Chapter 11 Restoration and Reintroduction: Measures of Last Resort

Discussion Questions

1. Any given restoration project may have several possible objectives. Choose a possible restoration project in your area. Briefly contrast the types of actions that a restorationist might use if the objective of the project is to re-create past conditions with the steps that she or he might take if the project is seeking to restore a key ecosystem service.
2. Describe factors under a conservation practitioner’s control that would likely influence the success of an attempted reintroduction of a particular species.
3. Argue the pros and cons of rehabilitating wildlife following an oil spill.
4. What role, if any, do you think zoos and aquaria can and should play in conservation? How can these institutions best use their facilities and educational capacities for conservation?
5. Some environmental groups have proposed buying grazing permits from ranchers as a way to help reduce the conflict between Yellowstone’s reintroduced wolf populations and livestock. This suggestion has met with praise as well as criticism from ranchers and environmentalists alike. Debate the pros and cons of the proposal from a rancher’s perspective and from an environmentalist’s perspective. What other solutions to the wolf–livestock conflict can you propose?
6. Scientists have proposed using preserved DNA to bring the extinct Tasmanian wolf (Thylacinus cynocephalus) of Australia back to life. Debate the merits and ethics of this proposal.
7. What should be the role of hatcheries in conserving fish species that are commercially harvested? Outline the pros and cons of hatchery production.
8. What are the possible unintended consequences of using nonnative species to restore selected ecosystem services (for example, introducing a nonnative oyster in Chesapeake Bay)? Develop a set of criteria that might be used for approving the intentional release of nonnative species.

Group Projects

• The European Union funds nature conservation projects through a program named LIFE. This program has allocated approximately €3.4 billion to more than 4,100 projects since its inception in 1992. Many of these projects entail restoration efforts. Using the Europa LIFE database, select two projects to learn about. Discuss the cost-effectiveness and value of these projects in terms of biodiversity conservation. Imagine that you are writing a report on these projects to the finance minister of an EU nation to recommend either continuing or halting the funding. Justify your recommendation.
  
  
• For your own community, write a proposal for a major local restoration project. (1) Identify the land, river, or wetland system to be restored; (2) discuss why the project is worthwhile; (3) establish clear objectives for the project; and (4) indicate what monitoring or measurements you will use to assess whether the restoration has been effective. To argue the merits of your restoration project, use maps of existing nature reserves, land cover, and principles of conservation that you have learned thus far.
  
  
• Go to the website for the IUCN Red List and select five species at random from those listed as critically endangered. For each of those species, discuss whether you think a captive breeding program followed by reintroduction into the wild would be a worthwhile conservation investment.
  
  

Useful Websites

• Association of Zoos and Aquariums , the accrediting agency for zoos and aquaria, offers information regarding animal health and husbandry and reintroduction programs, as well as annual reports on conservation and science. http://www.aza.org


• European Commission Environment LIFE Programme provides summaries for thousands of environmental and nature conservation projects financed by the European Union. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/index.cfm


• Millennium Seed Bank Partnership provides information about threats to plant diversity and the role of seed banks in conservation. http://www.kew.org/science-conservation/millennium-seed-bank


• The Natural Resource Projects Inventory is an online database focused on restoration projects within the state of California. The database can be searched by resource issue, project purpose, or project type. For many projects, available information includes the objectives, sources and amounts of funding, targeted species, current status, plans for monitoring, and, for completed projects, whether or not initial objectives were met. http://www.ice.ucdavis.edu/nrpi


• IUCN Red List of Threatened Species can be searched by risk category, taxonomic group, geographic region, habitat types, threat types, etc. http://www.iucnredlist.org


• Society for Ecological Restoration is the premier professional society for restoration ecologists, planners, engineers, and others involved in restoration. Their website offers a primer on ecological restoration and guidelines for developing and managing restoration projects. http://www.ser.org

Suggested Readings for In-class Discussion

• Hobbs RJ (2013) Grieving for the past and hoping for the future: Balancing polarizing perspectives in conservation and restoration. Restor Ecol 21: 145-148.
  
  
• Jackson ST, Hobbs RJ (2009) Ecological restoration in the light of ecological history. Science 325: 567-569.
  
  
• Licht DS, Millspaugh JJ, Kunkel KE, Kochanny CO, Peterson RO (2010) Using small populations of wolves for ecosystem restoration and stewardship. Bioscience 60: 147-153. http://bioscience.oxfordjournals.org/content/60/2/147.short (open access)
  
  
• Menz MH, Dixon KW, Hobbs RJ (2013) Hurdles and opportunities for landscape-scale restoration. Science 339: 526-527.
  
  
• Parker KA, Seabrook-Davison M, Ewen JG (2010) Opportunities for nonnative ecological replacements in ecosystem restoration. Restor Ecol 18: 269-273.
  
  
• Wilson HB, Meijaard E, Venter O, Ancrenaz M, Possingham HP (2014) Conservation strategies for orangutans: Reintroduction versus habitat preservation and the benefits of sustainably logged forest. PLoS ONE 9: e102174. http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0102174 (open access)