1/ Today we take a look at the key points from Arts, Fischer, & René van der Wal (2016) examination of the relationship between rewilding and reintroductions. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/re…
Critically review the assumption that reintroductions automatically restore wild places.
by
investigating the relatedness of key concepts – ecological functioning, wilderness experience and natural autonomy in relation to a hypothetical wolf reintroduction
3/ Results
The paper determined that:
Each concept was positively impacted by a wolf reintroduction
However...
The concepts often collide rather than enforce each other
4/ Recommendations
Engaging with tensions created by rewilding and reintroductions
And...
Reconceptualising the nature-culture spectrum so it consists of multiple layers in order to assert ecological restoration as a tentative, deliberative, and gradual enterprise
5/ Outcomes
- A multi-layered view may support the reconciliation of conflicting views without making them disappear
- It can promote animal reintroduction and rewilding as inspiring, non-controlling forms of ecological restoration and human interaction with nature
6/6 Thoughts
Its interesting if not surprising that these concepts often collide & and I think it shows the need to take a more layered and nuanced view of their relationship in order to promote a more productive outcome
Today we're looking rewilding and animal-mediated seed dispersal in a paper that aims to identify areas and species in the Atlantic Forest to restore seed-dispersal interactions through rewilding 1/
The authors start by explaining that as animal populations and species decline, the ecological interactions involving them are lost. Trophic rewilding his to restore these interactions through reintroductions or surrogate introductions
2/
They say that certain types of animal interactions can be particularly beneficial, such as seed dispersal, which helps natural forest regeneration, creating more suitable habitat and a positive feedback loop
3/
Prehistoric or historic? What is the best baseline for #rewilding in the Neotropics? @JCSvenning and @FaurbySoren investigate the previous distribution of megafauna to inform future options of trophic rewilding in today’s #rewildingscience thread
Trophic rewilding – use of species to promote trophic cascades and self-regulating ecosystems often involves discussion around megafauna (large bodied species). Their high mobility, resitance to top-down effects, and ability to disperse nutrients makes them ecologically valuable
It is these species that have been subject to anthropogenic declines, including in the Neotropics. Historic baselines for species richness and distribution are now so intermingled with human effects that they may not represent a feasible point to base introductions on…
1/ Are you interested in how to carry out a reintroduction based #rewilding project? Then this paper (& thread) is for you. Zamboni et al introduce the reintroductions of giant anteater, collared peccaries, tapirs and more to The Iberá Rewilding Program IRP (Argentina)
2/ The Iberá rewilding project is part of the 13,000km2 Iberá Reserve; made up of public & private land. It has marshes, lagoons, small rivers, temporarily flooded grasslands, savannas, and forests. The Conservation Land Trust bought 1500km2 of private land in 1999 to restore.
Kicking off the afternoon session of the #RewildingSymposium is @JCSvenning talking about 'restoring the role of megafauna in European ecosystems'
He begins by highlighting that current megafauna is unusually poor. Last at this level >30 million years ago. Historically, super diverse megafauna was the norm.
He points out that most current species are 100,000 to >1m years old. Meaning they have a complex evolutionary background with the landscape and complex ecological characteristics
Paul Jepson of ecosulis the first speaker of the day, stating that #rewilding presents a new narrative in conservation fit for the 21st century. There are many actors shaping it, but in particlar its an opportunity for young people to shape and define their future environment
He says the science behind current laws in particular Natura2000 are based on science which is 50 years out of date. We need to redesign laws across Europe based on a new narrative and incorporating modern scientific thinking on rewilding
1/ This week we end with the future directions of conservation paper by Jozef Keulartz (2016). #rewilding has varied forms, which rather than competing, can be complementary. Read this #rewildingscience thread and join in the discussion
2/ Which historical baseline is used as a reference state is one of the central debates in #rewilding. This can depend on cultural and ecological context of where rewilding takes place….
3/ It has been argued that historic baselines are irrelevant due to current anthropogenic drivers e.g. climate change making it difficult to recreate historical ecosystems. There are two thoughts; to abandon history entirely, or to move the baseline to a more distant past