The long-term restoration of ecosystem complexity

TY - JOUR

T1 - The long-term restoration of ecosystem complexity

AU - Moreno-Mateos, David

AU - Alberdi, Antton

AU - Morriën, Elly

AU - van der Putten, Wim H.

AU - Rodríguez-Uña, Asun

AU - Montoya, Daniel

N1 - 6980, TE;Data Archiving: no data, perspective; no NIOO project

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - Multiple large-scale restoration strategies are emerging globally to counteract ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss. However, restoration often remains insufficient to offset that loss. To address this challenge, we propose to focus restoration science on the long-term (centuries to millennia) re-assembly of degraded ecosystem complexity integrating interaction network and evolutionary potential approaches. This approach provides insights into eco-evolutionary feedbacks determining the structure, functioning and stability of recovering ecosystems. Eco-evolutionary feedbacks may help to understand changes in the adaptive potential after disturbance of metacommunity hub species with core structural and functional roles for their use in restoration. Those changes can be studied combining a restoration genomics approach based on whole-genome sequencing with replicated space-for-time substitutions linking changes in genetic variation to functions or traits relevant to the establishment of evolutionarily resilient communities. This approach may set the knowledge basis for future tools to accelerate the restoration of ecosystems able to adapt to ongoing global changes.

AB - Multiple large-scale restoration strategies are emerging globally to counteract ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss. However, restoration often remains insufficient to offset that loss. To address this challenge, we propose to focus restoration science on the long-term (centuries to millennia) re-assembly of degraded ecosystem complexity integrating interaction network and evolutionary potential approaches. This approach provides insights into eco-evolutionary feedbacks determining the structure, functioning and stability of recovering ecosystems. Eco-evolutionary feedbacks may help to understand changes in the adaptive potential after disturbance of metacommunity hub species with core structural and functional roles for their use in restoration. Those changes can be studied combining a restoration genomics approach based on whole-genome sequencing with replicated space-for-time substitutions linking changes in genetic variation to functions or traits relevant to the establishment of evolutionarily resilient communities. This approach may set the knowledge basis for future tools to accelerate the restoration of ecosystems able to adapt to ongoing global changes.

KW - International

KW - Plan_S-Compliant_NO

U2 - 10.1038/s41559-020-1154-1

DO - 10.1038/s41559-020-1154-1

M3 - Article

SN - 2397-334X

VL - 4

SP - 676

EP - 685

JO - Nature Ecology and Evolution

JF - Nature Ecology and Evolution

IS - 5

ER -