Group guideline for the promotion of biodiversity - Business and ...

certain terms. Because the practical usage of termson site locally differs from the scientific terminology,we would like to explain the most important termsbriefly in this chapter.RestorationRestoration means reestablishing the original ecosystem,the habitat or their functions in the undisturbedway in which they originally existed, includingbiological, chemical and physical elements.ReclamationReclamation is the reconditioning for agriculturalends or the reestablishing of the natural scenery.In most cases, the original soil as well as the originalvegetation do not exist any more, but have to bereconditioned through soil application, fertilisationand sowing.The term recultivation is predominantly used in Europeand mostly in connection with extraction sites.RecreationRecreation implies that it is not necessary to reestablishthe exact same ecosystem as existed beforethe extraction work. It means that it is enough tocreate an ecological system of any kind. It is importanthowever, that this ecosystem is ecologicallysignificant.RenaturationRenaturation means the resettlement of man-madelocations as, for instance, extraction sites (or ofecosystems influenced by men) through plants andanimals. This leads to habitats autochthonous forthe location and its climate. Renaturation is closelyconnected to reaching a high level of biologicaldiversity.Three forms can be distinguished on the basis of theintensity of human influence:■■ Renaturation goes on without initiation or humanregulation. We call this independent processnatural succession.■■ Renaturation is initiated by strategic planning andpractical measures, which accelerate the processat least in the beginning. This process can becategorised as natural succession as well.■■ The course of renaturation is systematicallychanged and controlled through planning, plantingand subsequent maintenance. Controlledrenaturation is very similar to restoration.14SuccessionIn ecology, succession denotes the chronology of plant and animal communities at one location in theprogress of time. During a succession process, an ecosystem goes through a climax from an initial statecontaining only few species up to a nearly stable final species-rich stage. The areas change quickly in akaleidoscopic way.Free succession is the settlement of areas without any human supporting measures.Controlled succession means that human support only takes place in the beginning in order to acceleratethe first settlements by introducing initial species.