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Applying an animal-centric approach to improve ecological restoration

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-19, 05:00 authored by Menna JonesMenna Jones, Neil Davidson
Traditionally, ecological restoration is based on re-establishing patterns of vegetation communities with the expectation that wildlife will recolonize, restoring the ecological function. However, in many restoration projects, wildlife fails to recolonize, even when vegetation is restored, in many cases because revegetated habitats lack the critical features required by wildlife. We present a new approach to restoration, based on a detailed understanding of ecological process, the mechanisms by which wildlife respond to landscape patterns. Our animal-centric approach involves measuring the risk-sensitive decision-making of individual animals as they balance searching for food, mates, and breeding sites with avoiding being eaten by predators and relates this to fine-scale habitat and landscape structure. The outcome of these decisions can be measured in occupancy of habitat, the information on which conventional restoration is based. Incorporating landscape genetics allows retrospective assessment of the outcome of dispersal decisions by individual animals on a deeper time frame and at regional scales. Fine-scale connectivity models can be parameterized with these multiscale spatial and temporal data to direct restoration efforts. We are translating this novel approach to practice in the large Midlands restoration project (4 years, AUD $6 million) in Tasmania, Australia, in partnership with Greening Australia. More than 200 years of intensive agricultural practice in this National Biodiversity Hotspot has resulted in extensive landscape modification, high densities of feral cats, and decline of many native mammals. Our research–practice partnership will alter the way that restoration is done, leading hopefully to successful restoration of wildlife, gene flow, and ecological function.

Funding

Australian Research Council

Greening Australia (TAS) Ltd

History

Publication title

Restoration Ecology

Volume

24

Issue

6

Pagination

836-842

ISSN

1061-2971

Department/School

School of Natural Sciences

Publisher

Blackwell Publishing Inc

Place of publication

350 Main St, Malden, USA, Ma, 02148

Rights statement

Copyright 2016 Society for Ecological Restoration

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Terrestrial biodiversity

Usage metrics

    University Of Tasmania

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