Conclusions: Conservation in the Anthropocene - Biodiversity Conservation and Environmental Change - page 173

vegetation structure with different successional ages (Noss et al. 2006, North and Keeton
2008, Long 2009, Whitlock et al. 2010). Such a system provides a diverse range of habitats and
is more resilient than even-age vegetation that is vulnerable to wildfires or other catastrophic
events (North and Keeton 2008) (see Chapter 4). Similarly, reintroducing herbivores can help
to create and maintain open areas in forest habitat, or may help to retard shrub encroach-
ment and landscape homogenization (see Chapter 3) (Vera 2000, Sandom et al. 2014, Seddon
et al. 2014). Long rotation times in forests and selective harvesting of individual trees mimic
natural disturbance by tree senescence, windthrow, or storms, while patch mosaic burns in
savannas create and maintain heterogeneity, helping to curb shrub encroachment (Allen
2008, North and Keeton 2008, Long 2009, Joubert et al. 2012). Diverse landscape mosaics with
intermediate levels of disturbance provide spatial and temporal resilience as well as a broader
range of ecosystem services, and similarly, socioeconomic resilience is enhanced by using a
wide range of resources and livelihood options in heterogeneous landscapes (see below)
(Cumming 2011, Wu 2012).
Restoring ecosystem services
Maintaining and restoring ecosystem services is a conservation goal that has widespread
appeal because it formalizes the link between biodiversity, ecosystem function, and human
well-being that is at the heart of the ecosystem management approach. Everyone can under-
stand the need to sustain the biological systems that regulate climate, provide clean water,
underpin food production, and provide myriad other societal benefits (MEA 2005). Many
people also appreciate the cultural services and spiritual, recreational, and educational bene-
fits of interacting with nature. Securing ecosystem services for human well-being depends on
restoring the functional attributes of ecosystems that have been degraded by intensive man-
agement, over-exploitation or pollution (Van der Leeuw and Aschan-Leygonie 2000, Redman
and Kinzig 2003, Costanza et al. 2007, Chapin III et al. 2010); to this end, it is vital to under-
stand how ecosystems worked in their pre-Anthropocene condition, then to decide how real-
istic or desirable pre-Anthropocene targets are. Equally, the ecosystem services provided by
cultural landscapes are best understood and maintained in the context of the effects of past
and ongoing land management (de Groot et al. 2005, Dearing et al. 2010, 2012).
Palaeoecological studies are being successfully used to guide the restoration and manage-
ment of ecosystems and the services that they provide. In lakes and other aquatic systems,
palaeo data can inform restoration targets, thereby contributing to water provisioning and
wetland biodiversity (see Chapter 6) (Gell 2010, Bennion et al. 2011). Other examples of the
use of long-term data in the management of ecosystem services include forest biodiversity
restoration and management, soil conservation, the management of fire, and the reintroduc-
tion of herbivores (see Chapters 3 and 6) (Agnoletti 2007, Glaser 2007, Whitlock et al. 2010,
Zimov et al. 2012, Seddon et al. 2014).
Such targeted restoration and maintenance of ecosystem services is increasingly being
seen as only part of an integrated landscape approach that provides multiple ecosystem
services across a range of landscape elements (Chapin III et al. 2010, Wu 2006, 2013). For