Quiz 2 Flashcards
What are the two key acts under Federal Regulation used for environmental protection and assessment?
Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA)
Impact Assessment Act (IAA)
Why is it essential to set goals and objectives for restoration projects
What should be included in all ecological objectives?
Attribute or sub-attribute that is being manipulated
Desired outcome (income, decrease, maintain)
Magnitude of effect (40% increase in plant cover)
Time frame
Give and describe the 6 key ecological attributes of restored ecosystems
- Absence of threats: overutilization, and contamination; elimination or control of invasive species
- Physical conditions: reinstatement of hydrological and substrate conditions
- Species composition: presence of desirable plant and animal species and absence of undesirable plants
- Structural diversity: reinstatement of layers, faunal food webs, and spatial habitat diversity
- Ecosystem functionality: appropriate levels of growth and productivity, reinstatement of nutrient cycling, decomposition, habitat elements, plant-animal interactions, normal stressors, on-going reproduction and regeneration of the ecosystems species
- External exchanges: reinstatement of linkages and connectivity for migration and gene flow; and for flows including hydrology, fire, or other landscape-scale processes
- What is emphasized in the given definition of restoration?
The process of ASSISTING the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed.
Natural disturbances always occur, so we examine how natural processes restore and gain insights into how to restore sites we have disturbed.
Give two examples of species that naturally recolonize a disturbed site and the ecosystem processes/services they provide.
- deciduous (balsam poplar and willows) : add organic matter
- Dryas drummondii: fixes nitrogen
- Lichen and alders - Nitrogen fixing
- Conifers develop soil horizons. They establish soil where there is no soil.
How can examining natural disturbance help to inform restoration practice? Natural processes begin with _____?
Natural processes build ecosystems from scratch, and we need to understand the ____ preventing recovery.
We need to understand the natural processes. Natural processes start with pioneering species, then conifers move in underneath them to build soil horizons, followed by fancy species that make habitats.
Natural processes build ecosystems from scratch, and we need to understand the “filters” preventing recovery and how we can “assist” it.
- List three abiotic and biotic filters that prevent ecosystem recovery.
Abiotic: Steep slopes, adverse texture, nutrient status (+/-), adverse chemical properties, soil temperature extremes, compaction, adverse microclimatic conditions and excessive erosion
Biotic: herbivory, competition, propagule availability, phytotoxic exudates, facilitation, and species interactions
Give three advantages of using the rough and loose approach for erosion control
- promotes water infiltration, reducing runoff
- promotes natural ecosystem growth
- does not require seeding or topsoil application
- controls erosion
- loosens compaction
Name three ways wind erosion occurs?
Suspension
Saltation
Surface creep
Provide two characteristics of soil organic matter that make it a useful soil amendment in degraded soils?
- enhances soil structure: binds particles into stable aggregates
- increases water retention capacity
How do wattle fences, willow staking, and modified brush layers help to prevent erosion?
form small retaining walls that can be used to support failing slopes or to reduce slope angles and allow other vegetation to establish.
Wattle fences reduce erosion by creating terraced barriers that slow runoff, trap sediment, and stabilize slopes through root growth from live cuttings woven into the structure
Live staking reduces erosion by planting dormant woody cuttings (like willow or dogwood) into moist soils, where their developing roots bind soil particles to stabilize slopes and streambanks while slowing runoff and trapping sediment
Modified brush layers reduce erosion by using structural elements like logs or wattles to immediately stabilize soil and slow runoff, while live vegetation roots bind soil long-term and trap sediment as plants establish.
Ideal soil amendments provide what two functions in disturbed/contaminated soil?
- decrease contaminant bioavailability
- improve soil properties
