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Handbook of Ecological Restoration 1: Principles of restoration
Biological Conservation 115 (2004) 509–510 www.elsevier.com/locate/biocon
Book review
Handbook of Ecological Restoration 1: Principles of restoration Vol. 1, edited by Martin R. Perrow and Anthony J. Davy. Cambridge University Press. 2002 ISBN 0 521 79128 6 (Hardback). 460 pages. Price £70. Handbook of Ecological Restoration 2: Restoration in Practice Vol. 2, edited by Martin R. Perrow and Anthony J. Davy. Cambridge University Press. 2002 ISBN 0 521 79129 4 (Hardback). 618 pages. Price £70. All biological conservation arguably involves restoration ecology. Few parts of the earth are unaffected by human activities. To the extent that these effects are undesired, restoration to some pre-existing condition is a prime goal of management. That said, the problems begin. Cultural landscapes are palimpsests, accreted from many different phases of human action and endeavour. Their conservation involves the preservation (in situ) of as much as possible of everything of value. But biological systems, unlike archaeological sites and the built environment, are dynamic and at the habitat level, what exists is summative of past changes (and often the consequence of the most recent, most destructive ones). The definition of ends is critical to effective application of means. Conservation management involves restoration, but to what? A supposed ideal primeval condition? A ‘frozen’ moment in historical time? Or a semi-natural ecosystem mosaic which is self-sustaining under a given management regime? And in all of these cases, how do we decide where we want to go, how to get there, and how can we tell when we’ve arrived? This collection provides some of the answers. Volume 1 of this two-volume series excavates the science that underpins and informs restoration management. The introductory section properly starts with philosophical issues (and immediately gets itself into a semantic mangle on dictionary definitions) because there are no easy answers to any of these questions. This is followed by chapters exploring the context of restoration at the levels of the landscape, the habitat/ population, and the species/gene. The next three sections—the core of this volume—focus on manipulation of the physical (terrestrial, still water and fluvial), and chemical environments (soil, water and atmosphere) doi:10.1016/S0006-3207(03)00157-5
and of biota. This largest section consists of nine chapters covering terrestrial and aquatic plant populations, micro-organisms, terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates, fish, reptiles and amphibians, birds, and mammals. Each chapter provides a condensed but expert review of current understanding and approaches in its field. The volume concludes with a brief but apposite exhortation to attend to monitoring and appraisal, which is often neglected (because funding agencies prefer to support projects with visible ‘outcomes’) but is essential to any long-term success of restoration projects. Volume 2 provides a review of existing practice in restoration ecology and falls itself into two parts. The shorter first section looks at restoration policy and infrastructure, with contributions on the Americas (mainly the USA), Europe, Africa, Asia (India and China) and Oceania. Coverage is uneven (Latin America is dealt with in under four pages) and there is little consistency in focus between chapters. For example, the table of nation state signatories to international agreements impacting on environmental restoration is limited to the Americas. This is the least satisfactory part of the collection and would itself merit a third volume. The second section—the bulk of this volume—is headed ‘the biomes’, and is an impressive assembly of nineteen chapters that range from marine and coastal ecosystems to polar tundra to temperate rangelands and woodlands, to tropical forests. Inevitably, such a broad survey is characterised by selection, compression and generalisation. There is an excellent chapter on seagrasses (22 pages), but rocky coasts, mangrove forest and abandoned docks share a single chapter with open seas and oceans. The 17 pages on Atlantic heathlands focus on the British experience and provide little room for consideration of ‘special cases’ such as the Serpentine heaths of the Lizard. The chapter on temperate woodlands focuses in its 35 pages on reconstruction of the original semi-natural forest in modified hardwood forest (Canada), plantations in evergreen broadleaf woods (Japan) and the expansions of remnant native pinewoods (Scotland), leaving little room for ‘cultural’ woodlands such as coppice. Restoration Ecology is an ambitious undertaking and these inevitable limitations are far outweighed by its strengths. If there is any criticism to be made of this collection, it is the trivial one that it is misnamed. It is
510
Book review / Biological Conservation 115 (2004) 509–510
