Ecological Restoration

I am currently working on the project "The Return of Native Nordic Fauna" funded by FORMAS for 2013-2016. The purpose of this project is to investigate how certain animal species have been identified both culturally and scientifically as belonging in the Nordic region and how that identification has shaped historical conservation measures, particularly decisions to reintroduce the species. Through an environmental history approach, the project will expose the role of 'nativeness' in three species reintroduction efforts dating from the twentieth century to today in Sweden and Norway: the beaver, the muskox, and the wild boar. The project will investigate how species that have become locally extinct and then reintroduced are framed as native, the ways that species intentionally reintroduced versus accidentally reintroduced are treated differently, and the roles a species' history and interaction with humans play in making a particular species 'Swedish' or 'Norwegian' or 'Nordic'.

Check out my Research Blog for "The Return of Native Nordic Fauna" project.

In addition to my blog, I've shared my research in media and online, including:

I was also the project coordinator and a researcher on the project "Ecosystem restoration in policy and practice: restore, develop, adapt" which is known as RESTORE for short. The project is funded by the Swedish Research Council FORMAS, Umeå University, and Swedish Agricultural University. My research for RESTORE primarily focused on the reintroduction of beaver in Sweden in the early 20th century and 21st century reintroduction of beaver and lynx in the UK.

Publications

"Policy Language in Restoration Ecology"

Restoration Ecology 22.1 (2014): 1-4. Final version online

co-authored with C Nilsson, AR Hof, EM Hasselquist, S Baker, FS Chapin, K Eckerberg, J Hjältén, L Polvi, and LA Meyerson

Relating restoration ecology to policy is one of the aims of the Society for Ecological Restoration and its journal Restoration Ecology. As an interdisciplinary team of researchers in both ecological science and political science, we have struggled with how policy-relevant language is and could be deployed in restoration ecology. Using language in scientific publications that resonates with overarching policy questions may facilitate linkages between researcher investigations and decision-makers' concerns on all levels. Climate change is the most important environmental problem of our time and to provide policymakers with new relevant knowledge on this problem is of outmost importance. To determine whether or not policy-specific language was being included in restoration ecology science, we surveyed the field of restoration ecology from 2008 to 2010, identifying 1,029 articles, which we further examined for the inclusion of climate change as a key element of the research. We found that of the 58 articles with “climate change” or “global warming” in the abstract, only 3 identified specific policies relevant to the research results. We believe that restoration ecologists are failing to include themselves in policy formation and implementation of issues such as climate change within journals focused on restoration ecology. We suggest that more explicit reference to policies and terminology recognizable to policymakers might enhance the impact of restoration ecology on decision-making processes.

"Reintroduction and De-extinction"

Bioscience 63 (2013): 719–720. pdf version or Go direct to journal

This Viewpoint article suggests that reintroduction experience and standards should be a guide for de-extinction projects that attempt to bring back formerly extinct species.

"Ecological restoration in the Convention on Biological Diversity targets"

Biodiversity and Conservation (2013): 2977-2982 Unformatted final text Final version online

Abstract: Ecological restoration has been incorporated into several Multilateral Environmental Agreements, including the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Target 15 of the Aichi Targets for 2020 sets a numerical goal of restoration of 15 percent of degraded ecosystems; however, the CBD has not established a clear statement defining restoration within this context. Without such a definition, the CBD will be unable to measure progress against the goal. The adopted definition of ecological restoration would have to allow for measurement against the numerical target, or the target should be modified to match the chosen definition.

"Pigs and pollards – medieval insights for UK wood pasture restoration"

Sustainability 5 (2013): 387-399. Open access online

Abstract: English wood pastures have become a target for ecological restoration, including the restoration of pollarded trees and grazing animals, although pigs have not been frequently incorporated into wood pasture restoration schemes. Because wood pastures are cultural landscapes, created through the interaction of natural processes and human practices, a historical perspective on wood pasture management practices has the potential to provide insights for modern restoration projects. Using a wide range of both written and artistic sources form the Middle Ages, this article argues that pigs were fed in wood pastures both during the mast season when acorns were available and at other times as grazing fields. Pollarded pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) likely dominated these sustainable cultural landscapes during the medieval period.

"Damned if you do, dammed if you don't: Debates on dam removal in the Swedish media"

Ecology and Society 18(1) (2012): 18 Open access online

co-authored with BM Renöfält

Abstract: Dam removal is an increasingly common practice. Dams are removed for various reasons with safety, economics, and ecosystem restoration being the most common. However, dam removals often cause controversy. Riparian land owners and local communities often have a negative view on removal and the reasons why vary. It may be loss of recreational benefits like swimming and boating, loss of cultural and historical context tied to the dam, or fear that removal may have a negative effect on aesthetic values. Since controversies are often picked up by local media, and media in itself is an important channel to build support around a cause, the way dam removals are reported and discussed is likely to influence the debate. In this article, we examine the ways in which proponents and opponents of dam removal frame the services provided by two contrasting ecosystems—an existing dam and the potential stream without a dam—by performing a discourse analysis of the reasons given for removal and the reasons presented for the dam to remain in place. Our source material includes web-based newspaper articles and public comments on those articles in four dam removal controversies in Sweden. Our results indicate that public opposition is not based on knowledge-deficiency where more information will lead to better ecological decision-making, as is sometimes argued in dam removal science; it is instead a case of different understandings and valuation of the environment and the functions it provides.

“What's history got to do with it? A response to Seddon’s definition of reintroduction”

Restoration Ecology 19 (Nov 2011): 705-708 Online

Abstract: A 2010 article in Restoration Ecology by Philip Seddon aims at unraveling the definitions of various types of species translocations—from reintroductions to assisted colonization—and points out the slippery slope of misused words. I argue here that defining reintroduction is not as straightforward as Seddon presents it. Commonly used definitions of what constitutes a reintroduction all include some reference to “historical” conditions, but what exactly that encompasses is left open. I examine two parts of the reintroduction confusion: first, how the guidance documents and laws define reintroduction and second, how these definitions might be interpreted when reintroductions are presented in public forums. Rather than moving away from reintroductions toward interventions of other names, I encourage scientists to use a broad definition of reintroduction presented by the IUCN to open up reintroduction as a viable label for bringing a species back to an area regardless of when it was previously there or why it became extinct.

Conference/Seminar Papers

"Naturalized natural identities: Migrant muskox in northern nature," Rachel Carson Center Lunchtime Colloquium series, Munich, Germany, 12 December 2013. Available for viewing online

"The Past is the Future: The Reintroduction of Muskox in Norway," oral paper, ESEH 2013

"Rightful return: Animal reintroduction, human history, and moral obligation," The Environmental Humanities: Cultural Perspectives on Nature and the Environment symposium, 14-15 October 2011, Hornafjördur, Iceland

"Busy beavers: Restoration of cultural and natural heritage in Sweden," roundtable discussion, ASEH 2012