Using ecosystem engineers to restore ecological systems.

TitleUsing ecosystem engineers to restore ecological systems.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2006
AuthorsByers, JE, Cuddington, K, Jones, CG, Talley, TS, Hastings, A, Lambrinos, JG, Crooks, JA, Wilson, WG
JournalTrends Ecol Evol
Volume21
Issue9
Pagination493-500
Date Published2006 Sep
ISSN0169-5347
KeywordsEcology, Ecosystem, Models, Theoretical
Abstract

Ecosystem engineers affect other organisms by creating, modifying, maintaining or destroying habitats. Despite widespread recognition of these often important effects, the ecosystem engineering concept has yet to be widely used in ecological applications. Here, we present a conceptual framework that shows how consideration of ecosystem engineers can be used to assess the likelihood of restoration of a system to a desired state, the type of changes necessary for successful restoration and how restoration efforts can be most effectively partitioned between direct human intervention and natural ecosystem engineers.

DOI10.1016/j.tree.2006.06.002
Alternate JournalTrends Ecol. Evol. (Amst.)
PubMed ID16806576