Linking Restoration and Ecological Succession (Springer ... - Inecol

160 Richard J. Hobbs, Anke Jentsch, and Vicky M. Temperton
Conceptual tool box
Disturbance
Succession Restoration
Assembly
Figure 7.3 Ideally, concepts from succession, assembly, and disturbance should be
combined synergistically to produce a useful body of ideas which have direct relevance
to restoration practice.
histories present and the occurrence of species adapted to the disturbance—and
hence which species are available for community assembly and successional
dynamics.
We list a series of considerations that arise from the above discussions which
relate to the practicalities of restoration. They include considerations of historical
precedence, continuous versus discrete processes, self-sustainable dynamics,
thresholds, restoration goals and alternative states, scaling issues, spatial
mosaics, nonlinear dynamics, inertia, and underlying processes for management
action.
1. Precedence. Historical contingency (White and Jentsch 2001) needs to
be taken into account in restoration management. Only those species that
have access to the site and traits to pass the disturbance filter (in addition
to the traits needed to pass other biotic and abiotic filters) can participate in
recovery and assembly. Thus, historical precedence and the regional species
pool determine the diversity of functional responses within a restoration
site.
2. Continuous and discrete processes. In essence, the interaction of continuous
and discrete processes drives successional dynamics. Thus, the interaction
of continuous and discrete processes implies gradual accumulation as well
as sudden change in resources, and defines options of human intervention
in restoration. Patterns of seasonality and their suddenness add to the complexity
of successional rhythms in various restoration sites. These seasonal
patterns define, or at least interact with, the temporal rhythm of discrete
events (disturbances) and continuous processes (e.g., growth, community
assembly, and regeneration). These patterns thereby define the appropriate
timing for management action.
3. Self-sustainable dynamics. No matter where restoration projects try to apply
successional theory, the primary goal of restoration is to apply knowledge
about the conditions that establish self-sustaining dynamics (or autogenic
processes) within a particular ecosystem. In restoration practice, this knowledge
may define thresholds in the above-mentioned continuous processes,
such as increasing resource availability, where competitive balance of interacting
species is altered, or in discrete events, such as repeated droughts,
where composition of communities is altered. Continuous processes such