What is Aquatic Restoration... and Aquatic
Restoration Ecology (ARE)?
Aquatic Restoration Ecology is the study of ecological
aspects of the aquatic restoration process from concept, through
goal-setting, planning, structural design, project implementation, and evaluation following
restoration efforts.
In this course, we will use the National Research Council's
working definition of aquatic restoration as the return of an ecosystem to
a close approximation of its condition prior to disturbance. Ecological
damage to the ecosystem is repaired. In aquatic restoration, the
structure and function of the aquatic ecosystem are both recreated. The goal of
aquatic restoration is the emulation of a natural, fully functioning,
self-regulating ecosystem integrated with its landscape. It is recognized
that restoration may not achieve a totally natural system; in the words of
Berger (1990), "... all restorations are exercises are in
approximation..."
By the end of the course, you should have an answer in
your own mind to the question, "Is aquatic restoration possible?"
"The acid test of our
understanding is not whether we can take ecosystems to bits on pieces of
paper, however scientifically, but whether we can put them together in
practice and make them work."
A.D. Bradshaw - 1983
The purpose of Lesson 1 is to explore
the evolving nature of the concepts and study of Aquatic Restoration
Ecology (ARE).
