Katie's Restoration Post

     Before we started studying ecology, I didn't really think about it that much.  I kind of thought that you just left an area alone in order to restore it to what it used to be.  But there's really cool science involved in restoration ecology.  I think it's totally fascinating how the introduction of one single species can completely change the environment-for better or worse.  During our field trip, the ecologist explained how new species like honeysuckle and buckthorn invaded the area and overtook the landscape. If I was just looking at the land, it would look pretty good to me because there was lots of thriving vegetation.  But, all that vegetation that isn't indigenous to the area has created a landscape that may not be able to support all the organisms it was once able to support.  Recently at Glacial Park,  badgers have been reintroduced to the area because of the restoration projects taking place.  It's pretty cool to see the benefits of the restoration in the past few years.  

Here's what we did on the field trip:

- Watered young tree seedlings that were recently planted

- Planted acorns 

- Scattered savannah grass seeds to make an landscape suitable for several different kinds of plant life

- de-forested an area of honeysuckle and buckthorn in order to restore the natural landscape 

                                  

                                 

                                                            Here's a "before" picture

                                  

                                                            Here's an "after" picture

                 

                                  

      

                                This is where we watered recently planted trees and spread seed

     There's no doubt that restoration ecology has numerous benefits.  Bt what are the downsides?  One question  I definitely have is this: what exactly are the goals of restoration ecologists?  They want to restore the land back to what it was before people changed it, but how "natural" is the landscape supposed to be? The only domesticated animal indigenous to the Americas is the llama, so does that mean that other domesticated animals shouldn't be a part of the landscape's population?  That's a completely extreme example, but in a science like restoration ecology, it might be hard to set specific goals.

   The benefits of restoration ecology are obvious.  It's definitely important for nature's future, and its important for people's future as well.  I'm just glad we got to be a part of it.