Ecosystem Restoration

Measures aimed at conservation or restoration of ecosystems are often seen as net‐cost projects by governments and businesses because they are based on incomplete and often faulty cost‐benefit analyses. After screening over 200 studies, we examined the costs (94 studies) and benefits (225 studies) of ecosystem restoration projects that had sufficient reliable data in 9 different biomes ranging from coral reefs to tropical forests. Costs included capital investment and maintenance of the restoration project, and benefits were based on the monetary value of the total bundle of ecosystem services provided by the restored ecosystem. Assuming restoration is always imperfect and benefits attain only 75% of the maximum value of the reference systems over 20 years, we calculated the net present value at the social discount rates of 2% and 8%. We also conducted 2 threshold cum sensitivity analyses. Benefit‐cost ratios ranged from about 0.05:1 (coral reefs and coastal systems, worst‐case scen...

Witing, F., Lemann, T., & Cvejić, R. (2023). EIP-AGRI Practice Abstracts. Deliverable D7.8 of the EU Horizon 2020 project OPTAIN. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17880336  ----------------------------------  The resulting innovative knowledge and easily accessible end-user material from OPTAIN will be fed into the ‘European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability’ (EIP-AGRI) website for wide dissemination. The end-user material produced will include summaries for practitioners in the EIP common format (‘practice abstracts’), including project characteristics (e.g. contact details of partners, etc.). A full package of practice abstracts will be produced by OPTAIN, containing important outcomes and recommendations that are ready for practice. A practice abstract is a short summary that describes the main information/recommendation that can be useful to end-users in their daily practice. The total target number of practice abstracts for the project is 12. Seven of these will be delivered as a first batch with this deliverable. Topics considered include (1) details of specific Natural/Small Water Retention Measures (NSWRM) that can be used to support water and nutrient retention and management in agricultural catchments, and (2) policy recommendations for improved implementation of NSWRM.

Witing, F. (2026). Practice Abstracts (second set). Deliverable D7.9 of the EU Horizon 2020 project OPTAIN. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19691178  --------------------------  Summary: The innovative knowledge and easily accessible end-user material resulting from OPTAIN was fed into the websites of the ‘European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability’ (EIP-AGRI) and the EU CAP Network to ensure widespread dissemination. This end-user material includes summaries for practitioners in the EIP common format (‘practice abstracts’), including project characteristics (e.g. contact details of partners, etc.). A full package of practice abstracts has been be produced by OPTAIN, containing important outcomes and recommendations that are ready for practice. A practice abstract is a short summary that describes the main information/recommendation that can be useful to end-users in their daily practice. The total target number of practice abstracts for the project was 12. Seven of these were delivered as a first batch within deliverable D7.8. Topics considered include (1) details of specific Natural/Small Water Retention Measures (NSWRM) that can be used to support water and nutrient retention and management in agricultural catchments, and (2) policy recommendations for improved implementation of NSWRM. This deliverable D7.9 is an update of deliverable D7.8 and provides a second batch of practice abstracts. The second batch of submissions provides practical details on six additional NSWRM and the spatial targeting of retention measures.

This study seeks to forecast land use change in a North Georgia ecosystem, model related water quality changes and estimate the economic value of the same using Benefit Transfer. Upper Chattahoochee River Basin which is the North Georgia ecosystem in question is a source of water, recreational and ecological amenities. Rapid population growth in Georgia has led to increased encroachment on this ecosystem in recent years threatening the future ability of the basin to provide these environmental commodities. We use econometric, time series and structural time series models land use and benefit transfer to estimate willingness to pay. We find that population growth will impact negatively on forestry and farmlands. In addition, the people of the Upper Chattahoochee River Basin would be willing to pay a lower bound value between USD 15,785,740 and USD 16,141,230 per year to create and maintain quality standards for fishing and drinking water supply.

The study proposes a discrete-choice model for environmental policy/program valuation, to be used in cases when several policies are valued sequentially. The stochastic specification of the model is consistent with the transitivity and continuity axioms of utility analysis. An empirical methodology for the model is suggested. An application of this model to WTP estimation for Little Tennessee River watershed ecosystem restoration is provided. Findings from the application agree with hypothesized agent's behavior.

