Restoration Success: How Is It Being Measured?

TLDR

Clear criteria for restoration success are needed, and the Society of Ecological Restoration International’s Primer outlines ecosystem attributes that should be considered when evaluating such projects. The study aimed to determine how restoration success has been evaluated in projects by reviewing articles in *Restoration Ecology* and addressing what ecosystem attribute measures are assessed and how they are used to determine success. The authors conducted a review of articles published in *Restoration Ecology* (Volumes 1–11) to assess how restoration success has been evaluated. No study measured all SER Primer attributes, but most included at least one measure in each of the three categories—diversity, vegetation structure, and ecological processes—and used multiple measures, leading the authors to recommend that future projects include at least two variables per attribute and at least two reference sites.

Abstract

Abstract The criteria of restoration success should be clearly established to evaluate restoration projects. Recently, the Society of Ecological Restoration International (SER) has produced a Primer that includes ecosystem attributes that should be considered when evaluating restoration success. To determine how restoration success has been evaluated in restoration projects, we reviewed articles published in Restoration Ecology (Vols. 1[1]–11[4]). Specifically, we addressed the following questions: (1) what measures of ecosystem attributes are assessed and (2) how are these measures used to determine restoration success. No study has measured all the SER Primer attributes, but most studies did include at least one measure in each of three general categories of the ecosystem attributes: diversity, vegetation structure, and ecological processes. Most of the reviewed studies are using multiple measures to evaluate restoration success, but we would encourage future projects to include: (1) at least two variables within each of the three ecosystem attributes that clearly related to ecosystem functioning and (2) at least two reference sites to capture the variation that exist in ecosystems.