Ecological principles in restoration of degraded habitats

1. APPLICATION OF ECOLOGICAL
CONCEPTS IN RESTORATION OF
HABITATS
Madhab Chandra Behera
Asst. Professor
Dept. of Natural Resources Managemenrt
College of Forestry
OUAT, Bhubaneswar

2. A discrete unit of space in which one
organism interacts with the biotic components and
exchanges the matter and energy required is
termed as ECOSYSTEM
ECOLOGY : The comprehensive science of the relationship
of the organism to the Environment.
(Ernst Haeckel (1869)

3. Individual/Organism
Population
Community
Ecosystem
Landscape
Biome
Biosphere
ECOLOGICAL HIERARCHY

4. A distinct living entity which carries out all life
processes in its body and separates those in other individuals.
Grouping of similar individuals living in a particular
geographical area or space is known as population.
Individual (Organism):
Population:
SPECIES

5. Sal Population

6. SPECIES AND POPULATION OF SNAIL
REPRODUCTION AMONG
INDIVIDUALS IN POPULATION

8. Sal Tree Community
COMMUNITY

11. aa

14. ORGANISM, POPULATION, COMMUNITY

15. HABITAT AND NICHE
Environment influences organisms, and organisms
affect the environment.
HABITAT: The space/ Place where the organism Lives:(Address)
Baula
(Crocodylus porosus)
-Creeks and the estuaries
-Salt water
- Mud planes
Gharial
(Gavialis gangeticus)
-River systems of Indian Subcontinent
-Flowing rivers
-High sand banks

16. Niche—Role
Niche—The functional role performed by an organism in its
surroundings (its profession).
THE NICHE OF A DANDELION
A dandelion is a familiar plant that commonly invades
disturbed sites because it produces many seeds that are blown easily
to new areas. It serves as food for various herbivores, supplies
nectar to bees, and can regrow quickly from its root if its leaves are
removed.

17. APPLICATION OF ECOLOGICAL CONCEPTS IN
RESTORATION OF HABITATS
BIODIVERSITY CONCEPTS:
General understandings bout ecosystems and
ecosystem management.
Ecological concepts: Ecological concepts are general
understandings (or facts) about
ecosystems and ecosystem
management
Management concepts: Tools that can be applied to
support some of the applications.

18. APPLICATION OF ECOLOGICAL CONCEPTS IN
RESTORATION OF HABITATS
1. Levels of biological organization
2. Native species
3. Keystone
4. Population viability/ thresholds
5. Disturbances
6. Ecological resilience
7. Connectivity/fragmentation
BIOVIVERSITY CONCEPTS :

19. 1. Levels of biological organization
REGIONS
LANDSCAPES
ECOSYSTEMS
COMMUNITIES
SPECIES
POPULATIONS
INDIVIDUAL
• The interdependence
of scales needs to be
understood and
assessed in order to
conserve biodiversity
• Spatial and temporal
dimensions in
ecological processes i.e.
Ecosystem panarchy.

20. 2. NATIVE SPECIES (Endemism)
Those that
naturally
exist at a
given
location or
in a
particular
ecosystem
Though native species are
exacting to a landscape;
Invasive alien species have the
potential to displace native
species and threaten to
ecosystems composition,
structure and function.
HENCE MANAGEMENT OF
ALIEN SPECIES IS ESSENTIAL.

21. 3. NATIVE SPECIES (Endemism)
Keystone:
-species
-Ecosystem
-Processes
• Interaction with other
species or impact on
ecosystem modification
• Habitat harboring a large
portion or critical elements
of an area’s biodiversity ex-
estuaries, Riparian
ecosystem near river etc.
• Processes fundamental to
ecosystem function ex-fire,
pollination etc

22. 4. Population viability/ thresholds
-Extinction
threshold
-Minimum
viable
population
• Minimum habitat
required for a
species/ population
• Identifying the causes
of population decline
like inbreeding,
inability to find a
mate etc.

23. 5. Disturbances
-Natural
-Man made
Identifying the endogenic or
exogenic forces
Reducing or eliminating the
causal forces & assisting
ecosystem towards
recovery

24. 6. Ecological resilience
Capacity of
an
ecosystem
to cope with
disturbance
or stress
and return
to a stable
state
 Measuring the stress limit
of the system
 Identifying slow variables of
the system that buffers the
change like species diversity
& abundance, regional
environmental variation etc.
 Identifying the functional
diversity and response
diversity of the ecosystem
important to maintain
ecological resilience.

25. 7. Connectivity/fragmentation
Ecosystem
structure
facilitating
movement
of
organisms
between
resource
patches.
 Animal corridor identification
and preservation
 Reduce isolation and
fragmentation of populations
 Effects of inbreeding and
reduced genetic diversity can
be reduced
 Re-establishment of
populations that have been
reduced or eliminated due
to random events

26. ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Ecosystem management concepts provide a
framework for planning biodiversity conservation.
1. Island biogeography theory
2. Niche Theory
3. Population theory
4. Community ecology
5. Food web/Trophic theory
6. Modeling and simulations
7. Paleoecology, climate change

27. A. Island biogeography theory
Dispersal
limitation
Establishme
nt limitation
Persistence
limitation
 Assisted regeneration and
add perches to facilitate bird
dispersal
Provide high habitat
heterogeneity, import substrate,
amend soil and eliminate alien
species
Restore large habitat blocks,
minimize fragmentation and
provide corridor between habitat
blocks

28. B. Niche Theory
Safe site- Increase micro-topographic heterogeneity to
improve germination
Fundamental and realised niche-
Plant species in suitable microsites, conduct
pilot plantings to identify suitable habitats
and plant more broadly in 2nd Phase
Ecotypic variation-
Plant appropriate genotypes and provide
genetic variation for future selection
Self design theory-
Establish physical and chemical conditions
that will favor desired species, anticipate
changes, and assume that species will ‘find’
suitable habitats.

29. B. Niche Theory
Assembly rule-
Prepare site so that it will support late-
succession species, plant them early and
combine compatible species (e.g.
members of different functional groups)
Succession-
Trajectories of ecosystem degradation and
recovery, natural variability, linear and
nonlinear dynamics, multiple stable states vs.
ordered succession etc.

30. C. Population Theory
Minimum viable populations –
Introduce larger numbers of propagules
Metapopulation dynamics –
Provide multiple habitat patches and dispersal
corridors
Competition theory –
Competitive exclusion. Tend plantings to
speed growth (fertilize, mulch, weed, control
herbivory and treat disease)
Priority effects –
Introduce desired species early and introduce
larger and/or older individuals to shorten the
time to dominance

31. C. Population Theory
Facilitation –
Provide nurse plants or surrogate structures
to trap seeds and/or reduce stress on s
eedlings; plant individuals in clusters; and
inoculate soil with mycorrhizae
Invasion theory (exotic species)-
Remove invaders by hand or machine; use
herbicides or pesticides; smother with black
plastic or mulch; introduce fast-growing
cover crops

32. D. Community Ecology
Community composition, coexistence of species,
assembly theory, alternative successional pathways,
sensitivity to initial conditions, predation, trophic
structure, dispersal, environmental filters,
disturbance regimes, mutualism

33. E. Community Ecology
Trophic cascades, bottom-up/top-down dynamics,
food-web networks, productivity and food-web
structure, plant-herbivore interactions, predator-
prey theory, indirect interactions

34. F. Modeling and simulations
Prediction of restoration outcomes
G. Modeling and simulations
Planning restoration with the context of
expected Global change