Why Restore Native Ecosystems?

Monarch Butterfly on Monarda Punctata

If you ever have the opportunity to see a Monarch Butterfly or any other species in peril (and these days, there are many), the answer would be right before your eyes. However, E.O. Wilson, world preeminent biologist and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, spells it out succinctly:

“The on-going mass extinction of species, and with it the extinction of genes and ecosystems, ranks with pandemics, world war, and climate change as among the deadliest threats that humanity has imposed on itself.”

But interestingly, in his masterpiece work, The Diversity of Life, 1992, he said this:

“Here is the means to end the great extinction spasm: The next century will be the era of restoration in ecology.”

That was twenty-seven years ago and still, more than ever, the prediction is profoundly correct. In the face of the ever-increasing global destruction of species and ecosystems, it has become obvious that protection efforts alone are not enough to mitigate the damage. Something more must be done to save our planet’s diversity of life. And native ecosystem restoration will serve as a critical tool for rescuing Earth’s vanishing biodiversity.

Often ecosystem restoration starts and ends with the restoration of the native plant community, and that’s especially true of restorations on a smaller scale. So it’s largely a botanical pursuit. But by virtue of the existence of a healthy restored native plant community there follows an increase in numbers of animal species, such as birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects, spiders, and others. Hence the ecosystem with its native biodiversity is, at least in large part, successfully restored.

Restoration ecology follows two important rules of thumb:

1. The larger the area of the ecosystem, the larger the number of species that exist within the ecosystem, and vice versa. This follows a mathematical model called insular biogeography equilibrium theory. For an example, if one reduces the area of an ecosystem to one tenth its original area, the remaining ten percent sized area will eventually end up with only about fifty percent of the biodiversity of the original ecosystem.
2. The larger the number of individuals of a species, the more stable is the population of that species. That makes sense—safety in numbers.  

These two rules of thumb have particular importance to endemic species (a species that exists in a particular area and nowhere else on Earth) and species in peril. Fragmentation of ecosystems does cause loss of biodiversity. These two concepts are important in conservation decision making, for example, the establishment of corridors to connect a fragmented ecosystem.  

...to be continued...stay tuned....

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About the Author
Conservationist and retired medical doctor (pathology), Johnny Armstrong and his wife Karen and Opal (k-nine) live within a Nature Conservancy protected old-growth forest and woodland near Ruston, Louisiana. Shadowshine is his first novel.