Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
EDITORS' INTRODUCTION
is an active interest and mutual respect from both
sides, will the interaction between 'science' and 'prac-
tice' work well. Not only is there a challenge for
scientists to make theories applicable - and readily
understandable to general readers - but also serious
practitioners should undertake the task to explore the
natural (and social) sciences for new insights and theo-
ries that might help them fi nd solutions for, or at least
strategies for addressing, practical problems. Con-
versely, as many scientists have noted, projects of eco-
logical restoration may identify gaps in scientifi c
knowledge, and theories about ecosystems may be fal-
sifi ed or confi rmed only by results from restoration
projects. Therefore, joint projects are the best sources
of fruitful and interactive developments. Borrowing a
phrase from Chapter 1, again, this is where 'societally
contextualized science' converges with science-based
management.
To line up with existing textbooks on ecology, espe-
cially the ones we like most, and thereby facilitating
further background reading, we organized the chap-
ters according to the by-now classic hierachy of organ-
ization - landscape, ecosystems, biotic communities
and species populations. Later, in the various chapters
of Part 3, we aim at integrating all this knowledge,
across a full gamut of biomes and ecosystem types,
with frequent cross-references to the chapters in this
second part of the topic. For example, the notion of
habitat fragmentation is a fi eld where landscape ecolo-
gists and population ecologists meet, with a common
interest in the patches in the landscape that are home
to metapopulations. Similarly, interactions among
populations of different species in a community may
have cascading effects far beyond the interaction per
se, either within or outside the ecosystem under inves-
tigation. As compared to the fi rst edition of this topic,
much more attention is here paid to the genetics of
populations and its importance as a fi eld of knowledge
in projects of reintroductions.
Overall, our impression - and that of several other
recent authors - of the state of the interface between
restoration ecology and ecological restoration is that
the development of scientifi c theory and the develop-
ment of the practice of ecological restoration are far
too often independent. We applaud initiatives at what-
ever scale to make joint efforts, involving academic
researchers, teachers and students on the one hand,
and people working in the 'real world' on the other. We
hope, by the way, that our topic may help close the gap
a tiny bit. Onward now with Part 2 .
Why do we include a section on ecological foundations
in a topic on the eminently
applied
fi eld of science called
restoration ecology? Many readers, especially students
who use this topic while following a university course
in restoration ecology, will already have good ground-
ing in the basics of ecology, and may even still have
their ecology textbooks available. There are, however,
several reasons not just to refer to textbooks in a
general way, but rather to provide our own overview.
Most importantly, the editors and the authors of the
four chapters in this part of the topic - as scientists
interested in, or actually doing, research within the
context of 'live' ecological restoration projects - do not
consider it fair to just leave the integration of funda-
mental theories and knowledge to the students. Rather,
we shall actively and explicitly consider the usefulness
and applicability of current ecological paradigms,
hypotheses, theories, models and results from fi eld
experiments to applied ecology in general and to resto-
ration ecology in particular.
Recall from Chapter 1 that applied ecology is ecologi-
cal research that informs management practice, or in
other words helps society and professionals make the
right decisions on management. But, in a rapidly
changing climate - in all senses of that word - the
' right decision ' and the ' right thing ' in ethical, legal
and indeed scientifi c terms may change rapidly as well.
In this part, therefore, the authors highlight and illus-
trate a selection of the fundamental topics they con-
sider essential for students who aim at a career in
ecological restoration, either as scientists or as practi-
tioners in land, resources or natural area manage-
ment. They also refl ect on the applicability of theories
and models to the practice of ecological restoration.
For example, the theory on 'alternative stable states' of
an ecosystem has been helpful to explain phenomena
that earlier were not understood. Its applicability to
ecological restoration is being actively explored by
many, and it has triggered research on early warning
indicators of sudden changes, not only in ecosystems
but also in socio-ecological systems.
As this topic is also meant to be useful to profes-
sionals and others already doing ecological resto-
ration, what can those readers fi nd of interest in this
part of the topic? Some may feel the scientists don't
understand what really goes on 'in the fi eld ' or that
what goes on in academia can ever be relevant to
professional practice. Yet we argue that only if there