Mangrove rehabilitation plays a crucial role in sustaining mangrove forests, coastal ecological functions, and socio-ecological resilience. However, its long-term success depends not only on technical aspects but also on the institutional readiness of local community organizations. This study examines the relationships among government support, initial community participation, and the institutional readiness of Forest Farmer Groups (KTH), with community trust as a mediating variable, in community-based mangrove rehabilitation in Pasir Limau Kapas Village, Indonesia. A census survey of 68 KTH members was conducted and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results showed that government support had a positive effect on both trust and institutional readiness, and exerted an indirect effect through trust as a partial mediator. Community trust significantly strengthened institutional readiness, while initial participation did not significantly affect trust, although it directly influenced institutional readiness. These findings indicate that mangrove rehabilitation success is more strongly determined by governance quality, institutional support, and trust-building than by initial participation alone, with direct implications for sustainable mangrove management and ecological functions. This study contributes by explicitly positioning trust as a mediating mechanism linking government support and institutional readiness, extending the social-ecological systems framework. Practically, it highlights the importance of strengthening local institutions through clear roles, secure land access, and continuous facilitation. However, the cross-sectional design and single study site limit the generalizability of the findings.

Large herbivores have potential to affect invertebrate community structure through numerous processes, but little work has been done to evaluate the relative importance of direct and indirect factors. In this study, we measured arthropod community assemblages on Ceanothus fendleri A. Gray (Fendler's ceanothus) plants that were growing inside and outside of 4-m 2 exclosures. We used univariate analyses and structural equation modeling (SEM) to evaluate relationships within this herbivore-plantarthropod system in ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Laws.) forests of northern Arizona, USA. Results showed that individual arthropod abundance, family diversity, family richness, and functional group richness were significantly greater on plots where C. fendleri plants were protected from large ungulate herbivores (e.g., mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni)) than on unprotected plots in each of the three study years. Results also indicated the following: (1) arthropod abundance was significantly greater on protected plants than unprotected plants; (2) rarefaction curves suggested arthropod family richness was similar between protected and unprotected plants in two of the three years when scaled by number of individuals but the estimated total richness was consistently higher on protected plants; (3) arthropod abundance was directly affected by protection from herbivores, plant stem length, and number of flowers; (4) arthropod family richness was related to the number of individuals collected and affected by stem length. Results from this study illustrate that arthropod communities are directly affected by foraging vertebrate herbivores as well as indirectly affected through complex plant-mediated factors in this model system. Protection of preferred forage plants such as C. fendleri from ungulate herbivores can potentially increase diversity of arthropod assemblages in these forests, help conserve biological diversity, and enhance ecosystem restoration efforts.

SUMMARY The Kissimmee Basin encompasses more than two dozen lakes in the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes (KCOL), their tributary streams and associated marshes, and the Kissimmee River and floodplain. The basin forms the headwaters of Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades; together they comprise the Kissimmee-Okeechobee-Everglades (KOE) system. In the 1960s, the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control (CS (2) conduct ecological monitoring programs for restoration evaluation; (3) develop a long-term management strategy for resolving water and other management issues in the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes; and (4) retain the existing level of flood control in the Kissimmee Basin. In addition to the Kissimmee River Restoration Project, major Kissimmee Basin initiatives designed to meet these program objectives are the Kissimmee Basin Modeling and Operations Study, the Kissimmee Basin Water Reservations, and the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Long-Term Management Plan.

Ecological restoration has been a topic for philosophical criticism for three decades. In this essay, I present a discussion of the arguments against ecological restoration and the objections raised against my position. I have two purposes in mind: (1) to defend my views against my critics, and (2) to demonstrate that the debate over restoration reveals fundamental ideas about the meaning of nature, ideas that are necessary for the existence of any substantive environmentalism. I discuss the possibility of positive restorations, the idea that nature can restore itself, the meaning of artifacts, and the significance of the distinction between humanity and nature.

