Fixing damaged ecosystems: How much does restoration help?

Nature can bounce back but full recovery is elusive

Date:

March 1, 2018

Source:

Northern Illinois University

Summary:

Billions of dollars are spent annually on repairing ecosystems damaged by people. A new meta-analysis of 400 studies that document recovery from such large-scale disturbances worldwide suggests that while ecosystems can bounce back, they rarely mend completely, with the final stages of recovery being most difficult. The study also found that more costly active restoration efforts did not consistently result in faster or more complete recovery.