before the landfill, a green, maintained cross-country course is far more environmentally friendly than a sitting garbage dump. However, this type of remediation is not without risks. Covered landfills can still cause soil leeching and unbalanced phosphorous and nitrogen levels that can devastate ecosystems.

Rehabilitation
Ecological rehabilitation focuses on the reparation of ecosystem processes, productivity and services3. It, like restoration, emphasizes a return to the original stability and productivity of an ecosystem without the same focus on specific environmental composition. Rehabilitation could be considered a compromise to restoration which can often be much more costly than rehabilitation. While ecological rehabilitation will not produce the same biodiversity, it can preserve the essential core of an ecosystem, which is especially important in regions that depend on such a rehabilitated resource. Geist reservoir, stretching across the northeast suburbs of Indianapolis is currently going through a rehabilitation attempt. The reservoir has a disturbingly high level of nutrients including an alarming presence of toxic green-blue algae4. The presence of this menacing vegetation is probably the result of a rapid residential development and fertilizer use around the lake as well as a series of droughts in 2007 that lowered the overall water level. The Geist Watershed alliance focuses on measures such as decreasing fertilizer use surrounding the reservoir that causes this algae and implements [other] remediation measures to reduce nutrient levels in the lake5. The goal of this movement and other local efforts is to rehabilitate the lakes ecosystem back to levels before the blue-green algae and

Three Principal Rs 4 other irregularities transformed the reservoir. This is rehabilitation, not restoration, because the reservoirs ecosystem, prior to the recent housing boom in the area, will never fully return.

Restoration
Ecological restoration is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed 4. Restoration, in a more practical light, is the practice of restoring ecosystems as performed by practitioners at specific project sites 3. The practice ideally provides clear concepts, models, methodologies and tools for practitioners in support of their practice 3. One of the most important aspects of ecological restoration is that its result is sustainable, meaning that it is resistant to degradation resulting from ecosystem changes. One interesting distinction that ecologists often make is that ecological restoration and restoration ecology are two completely different entities. Ecological restoration is the practice of the inter-disciplinary study of restoration ecology3. An expert in restoration ecology, while neither probable nor practical, could be an expert in their field in the academic sense without ever stepping outside into the environment. Today, there are hundreds of companies that focus on ecological restoration. One prominent company, ABR Inc, began leading complex restoration initiatives in the late 1980s and has been working on restoration projects in the Kuparuk Oilfield in Alaska for over twenty-three years. Between 1990-1994, ABR specifically restored a site surrounding the Kuparuk River where an oil leak occurring over twenty years before the start of the project devastated the areas vegetation. Wetland vegetation was fully restored and hydrocarbon levels were dramatically reduced7.

Three Principal Rs 5 Ecological restoration does not have to be active such as ABRs actions. Restoration is also a naturally occurring process in the environment; this is specifically seen in the aftermath of the Gulf oil spill. Microbacteria in the gulf digested almost all the dangerous hydrocarbons that had contaminated the Gulf of Mexico. While many fisheries and other marine life were devastated, the aquatic ecosystem has made immense strides toward normalization and will hopefully completely return to its restored state8. Conclusion Ecological rehabilitation, remediation, and restoration represent three modes of environmental improvement that could balance centuries of human-lead degradation. Further implementation of these three Rs and understanding which would be most effective based on the needs of a given community provide hope in a field too often filled with eerie truths of continuous environmental destruction.

Three Principal Rs 6 Cited References 1. Vaugh, K. J., Porensky, L. M., Wilkerson, M. L., Balachowski, J., Peffer, E., Riginos, C. &

Young, T. P. 2010. Restoration Ecology. Nature Education Knowledge 1(8):66 2. Kimble, Richele. 2011 Oct 14. Sports 101: Sycamore cross country. The Statesman.

<www.indianastatesman.com/sports>. 2012 Sep 2. 3. Society for Ecological Restoration International Science & Policy Working Group,

2004. The SER International Primer on Ecological Restoration. www.ser.org & Tucson: Society for Ecological Restoration International. 4. Indiana State Department of Health, [BOAH] Board of Animal Health, [DNR], [IDEM]

Indiana Department of Environmental Management. 2012 Aug 31. Blue-Green Algae <http://www.in.gov/idem/algae.>. 2012 Sep 2. 5. 6. 7. 8. [Anonymous]. 2012. Geist Watershed Alliance. <supergreenme.com>. 2012 Sep 2. Clewell AF. Aronson J. 2007. Ecological Restoration. Washington, DC. Island Press. ABR Inc. Ecological Restoration and Land Rehabilitation. <abrinc.com>. 2012 Sep 2. Time. Walsh B. 2011 Jan 10. After the Great Spill: How the Gulf Cleaned Itself.

<www.time.com>. 2012 Sep 2.