Moroccan forests, through the provision of goods and ecosystem services, underpins benefits to local communities and play a crucial role for rural area development. The legal framework recognizes to people, living near public forests, the right to graze their domestic livestock. Over the years, the grazing pressure is at levels far beyond the forestland's carrying capacity throughout the country. Such pressure has been demonstrated as the main cause of forest cover loss and land degradation in Morocco and still threatening the sustainability of forests. To reduce the heavy grazing pressure on forest ecosystems and ensure their regeneration, several initiatives have been conducted such as the program of compensation for forest areas closed to grazing (CFCG), initiated by Moroccan forestry department. Socio-economic impact assessment of this mechanism was presented within several studies but its effectiveness for forest rangeland rehabilitation remains scarce and very spatially limited. To deal with this concern and to assess vegetation dynamics through various spatial and temporal scales, parcels concerned by CFCG and others within similar conditions was chosen. Time series of remotely sensed spectral indices at each parcel was used for vegetation cover dynamics assessment. Google Earth Engine platform (GEE) was used as computing plateform. As result, the spectral indices trends shown a long-lasting degradation tendency in areas planted without compensation compared to those concerned by CFCG. Such results were also verified using aerial images covering the analyzed parcels. As conclusion, within comparable conditions, CFCG improved vegetation cover trends. The use of GEE Platform simplified the process of treatment of remote sensed imagery and made it easy to assess the state of the vegetation and will be of great use in assessing the impacts of different programs and initiatives on the restoration of pastoral and silvopastoral ecosystems.

Planted forests are critical to climate change mitigation and constitute a major supplier of timber/non-timber products and other ecosystem services. Globally, approximately 36% of planted forest area is located in East Asia. However, reliable records of the geographic distribution and tree species composition of these planted forests remain very limited. Here, based on extensive in situ and remote sensing data, as well as an ensemble modeling approach, we present the first spatial database of planted forests for East Asia, which consists of maps of the geographic distribution of planted forests and associated dominant tree genera. Of the predicted planted forest areas in East Asia (948,863 km2), China contributed 87%, most of which is located in the lowland tropical/subtropical regions, and Sichuan Basin. With 95% accuracy and an F1 score of 0.77, our spatially-continuous maps of planted forests enable accurate quantification of the role of planted forests in climate change mitigat...

Current mainstream hotel sustainability prioritize operational impact reduction (e.g. energy, water, waste efficiency) with ecosystem restoration and community well-being largely emerging as secondary priorities if at all. Regeneration is increasingly recognised as foundational for long-term industry viability and resilience of the destinations we depend on. Yet many professionals conceptualise regeneration as an extension of sustainability with a basic logic: "sustainability isn't delivering, so add regeneration". Framing regeneration as a linear upgrade to sustainability is basically continuing prioritising extractive growth while appearing to do less harm [1]. The critical question is not whether hotels can become regenerative within current systems, but whether genuine regeneration demands fundamentally reframing how we operate. This raises a fundamental question: What does regeneration actually mean operationally? If hotels are to become central players in this transition, owners, developers, and operators must undergo a genuine shift in mindset and practice. With this in mind, the following three questions emerge: 1. Can you share concrete examples of regenerative practices embedded into daily hotel operations (energy, F&B, housekeeping, procurement, maintenance, guest experience)? How do you measure it? 2. How do you know or why do you consider those practices to be 'regenerative'? 3. What would fundamentally change in how your hotel operates if you genuinely centred community agency and place health over growth volume?

This document presents the professional expertise of Anish Nellickal® in the field of tree transplantation and mature tree conservation in Kerala, India. The work highlights practical methodologies adopted for safe relocation of large trees affected by urban development, infrastructure expansion, and land-use changes. It outlines scientific approaches including root ball preparation, soil conditioning, canopy management, transportation techniques, and structured post-transplant care systems to ensure high survival rates.

The transplantation practices emphasize biodiversity conservation, urban green cover protection, and climate-resilient landscape planning. By integrating environmental responsibility with developmental needs, Anish Nellickal® promotes sustainable ecological solutions that reduce tree loss and preserve Kerala’s natural heritage. This document reflects applied field experience and environmentally responsible tree management strategies suitable for residential, institutional, and public landscape projects.

