A Stepwise Approach to Increasing Ecological Complexity in Forest Landscape Restoration

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Vicia americana. USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database. Britton, N.L. and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons.

Table 1.

Types of stepwise restoration for forest landscape restoration.

Pre-planned stepwise approach	Developing stepwise approach	Responsive stepwise approach
Either there are efforts to incorporate elements of ecological complexity from the start of restoration, or although early stages of restoration focus on tree cover and basic services, plans to increase the ecological complexity of the system incrementally exist from the beginning.	The restoration program starts with narrow aims like timber stock, providing fuelwood or stabilising soil, but goals are consciously and systematically modified to include ecological complexity.	There is no systematic effort to restore ecological complexity within restoration, but specific actions are taken that either capitalise on the serendipitous introduction of ecological complexity or address problems that arise from a lack of ecological complexity.

Table 2.

Elements of a resilient forest with examples of restoration options using a step-wise approach.

Element	Description	Examples of restoration options
Composition	Species, ecosystems and genetic variation within species	Supplementary planting of native tree species or local varieties; attempts to attract animals (bird nesting sites, microhabitats); potential species translocation.
Pattern	Spatial variation of forest with respect to age, size etc	Selective planting (or removal) to increase age variation in restored forests; management to boost natural regeneration; retention of old trees.
Function	Continuity, proportion of old and dead timber, presence of ecological interactions	Retention (or creation) of dead timber in restored forests; reintroduction of symbiotic fungi.
Process	Disturbance patterns, renewal processes	Management to simulate disturbances, such as prescribed burning and recreation of natural flooding.
Continuity	Age, total area, fragmentation	Use of biological corridors and stepping stones to increase the functional size of restored forest
Resilience	Tree health, presence of stress factors	Resilience increased by addressing the five elements above; management may also be needed to control invasive species and diseases.