much more than a handbook. It is, rather, a compendium. Individual chapters and the collection as a whole represent a panoramic, if sometimes coarse grained, snapshot of a landscape in rapid change. It is an achievement of the individual contributors that most manage to turn even these limitations to their advantage, so that specialists, or students familiar with the subject matter, will find something new even in ‘their’ chapter. The real achievement of this collection lies not just in the quality of the individual contributions but in the editors’ assembly of so much information in one publication. The outcome is synergism and serendipity, not just in the interplay between principles (Vol. 1) and applications (Vol. 2) but in comparisons that may be made within sections—between biomes, taxa, and geographic regions. It is now widely recognised that biodiversity must be analysed—and conserved—at a variety of levels, from the gene to our planet. Inevitably, despite early chapters on the need for species, population and landscape perspectives, the attention of most of the contributions is focused at the habitat level. Here, one of the surest indications that conservation biology has come ‘of age’ is its incorporation in legislation through concepts such as ‘favourable conservation status’ (in the EU Habitats Directive). This translates at site level into the goal of securing ‘favourable condition’ for valued
species and habitats, which is ultimately what restoration ecology is all about. We have yet to achieve this at the whole-landscape level, but this collection will help to push the process along. The conclusion of the first volume is that the science and philosophy of ecological restoration enables us to be ‘‘not just tinkerers’’ but craftspeople and engineers— an appropriate but a sobering and salutatory analogy. This overview will help us to avoid the pitfalls and to improve the practice of restoration ecology and management. The quality of the individual contributions and of the collection as a whole will make it of equal fascination both to the practising conservation manager and to the armchair ecologist keen to understand more about a rapidly evolving field of theory and practice that is central to conservation. The price of each volume may put them beyond many individual pockets; however, they are essential to every library. The distilled expertise in this collection makes it a work of reference to be mined over time, which is likely to remain a standard text for some years to come. Richard Clarke Centre for European Protected Area Research University of London, Birkbeck College FCE Malet Street, London WC1, UK E-mail address: [email protected]
Book review
Handbook of Ecological Restoration 1: Principles of restoration Vol. 1, edited by Martin R. Perrow and Anthony J. Davy. Cambridge University Press. 2002 ISBN 0 521 79128 6 (Hardback). 460 pages. Price £70. Handbook of Ecological Restoration 2: Restoration in Practice Vol. 2, edited by Martin R. Perrow and Anthony J. Davy. Cambridge University Press. 2002 ISBN 0 521 79129 4 (Hardback). 618 pages. Price £70. All biological conservation arguably involves restoration ecology. Few parts of the earth are unaffected by human activities. To the extent that these effects are undesired, restoration to some pre-existing condition is a prime goal of management. That said, the problems begin. Cultural landscapes are palimpsests, accreted from many different phases of human action and endeavour. Their conservation involves the preservation (in situ) of as much as possible of everything of value. But biological systems, unlike archaeological sites and the built environment, are dynamic and at the habitat level, what exists is summative of past changes (and often the consequence of the most recent, most destructive ones). The definition of ends is critical to effective application of means. Conservation management involves restoration, but to what? A supposed ideal primeval condition? A ‘frozen’ moment in historical time? Or a semi-natural ecosystem mosaic which is self-sustaining under a given management regime? And in all of these cases, how do we decide where we want to go, how to get there, and how can we tell when we’ve arrived? This collection provides some of the answers. Volume 1 of this two-volume series excavates the science that underpins and informs restoration management. The introductory section properly starts with philosophical issues (and immediately gets itself into a semantic mangle on dictionary definitions) because there are no easy answers to any of these questions. This is followed by chapters exploring the context of restoration at the levels of the landscape, the habitat/ population, and the species/gene. The next three sections—the core of this volume—focus on manipulation of the physical (terrestrial, still water and fluvial), and chemical environments (soil, water and atmosphere) doi:10.1016/S0006-3207(03)00157-5