The ecological role of historical land use has rarely been explored in the context of grassland restoration. We conducted a 4‐year field experiment in a steppe and an old field in Inner Mongolia in northern China to examine the influence of historical land use and water availability on ecosystem restoration. Species richness, evenness, and plant cover were higher in the steppe than in the old field. The steppe was more temporally stable compared with the old field in terms of species richness, evenness, plant density, and cover. Water addition increased peak aboveground biomass, belowground net primary productivity, species richness, plant density, and cover in both the steppe and the old field. Water addition also enhanced the stability of ecosystems and the restoration of grassland. Our findings suggested that historical land use determines community structure and influences the process of grassland restoration. Converting grasslands to farmland in semiarid areas can cause the lon...

The Splittail (Pogonichthys macrolepidotus) is a cyprinid endemic to the San Francisco Estuary and its lower watershed. Although it was recently removed from the Federal Endangered Species Act list of threatened species, it is still a species of concern because of uncertainties regarding its abundance and distribution. Because little information is available on early life stages for which to base management decisions, we examined historical long-term monitoring data and conducted a field study in 2002 and 2003 to examine the distribution and habitat associations of age-0 Splittail. During winter and spring, adults migrate from the upper San Francisco Estuary and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta upstream into freshwater tributaries and floodplains to spawn. Although previous work suggested a decreasing upstream range for this species, we found that catch data for age-0 Splittail (Յ 50 mm fork length) during a monitoring program spanning 28 years (1976-2003) indicated the upstream-most distribution in the Sacramento River has remained persistent at 232-296 km upstream from the estuary. Additionally, centers of distribution in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers varied according to hydrology; distance upstream was similar in years of high and intermediate river flows, but increased during low flow years. In all years, age-0 Splittail became abundant in April or May and by June and July had a center of distribution downstream at the margin of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Our field study showed that in addition to these two primary tributaries, substantial spawning also occurred in other smaller tributaries with previously uncertain importance to Splittail production, namely the Petaluma River, Napa River, and Butte Slough. We also found that age-0 Splittail favor low velocity shallow-water habitats. Compared to main channel habitats, age-0 Splittail were 6.5 times more common in backwaters in upstream riverine locations, and 3.5 times more common in offchannel intertidal habitats in downstream tidal locations. Our study demonstrates the distribution of Splittail is more widespread than previously believed and underscores the importance of offchannel habitats as nursery areas for age-0 fish.

Os autores afirmam a relevância do reflorestamento de manguezais para projetos de seqüestro de carbono atmosférico, dentro dos princípios do chamado mecanismo de desenvolvimento limpo (MDL),definidos em diversas arenas técnicas e políticas internacionais, dentro da Convenção de Mudanças Climáticas. Descrevem um projeto de pesquisa em andamento, que inclui estudo de caso focalizado em manguezais da laguna de Itaipu (Niterói, RJ), cujo objetivo é selecionar e fazer medições preliminares de parâmetros ecológicos e socioambientais relevantes para a valoração econômica e financeira dos benefícios do reflorestamento. A seleção e as medições servirão como estudo de viabilidade para que projetos semelhantes se qualifiquem para obter apoio financeiro e alcançar sucesso técnico, gerando benefícios ambientais e sociais.

Effective phosphorus (P) management is critical for sustainable agricultural production in Florida. The state's diverse acid-mineral soils, including Alfisols, Entisols, Spodosols, and Ultisols, exhibit distinct physiochemical properties that profoundly influence P dynamics. This variability can lead to imbalanced P fertilizer applications, which can impair crop nutrient uptake and elevate the risk of environmental P loss. To address this challenge, a comprehensive statewide study of 1,711 surface soils (0-15 cm) was conducted across 14 regions in Florida. Our study evaluated the applicability of established agronomic thresholds for bioavailable P indicators, including the iron oxide strip method (FeO-P), the Haney test (H3A-P), and the conventional Mehlich-1 and Mehlich-3 extractions. Results revealed that the Mehlich 1-P and Mehlich 3-P relationship varied significantly by soil order; the Mehlich 3-P concentration corresponding to the 30 mg kg-1 Mehlich 1-P benchmark ranged from 41.8 mg kg-1 in Spodosols to 105.2 mg kg-1 in Ultisols. Mehlich-3 concentrations determined by ICP-OES were consistently higher than those measured using colorimetric methods, regardless of the soil order. The results confirm that a single, statewide agronomic Mehlich 3-P threshold is inadequate, as it could lead to overapplication in low P-fixing soils or deficiency in high P-fixing soils. Instead, P recommendations must be tailored to regional soil characteristics to ensure optimal crop productivity and minimize P loss to adjacent water bodies. Statewide bioavailable P thresholds are FeO-P = 21 mg kg-1 and H3A-P = 28 mg kg-1 , both independent of the soil order. Integrating these thresholds with the Soil Phosphorus Storage Capacity framework provides a dual strategy to enhance crop nutrition while reducing environmental P loss.

Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition has been shown to decrease biodiversity and change nutrient cycles in terrestrial ecosystems. However, our understanding of ecological responses to chronic N addition and ecological recovery of grassland from N enrichment is limited. Here we present evidence from an 11-year grassland experiment with a range of N addition rates (0, 30, 60, 120, 240, and 480 kg NÁha À1 Áyr À1 ) in Inner Mongolia, China. Chronic N addition led to a reduction in species richness, Shannon diversity index, and soil pH and an increase in aboveground biomass, foliar N, and soil mineral N. High N addition rates (240 and 480 kg NÁha À1 Áyr À1 ) showed significant effects in the first and second years, which stabilized over time. Nitrogen addition at low rates (30 and 60 kg NÁha À1 Áyr À1 ) took longer (e.g., three years or more) to achieve significant effects. The negative impacts of high N addition (480 kg NÁha À1 Áyr À1 ) were reduced and species richness, Shannon diversity index, and soil pH showed a limited but rapid recovery with the cessation of N addition. Our findings suggest serious and cumulative impacts of N addition on plant and soil communities but the potential for partial system recovery over time if N inputs decline or cease.

Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition has been shown to decrease biodiversity and change nutrient cycles in terrestrial ecosystems. However, our understanding of ecological responses to chronic N addition and ecological recovery of grassland from N enrichment is limited. Here we present evidence from an 11-year grassland experiment with a range of N addition rates (0, 30, 60, 120, 240, and 480 kg N·ha ·yr ) in Inner Mongolia, China. Chronic N addition led to a reduction in species richness, Shannon diversity index, and soil pH and an increase in aboveground biomass, foliar N, and soil mineral N. High N addition rates (240 and 480 kg N·ha ·yr ) showed significant effects in the first and second years, which stabilized over time. Nitrogen addition at low rates (30 and 60 kg N·ha ·yr ) took longer (e.g., three years or more) to achieve significant effects. The negative impacts of high N addition (480 kg N·ha ·yr ) were reduced and species richness, Shannon diversity index, and soil pH sh...

Mangroves are globally important blue-carbon ecosystems, yet their resilience is threatened by extreme weather events and hydrological alterations. In southeastern Mexico, a large mangrove die-off occurred in 1995 following Hurricane Roxanne and Tropical Storm Opal, linked to storm-surge–driven hypersalinity, sedimentation, and prolonged flooding. In 2005, an ecological restoration program was launched in the Términos Lagoon region, focusing on hydrological rehabilitation and reforestation with Avicennia germinans. Fourteen years later, we assessed ecosystem recovery by quantifying total ecosystem carbon stocks (TECS), defined as the sum of 0–50-cm soil organic carbon and tree biomass carbon, across conserved, degraded, and restored sites, and by reconstructing vegetation cover dynamics from multi-decadal satellite imagery (1984–2023). TECS differed markedly among conditions: The restored site accumulated 286.0 ±32.6 Mg C ha−¹ (83% of the conserved site), whereas degraded sites stored only 133.0 ±26.8 Mg C ha−¹. The increase in TECS at the restored site was primarily associated with enhanced soil organic carbon stocks, consistent with improved hydroperiod, recovery of interstitial water physicochemical conditions, and renewed autochthonous organic matter inputs following hydrological reconnection and initial reforestation. Biomass carbon remained lower at the restored site, reflecting younger stand age, although vegetation indices indicated rapid canopy recovery within seven years of the intervention. These results show that hydrological rehabilitation can substantially reestablish long-term carbon storage capacity in hurricane-impacted mangroves and highlight the need for sustained monitoring to evaluate ecosystem service recovery and guide climate mitigation and coastal resilience strategies.