Habitat Restoration Ecology

Restoration ecology aims to return degraded ecosystems to a trajectory of recovery toward a reference condition—typically a pre-disturbance or historically intact state. The Society for Ecological Restoration defines five key attributes of restored ecosystems: similar species composition, appropriate community structure, normal ecosystem function (nutrient cycling, energy flow), integration with the surrounding landscape, and resilience to normal disturbance. Restoration is not simply planting trees—it requires understanding the ecological processes that maintain the target ecosystem, removing ongoing stressors, and sometimes reintroducing keystone species or physical features (stream meanders, microtopography) that drive recovery.