Marley's Restoration Reflection

During this field trip, we got to experience restoration ecology. The point of ecological restoration is to speed up the process of restoring a degraded area. We went out in the field and removed invasive plants that weren't native to the area. The non native plants were taking over, and weren't allowing the native plants to grow. By removing these invasive plants, we made room for the native plants to grow. We then went on to water new, but native, trees that were brought into the area. We also spread seeds in the same area to help the native plants grow.

This field trip exposed me to something I had never heard of before, and I'm glad I got to experience it. I think restoration ecology is amazing because humans are slowly ruining the environment, and this helps to restore some of the damage. Some of the many benefits of restoration ecology include improving biodiversity, improving ecosystem productivity, improved water quality, and increased carbon storage. All of these things are included in restoring natural ecosystems. After experiencing everything during this trip, I would love to get more involved with restoration ecology.