Complexity of ecological restoration in China

Abstract Land degradation is a primary issue that affects environmental conservation and socioeconomic development. However, ecological restoration has complex and poorly understood consequences for the structure and composition of future ecosystems and socioeconomic systems. To illustrate the complexity of ecological restoration, we discuss the potential links between China's ongoing large-scale ecological restoration practices and the resulting changes of natural factors such as landscape characteristics, climate, and vegetation communities. These changes may lead to restoration difficulty when the goal is to rebuild a system that resembles the pre-disturbance state. Even though the intentions of ecological restoration may be good, it is necessary to harmonize the ecological effects with simultaneous and future social changes, thereby benefiting both nature and society. Any simplistic or extreme approach to ecological restoration is potentially dangerous because the long-term effects on nature and society are generally unknown, so careful monitoring will be required, particularly for large-scale projects.

[1]  A. Hastings,et al.  Using ecosystem engineers to restore ecological systems. , 2006, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[3]  Socioeconomic road in ecological restoration in China. , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[4]  Peter Lehmann,et al.  Quantifying the role of vegetation in slope stability: a case study in Tuscany (Italy). , 2010 .

[5]  R. Proulx.  Ecological complexity for unifying ecological theory across scales: A field ecologist's perspective , 2007 .

[6]  A. Watts,et al.  The Myths of Restoration Ecology , 2005 .

[7]  Kazuhiko Takeuchi,et al.  Threshold changes in vegetation along a grazing gradient in Mongolian rangelands , 2007 .

[8]  Shixiong Cao,et al.  Excessive reliance on afforestation in China's arid and semi-arid regions: Lessons in ecological restoration , 2011 .

[9]  G. Sun,et al.  China’s Bureaucracy Hinders Environmental Recovery , 2011, AMBIO.

[10]  Qi Feng,et al.  Impacts of the Natural Forest Conservation Program on the livelihoods of residents of Northwestern China: Perceptions of residents affected by the program , 2010 .

[11]  Yafeng Wang,et al.  Carbon sequestration may have negative impacts on ecosystem health. , 2011, Environmental science & technology.

[12]  R. Hobbs,et al.  Ecological Restoration and Global Climate Change , 2006 .

[13]  Yang Gao,et al.  A degradation threshold for irreversible loss of soil productivity: a long-term case study in China , 2011 .

[14]  Guangyu Wang,et al.  China's Forestry Reforms , 2007, Science.

[15]  Shixiong Cao,et al.  Why large-scale afforestation efforts in China have failed to solve the desertification problem. , 2008, Environmental science & technology.

[16]  Jianguo Liu,et al.  China's Road to Sustainability , 2010, Science.

[17]  M. Chaieb,et al.  Changes in soil properties and vegetation following livestock grazing exclusion in degraded arid environments of South Tunisia. , 2010 .

[18]  Alvaro Montenegro,et al.  Small temperature benefits provided by realistic afforestation efforts , 2011 .

[19]  Shixiong Cao,et al.  Cost-effective compensation payments: A model based on Buying Green Cover to sustain ecological restoration , 2012 .

[20]  Xinxiao Yu,et al.  Impact of China's Grain for Green Project on the landscape of vulnerable arid and semi‐arid agricultural regions: a case study in northern Shaanxi Province , 2009 .

[21]  Eric Higgs,et al.  What is Good Ecological Restoration? , 1997 .

[22]  Shixiong Cao,et al.  Disharmony between Society and Environmental Carrying Capacity: A Historical Review, with an Emphasis on China , 2007, Ambio.

[23]  John A. Stanturf,et al.  Modeling the Potential of the Northern China Forest Shelterbelt in Improving Hydroclimate Conditions 1 , 2008 .

[24]  K. Gross,et al.  Alternative states and positive feedbacks in restoration ecology. , 2004, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[25]  Elinor Ostrom,et al.  Complexity of Coupled Human and Natural Systems , 2007, Science.

[26]  Robert B. Jackson,et al.  Effects of afforestation on water yield: a global synthesis with implications for policy , 2005 .

[27]  Joan G. Ehrenfeld,et al.  Defining the Limits of Restoration: The Need for Realistic Goals , 2000 .

[28]  W. Laurance.  Environmental science: Forests and floods , 2007, Nature.

[29]  Philippe Ciais,et al.  The carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems in China , 2009, Nature.

[30]  Zhibao Dong,et al.  Has the Three Norths Forest Shelterbelt Program solved the desertification and dust storm problems in arid and semiarid China , 2010 .

[31]  P. Erskine,et al.  Restoration of Degraded Tropical Forest Landscapes , 2005, Science.

[32]  Gaoming Jiang,et al.  Restoration and Management of the Inner Mongolia Grassland Require a Sustainable Strategy , 2006, Ambio.

[33]  Hui Yue,et al.  Development and testing of a sustainable environmental restoration policy on eradicating the poverty trap in China's Changting County , 2009, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[34]  B. Bestelmeyer.  Threshold Concepts and Their Use in Rangeland Management and Restoration: The Good, the Bad, and the Insidious , 2006 .

[35]  Tsuyoshi Akiyama,et al.  Grassland degradation in China: Methods of monitoring, management and restoration , 2007 .