ABSTRACT
Restoration ecology is a subdiscipline of ecological engineering that has been growing out of the need and desire to add ecological value to ecosystems that have been degraded by human impacts. Projects range in size from less than one hectare for an individual prairie or wetland to the entire Everglades of South Florida. It is a very general field in that any kind of ecosystem can be restored but different actions are required for each ecosystem type. An extensive literature, which is a useful guide to future restorations, is developing out of the experience of practitioners. Much work is generated by legal requirements such as the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 and the “No Net Loss” policy for wetlands, both from the U.S. Another antecedent to modern restoration ecology was the early efforts to improve industrial landscapes, especially in Europe (Chadwick and Goodman, 1975; Gemmell, 1977; Johnson and Bradshaw, 1979; Knabe, 1965). Although the field can be viewed as being a recent development, as early as 1976 an annotated bibliography of restoration ecology included nearly 600 citations (Czapowskyj, 1976). Storm (2002) considers restoration in the U.S. to be the basis for a growth economy because it is attracting investment from businesses, communities, and government.
