Habitat Creation

4 Key excerpts on "Habitat Creation"

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  Conservation Biology

  • Andrew S. Pullin(Author)
  • 2002(Publication Date)
  • Cambridge University Press

    (Publisher)

  The former activity attempts to restore a function-ing ecosystem and its component biodiversity, the latter is undertaken for show, to create public interest for short-term political gain. As stated earlier only appropriate monitoring will sort the good scheme from the bad. Habitat Creation The creation of new habitats that may be quite different from the origi-nal natural habitat has a questionable role in conservation. Some would argue that this is not conservation at all. Being a human construct, newly created habitat does not have the continuity of form and ‘natu-ralness’ that is normally of high value in conservation. However, the new habitat may have an amenity value and provide new space for valued plants and animals. Is there perhaps also a scientific argument Habitat Creation 299 West Penwith Blackdown Hills Dartmoor Somerset Levels and Moors Exmoor South Wessex Downs Test Valley South Downs North Kent Marshes Essex Coast Upper Thames Tributaries Suffolk River Valleys Breckland Broads Shropshire Hills Clun Cotswold Hills South West Peak North Peak Pennine Dales Lake District Fig. 14.6 Location of UK Environmentally Sensitive Areas. for Habitat Creation? The process certainly suffers from all the draw-backs of habitat restoration and more; there is no evidence that we can create habitat approaching the same diversity as equivalent natural communities, except perhaps in certain circumstances where natural succession quickly takes over, such as in some wetland and aquatic hab-itats. Habitat Creation is also rarely documented to the standards required to test a specific hypothesis that would enable us to judge its relative success. Despite this there may be circumstances in which stra-tegic creation of a habitat may be beneficial to species in the surround-ing landscape. A possible example is where communities in small water bodies (ponds and lakes) are threatened due to habitat destruction.

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  eBook - ePub

  Urban Nature Conservation

  Landscape Management in the Urban Countryside

  • Stephen Forbes, Tony Kendle(Authors)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Taylor & Francis

    (Publisher)

  More recently the best examples of success in habitat restoration have been associated with the repair of small island communities which have undergone gradual deterioration through the introduction of invasive and destructive alien species such as rats. Here the restoration approach has been based on the re-introduction of lost species and eradication of invaders.

  Few other examples in the world can be said to be ‘true’ restoration successes in the sense that defined target communities can be shown to be reproduced. However, there are many examples where partial restoration has been achieved and the conservation value of a site has been clearly increased, where degraded plant and animal communities have been vastly improved and particularly where more has been learnt about the management and protection of the ecosystem in question.

  Habitat Creation is a much looser term, and is often applied to diverse activities with many different objectives. The nature of the work required must therefore be judged against the context of the activity.

  Habitat Creation usually implies the production of new communities which are modelled on existing semi-natural biotypes in broad terms. However, there need not be any particular clearly defined goals in terms of species persistence or abundance, nor any particular ecological, genetic or landscape link between the new habitat and what was previously on site. The following main directions can be identified which have different implications for the technology and design systems to be adopted.

  1. Creation of ‘popular’ wildlife systems for maximum human enjoyment. Species diversity may actually be low but the appearance will usually be that of an attractive and natural-appearing habitat. Species richness in ecology is usually assumed to be desirable, however, species richness and diversity do not always mean maximum attractiveness or stability (Hitchmough, 1994c and Ash et al., 1992).
     Wild grassland has a value in both amenity and conservation terms and it is important to recognize that visual effect (and also some conservation value) can result from the flowering of only a few species in a community that is not particularly diverse or botanically important. It is not even necessary for wild grassland to include a significant proportion of broadleaves in order for it to serve its function. Species-poor communities dominated by grasses such as Arrenatherum, Festuca or Agrostis

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  Places, Sociality, and Ecological Psychology

  Essays in Honor of Harry Heft

  • Miguel Segundo-Ortin, Manuel Heras-Escribano, Vicente Raja, Miguel Segundo-Ortin, Manuel Heras-Escribano, Vicente Raja(Authors)
  • 2023(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Society for Ecological Restoration (n.d.) defines its mission as “to sustain biodiversity, improve resilience in a changing climate, and re-establish an ecologically healthy relationship between nature and culture.”

  Like farming and gardening, ecological restoration is an example of humans working with organic processes to imprint their aims on “natural” landscapes: yet these landscapes remain different than built spaces in inherent ways. Among the distinctions, Wohlwill (1983) , noted, are change and intricate complexity. Natural landscapes are in constant diurnal and seasonal change, and these changes reflect complex ecosystem interdependencies of climate, weathers, waters, landforms, vegetation, wildlife, and human interactions: complexities that humans can detect to some degree, depending on their level of engagement and attention to a particular environment, but only partially. As Wohlwill observed, these dynamics of change require “an extension of our approach to perception, so that it encompasses the dimension of time and of change occurring over extended periods of time” (p. 23).

  In the moment, people can notice the possibilities that natural environments afford to shape the earth for human ends, but long-term affordances are learned through extended observation and cultural teaching. For example, a person can see immediately that building a dam of rocks across a stream slows the water; but when this principle is applied in check-dams of rocks to slow hillside erosion, these practices reflect cultural learning that has been passed down for generations. For children, who are engaging with new nature spaces and organic elements for the first time, there is the excitement of first-time discoveries; but when children participate in farming, gardening, and restoration work, they are being initiated into cultural practices. Therefore, social interactions and the transfer of cultural values, beliefs, and knowledge are inherent parts of these experiences.

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  Population and Restoration Ecology

  • (Author)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Academic Studio

    (Publisher)

  Fragmentation Habitat fragmentation is the emergence of spatial discontinuities in a biological system. Through land use changes (e.g. agriculture) and natural disturbance, ecosystems are broken up into smaller parts. Small fragments of habitat can support only small popu-lations and small populations are more vulnerable to extinction. Further, fragmenting ecosystems decreases interior habitat. Habitat along the edge of a fragment has a different range of environmental conditions and therefore supports different species than the interior. Fragmentation effectively reduces interior habitat and may lead to the extinction of those species which require interior habitat. Restorative projects can increase the effective size of a habitat by simply adding area or by planting habitat corridors that link and fill in the gap between two isolated fragments. Reversing the effects of fragmentation and increasing habitat connectivity are central goals of restoration ecology. ________________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ________________________ Ecosystem function Ecosystem function describes the foundational processes of natural systems, including nutrient cycles and energy fluxes. These processes are the most basic and essential components of ecosystems. An understanding of the full complexity and intricacies of these cycles is necessary to address any ecological processes that may be degraded. A functional ecosystem, that is completely self-perpetuating (i.e. no management required), is the ultimate goal of restorative efforts. Because these ecosystem functions are emer-gent properties of the system as a whole, monitoring and management are crucial for the long-term stability of an ecosystem. Evolving concepts Restoration ecology, because of its highly physical nature, is an ideal testing ground for emerging community ecological principles (Bradshaw 1987).

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