and of biota. This largest section consists of nine chapters covering terrestrial and aquatic plant populations, micro-organisms, terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates, fish, reptiles and amphibians, birds, and mammals. Each chapter provides a condensed but expert review of current understanding and approaches in its field. The volume concludes with a brief but apposite exhortation to attend to monitoring and appraisal, which is often neglected (because funding agencies prefer to support projects with visible ‘outcomes’) but is essential to any long-term success of restoration projects. Volume 2 provides a review of existing practice in restoration ecology and falls itself into two parts. The shorter first section looks at restoration policy and infrastructure, with contributions on the Americas (mainly the USA), Europe, Africa, Asia (India and China) and Oceania. Coverage is uneven (Latin America is dealt with in under four pages) and there is little consistency in focus between chapters. For example, the table of nation state signatories to international agreements impacting on environmental restoration is limited to the Americas. This is the least satisfactory part of the collection and would itself merit a third volume. The second section—the bulk of this volume—is headed ‘the biomes’, and is an impressive assembly of nineteen chapters that range from marine and coastal ecosystems to polar tundra to temperate rangelands and woodlands, to tropical forests. Inevitably, such a broad survey is characterised by selection, compression and generalisation. There is an excellent chapter on seagrasses (22 pages), but rocky coasts, mangrove forest and abandoned docks share a single chapter with open seas and oceans. The 17 pages on Atlantic heathlands focus on the British experience and provide little room for consideration of ‘special cases’ such as the Serpentine heaths of the Lizard. The chapter on temperate woodlands focuses in its 35 pages on reconstruction of the original semi-natural forest in modified hardwood forest (Canada), plantations in evergreen broadleaf woods (Japan) and the expansions of remnant native pinewoods (Scotland), leaving little room for ‘cultural’ woodlands such as coppice. Restoration Ecology is an ambitious undertaking and these inevitable limitations are far outweighed by its strengths. If there is any criticism to be made of this collection, it is the trivial one that it is misnamed. It is
510
Book review / Biological Conservation 115 (2004) 509–510
much more than a handbook. It is, rather, a compendium. Individual chapters and the collection as a whole represent a panoramic, if sometimes coarse grained, snapshot of a landscape in rapid change. It is an achievement of the individual contributors that most manage to turn even these limitations to their advantage, so that specialists, or students familiar with the subject matter, will find something new even in ‘their’ chapter. The real achievement of this collection lies not just in the quality of the individual contributions but in the editors’ assembly of so much information in one publication. The outcome is synergism and serendipity, not just in the interplay between principles (Vol. 1) and applications (Vol. 2) but in comparisons that may be made within sections—between biomes, taxa, and geographic regions. It is now widely recognised that biodiversity must be analysed—and conserved—at a variety of levels, from the gene to our planet. Inevitably, despite early chapters on the need for species, population and landscape perspectives, the attention of most of the contributions is focused at the habitat level. Here, one of the surest indications that conservation biology has come ‘of age’ is its incorporation in legislation through concepts such as ‘favourable conservation status’ (in the EU Habitats Directive). This translates at site level into the goal of securing ‘favourable condition’ for valued
species and habitats, which is ultimately what restoration ecology is all about. We have yet to achieve this at the whole-landscape level, but this collection will help to push the process along. The conclusion of the first volume is that the science and philosophy of ecological restoration enables us to be ‘‘not just tinkerers’’ but craftspeople and engineers— an appropriate but a sobering and salutatory analogy. This overview will help us to avoid the pitfalls and to improve the practice of restoration ecology and management. The quality of the individual contributions and of the collection as a whole will make it of equal fascination both to the practising conservation manager and to the armchair ecologist keen to understand more about a rapidly evolving field of theory and practice that is central to conservation. The price of each volume may put them beyond many individual pockets; however, they are essential to every library. The distilled expertise in this collection makes it a work of reference to be mined over time, which is likely to remain a standard text for some years to come. Richard Clarke Centre for European Protected Area Research University of London, Birkbeck College FCE Malet Street, London WC1, UK E-mail address: [email protected]