Restoring Disturbed LandscapesPutting Principles into Practice (review)

Restoring Disturbed Landscapes: Putting Principles into Practice is presented by David J Tongway and John A Ludwig. These authors bring to the pages a combined 75+ y of experience working in the fields of soil science, rangeland management, and landscape ecology. Well respected worldwide, the authors take the extremely complex issue of restoring disturbed landscapes and present a straightforward approach to identifying goals, organizing implementation, and maintaining monitoring to aid in the success of restoring desired functions and processes of landscapes. The authors state in the Preface that their approach to landscape restoration is developed to provide “practitioners with an approach to restoring the functional capacity of landscapes.” This is a key point that must be understood: they are not proposing restoration to some preconceived pristine state but are focused on “repairing landscapes to an acceptable level of functionality.” Throughout the text, the reader is given a systematic approach that can be applied almost anywhere on nearly all degraded landscapes around the world. The authors state that the book is intended for “restoration practitioners,” but it is appropriate for anyone who is interested in landscape restoration, from students to land managers, interested stakeholders, policymakers, and academia alike.

Tongway and Ludwig break the subject into 4 parts, beginning with A Function-Based Approach to Restoring Disturbed Landscapes. In these first 3 chapters, the authors lay out the basis of their approach to landscape restoration. Starting with an overview of their systems-based approach, the authors outline a 5-step adaptive procedure that illustrates their method for landscape restoration. Focusing on the 5 steps, the authors propose that restoration practitioners (RP) 1) set goals; 2) define and analyze the problem; 3) design the solutions to the problem; 4) select and apply the technologies; and finally 5) monitor and evaluate trends.

In Chapter 1 they define these 5 steps and illustrate the importance of each one in the overall process of their approach. Chapter 2, A Framework for How Landscapes Function, provides a well-thought-out synopsis of the authors’ conceptual framework that focuses on the dynamics of water in the landscape; the impact of soils (both biotic and abiotic factors); and plants, animals, and microorganisms. In addition, they discuss concepts of gains and losses that a system can have as both a sink and a source for different variables. Chapter 2 concludes with their discussion of feedback processes and the impacts of fluctuation in a “balanced dynamic system.” The overview provides a basic understanding of some of the critical mechanics of landscapes and how they may respond to the restoration process. Chapter 3 concludes the introductory materials of Part I by outlining the Principles for Restoring Landscape Functionality. Here the authors define 4 main principles: 1) analyzing the causes of landscape dysfunction; 2) restoring ineffective processes sequentially; 3) monitoring indicators reflecting landscape process; and 4) viewing landscape functionality as a continuum. Overall, Part I provides the reader with a basic understanding of the landscape and many of the biophysical issues that must be addressed for successful landscape restoration.

Part II provides 4 actual case studies (2 mine reclamation sites and 2 rangeland sites) that have benefited from application of the approach being presented. The authors take the reader through the 5-step process for each case study and illustrate outcomes through use of data generated from these restoration projects. The case studies provide good examples of the effectiveness of their approach through real-world applications and of the benefit in working together with RPs for implementation. These case studies also illustrate the adaptive nature of the approach as the authors discuss its application for bauxite mining, gold mining, and 2 considerably different rangeland and grazing-land sites. Each case study had its own challenges, yet across all 4, the authors demonstrated the efficacy of the process in restoring landscape function.

In Part III, the authors continue...